My thought process went along these lines: Firefighters and police officers put their lives on the line on a daily basis for a pittance of what overpaid celebrities are paid.  Teachers give their professional lives to improve the lives of children and for the most part are considered over the hill at 40 (Yeah Mayor Bloomberg, I’m talking to you and your ridiculous policies) and truly made to sing for their suppers.

Public servants, the real heroes in the career world,  are treated as just that- servants, while actors are paid millions of dollars to play dress up and pretend to be other people.  For this, celebrities are not only deified, but sometimes even awarded gold statuettes.

My professional trajectory was such though, that I was involved in the back end of numerous awards ceremonies in one way or another for a long time- either as a celebrity makeup artist, after party event producer, or while on assignment writing about celebrity style.

But who are we kidding? No one really watches the Oscars to find out who won for best [insert your favorite arcane category here], we’re really watching to see who’s wearing what, who’s dating who and who’s really bad at concealing their disappointment.

I learned a lot while watching the Oscars last night, some lessons even worthy of translating into real life lessons.

1. Good Things Come To Those Who Wait (and/or have excellent family credentials): I was thrilled to see Jeff Bridges take home the award for best actor last night.  It made me feel all warm and fuzzy when he repeatedly looked heavenward and acknowledged his parents (though not brother Beau) and made me wonder if he’d have had the success he did/does if not for the Bridges surname.  Don’t get me wrong, the Dude totally abides, one just wonders to what extent his pedigree has helped him on his professional journey.
2. Gracious is Good: Though German actor Christoph Waltz was pretty much considered a shoo-in for best supporting actor for his role in Inglourious Basterds, he was modest and inclusive in his thank yous.  After every award won, his speech reflected not only his delight in winning, but also true gratitude for director Quentin Tarrantino and the entire film cast.  Elegant and appreciative.
3. You’ve Come A Long Way Baby (though not far enough): Director Katherine Bigelow took home the statuette for best director for The Hurt Locker, a first time win for a female director. Yay! The band even played a schmaltzy rendition of female power anthem ‘I Am Woman (Hear Me Roar)’ Thrilling. Unless you consider the fact that this country has not yet had a woman president.  We shouldn’t notice these distinctions- we should be at a point where we take it for granted.

There are loads more, but I was too distracted by the evening gowns to further comment.

Rachel, who always wanted Sandra Bullock to play me in my life story, but will probably have to rethink that bit of casting now that she’s an Oscar winner.

Like what you’ve read? Need a marketing expert, opinion column, pop culture comment, fun speaker or snappy sound bite? rachelblogs@gmail.com

I fool myself though, since while it’s not generally okay in our society to mock someone’s faith, color, ethnicity or sexual preference, it’s still seen as fair game to mock someone for being overweight.

A tweet by @ronhogan alerted me to a story in today’s New York Post in which writer Kyle Smith, who clearly has issues with women in general, much less those who don’t match his skewed physical ideal, pillories V magazine, a new magazine celebrating so called plus size women.  The Post isn’t a bastion of open mindedness or civility at the best of times, but this article spews so much misogynistic vitriol as to leave me somewhat shaken.

I won’t dignify the New York Post’s sanctioning of poisoned prose by quoting the article here, but I will say one word to sum up my feelings on this type of loathsome rhetoric – Enough.  Enough of making women feel that they can never feel beautiful enough to cram themselves into society’s size 0 ideal.  Enough of the dissection of the female form as fodder for implausible punditry.  Enough of a culture that teaches teenage girls by example that they must starve themselves to be considered beautiful and then resort to scalpels, implants and injections at ever younger ages to remain sexually viable.

In times gone by a woman was deemed beautiful if she had a double chin or ample behind, since it meant simply that she was able to afford nourishment.  In our culture, models barely out of their teens die of starvation in an effort to fit the unrealistic ideal set by [mostly male] fashion designers.

This article made me more than sad, it made me angry enough to somewhat publicly address my own life-long battle with the scale.  And while I’m a staunch advocate of printed publications, it also makes me want to urge you to cancel your subscription to the Post, since hate rhetoric is hate rhetoric no matter where it’s directed.

Rachel, who’s had more than enough of a culture obsessed with women’s weight

And also, well- Tim Gunn is in the same issue. So, I feel that while about 100 pages separate us, it’s like rubbing shoulders with one of the greats. (that my friends was gushing, plain and simple.)

In any event, rush out to the newsstands to buy a copy and turn to pages 124-130.  It’s the October 2009 issue with Jennifer Aniston on the cover.  Or enjoy the sneak peek below.

Rachel, who just loves being a People mag Style Expert!

Like what you’ve read? Need a marketing, pop culture column, fun speaker or snappy sound bite? write to me at rachelblogs@gmail.com