Comments on: Why We’ve Turned on Heidi Montag

By: Dara Chadwick

Dara Chadwick — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:31:26 +0000

Great post, Rosalind, and definitely food for thought.

It’s so easy to bash celebrities and I’m certainly not excusing their role in the choices they make. They’re usually well paid and have many perks most of us can only dream of. But I think it’s very, very difficult for us “average” folks to understand the level of pressure these celebrities are under sometimes, not only to maintain a certain look, but also to find new ways to grab the spotlight. The world is full of competing influences for attention and I can’t imagine what it’s like to have to sink to a personal low or step away from who you are just so that people will pay attention to you or your latest project.

I feel for her. I really do. I hope she finds the happiness she seeks.

By: Rachel Simmons

Rachel Simmons — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:02:50 +0000

Great post. So true about how we get distracted from our own behaviors around pleasing. Someone like Heidi Montag perversely can make us feel better about ourselves. But she is just an extreme example of something we all struggle with. I also think our role is to consider how much we support a culture in which women try so hard to please….we buy the magazines, watch The Hills, etc.

By: Solange Morgan

Solange Morgan — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:10:26 +0000

Rosalind,

Thank you for highlighting this story.

I do agree that she has self esteem problems; however, I also believe that this is just another ploy in her path to try and achieve fame. She does these outrageous things so that she can be talked about and her ridiculous, misogynistic husband is the same way. It is like they are shock jocks on a radio station- they say and do all these crazy things for attention and hype (Rush Limbaugh for example) but behind closed doors they may not actually be that way. Now, I am not saying that Heidi and Spencer are “normal” behind closed doors, but I have a hard time believing that they are actually as ridiculous as they might seem.

Take Jessica Simpson for example. You KNOW that girl is smarter than she acts. The whole “chicken of the sea” incident was a bit to make her look stupid, so that she would be talked about! If all celebrities were “normal” no one would care how they looked or acted. They go above and beyond to make themselves stand out no matter how dumb they might look.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:38:23 +0000

Thank you for posting this, Rosalind. It’s very eye-opening when a lean, beautiful blonde such as Heidi has self-esteem and body issues…and somewhat surprising, as well. For myself, it’s been easy to assume that if a woman is as beautifully put together as Heidi is, that she obviously must be happy with herself and her body. She is someone who should be held up as an example of how we need to be comfortable with ourselves, no matter what the world says about beauty.

And your point about pleasers is well taken. It’s very dangerous to keep giving in to others, and ultimately give up being oneself.

By: Gail

Gail — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:31:06 +0000

I remember Heidi a few years ago when she just made her debut on the Hills. She was young, pretty, and had an authentic and interesting look with dirty blond hair. She seemed to have a lot more confidence then.

But she has let Hollywood, and her relationships gobble her up. I remember reading a quote a few years back from her then boyfriend (now husband) Spencer saying he met the perfect girl but the only problem was he was a “boobs guy’ and how could he date someone so flat chested? A little while later, Heidi got breast augmentation, and fixed her nose while she was at it.

Since this time, I have watched her hair get blonder and blonder and her lips get plumper. And then most recently the 10 plastic surgeries in one day. If you look at her before and after photos it is actually staggering. She has transformed from a cute girl, with an interesting look and style all her own, to someone unrecognizable and somehow plastic-looking.

So when I see the “new” Heidi part of me just wants to cry for her. That she couldn’t love and embrace the person she was. She felt so insecure, as Rosalind mentions, so determined to please that she turned herself into someone else who she thought was better. She was great before, but didn’t have the confidence to know that.

As a mother of two girls, I find Heidi’s story disturbing. We need to bolster our girls against ridiculous models of beauty, and self-loathing. We need to teach them self-love and self-respect. I hope Heidi can be at peace, soon, with who she is. There is a wonderful, smart, beautiful girl there inside and out.