It's something we all fight. Thanks to the constant barrage of images demanding certain beauty norms, award show red carpets are a double-edged sword. On one hand, we get to see and hear from legions of amazing women and watch as they express themselves in gowns few of us will ever afford. On the other, there's an inevitable focus on "the right" bodies. It usually comes out with subtle commentary here and there — a quick "your body is rocking" from Giuliana Rancic, for example. But during the 2014 Emmys Red Carpet, the E! News team is more than a little obsessed with all things weight loss and dieting. Have they been paying attention at all?
Apparently not. Right off the bat, Rancic interviewed Hayden Panettiere, who is pregnant with a baby girl, and immediately started grilling her about her pregnancy cravings. Panettiere seemed a bit uncomfortable and skirted the question, moving onto other more palatable questions. No one, pregnant or not, needs to be expected to dish that they sometimes eat cornichons gherkins straight out of the jar and follow it up two string cheeses, okay? That line of questioning simply screams "AH HA! PREGNANT PEOPLE EAT LOTS OF WEIRD FOOD. TELL US WHAT A FREAK YOU ARE." Knock it off.
But it didn't stop there. Sofia Vergara approached the interview platform, and while I could have listened to her tell Rancic about her beau Joe Manganiello in a relaxed, Sunday brunch–style conversation for hours, Rancic had to change the subject to food. What does Sofia eat? Well, like any living breathing human, she eats food. End of story. So glad we spent three whole minutes figuring that out.
Finally, Kerry Washington came up to Ross Matthews, expecting to, you know, talk about her achievements in television — the entire point of this whole evening — and she was instead confronted with a barrage of questions about losing her baby weight. "Oh, my God, four months!" Matthews declared as she walked up. Washington quickly skirted the implication, changing the subject to talking about her four-month-old daughter and how much she's growing. Matthews tried to push the subject, but luckily Washington didn't let it go any further. #Handled
It's 2014, and it's about time we stop worrying about celebrity dieting tips and figuring out what miraculous weight-loss plan Kerry Washington used to shed her "baby weight." Actresses are clearly tired of answering these questions. We're tired of hearing them. And they're certainly not doing representations of women any good. After all, these incredibly talented women are Emmy nominees and winners (or at the very least, talents on high-rated dramas), and all we can talk about is whether they had baby carrots or cupcakes for dinner?
Image: Getty Images
