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CNN Live Today

Interview With Author Lilian Calles Barger

Aired May 07, 2003 - 10:55   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, even movie stars and super models have a hard time keeping up with the idealized version -- vision of a woman's perfect body. In fact, pursuit of that body can ultimately be destructive. The book, "Eve's Revenge," seeks to offer women a healthier self-image than the one promoted by popular culture.
Author Lilian Calles Barger joins us to share her thoughts about the fact and fantasy of a woman's body image. Good morning. Thanks for being with us.

LILIAN CALLES BARGER, AUTHOR, "EVE'S REVENGE": Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

KAGAN: How many of us don't wake up -- from the moment you wake up, thinking about from what you're going to wear to being bombarded by magazines. It seems, as women, that's what we have to think about all the time.

CALLES BARGER: And it doesn't really seem to matter what we accomplish in the world otherwise. We're always reduced down to what our bodies look like.

KAGAN: Exactly. Now, this is kind of coming to the forefront now because there are some pictures coming out. Sarah Jessica Parker, the actress from "Sex and the City," she had a baby six months ago. Six months ago, and these images here, they're going to be in "W" magazine and also in "Us" magazine, I believe.

And you know, it's kind of discouraging for women thinking like, Oh, so that's what I'm supposed to look like six months after I've had a baby?

CALLES BARGER: I think it's very discouraging for women. First, we don't really know what the time, the effort, and the body type goes into having that kind of a look.

KAGAN: Well, she does talk about -- she does talk about it in the interview, she does say...

CALLES BARGER: She does?

KAGAN: ... come on -- yes, she says, Come on, it's not realistic, I have the money, she has a yoga instructor come over an hour and a half every day, she has child care so she can actually set aside that hour and a half to work out, and if you saw her before, you know that she was petite little thing even before she got pregnant. So she does have a lot of things going for her that most women do not. CALLES BARGER: Right. And on top of that, we are not talking about women's success, we are not talking about her work, we are not talking about what she has accomplished otherwise. We're always continually reducing women down to their bodies, and that's the thing that I find the most appalling, and the thing that is the worst for women is that no matter what else they do, no matter what else they accomplish, they're always judged by their bodies and what their bodies end up looking like.

KAGAN: Now, interesting enough, there are some women out there, young women and also some women not as young, who are fighting back, who are saying, you know what, enough. And I think the cover of "Us" magazine this week is particularly interesting. Here is the young woman who won "American Idol," announcing, I will not starve to be a star.

Now, when you look at her, she certainly is not fat. She's -- I think like 5'4" and she weighs like 125 pounds. She's not fat, but she's not that anorexic skinny look that we're used to seeing on the cover of magazines. Good for her. Finally getting her shot at stardom and saying she's going to do it on her terms.

CALLES BARGER: Yes, but it's not just about weight and body size, because even if you change weight and body size as a different standard, you're still talking about judging women by physical beauty and women having to spend a lot of time on physical beauty in some other way, your eyes, your skin -- your skin has to be beautiful, your hair has to be just right. It's more than just weight and body size, and it is just the fact that we are concentrating our entire effort on this. And I think it kills the romantic imagination. Women have a hard time seeing themselves as a whole people because of this.

KAGAN: Well, and in your book, you don't just complain about it, you offer a solution. You say, Come on, women, let's band together, and there are other more productive places that we can put our energy than freaking out about how big our thighs are.

CALLES BARGER: Yes. I think that one thing women can do is really start thinking about community improvement and building their spiritual lives, and thinking about transcendent beauty, things like justice and virtue and things that really we have lost, and we have spent all of our energy -- put all our energy on pursuing something that's basically impossible for most of us.

KAGAN: Do you think that we are powerful enough as individual women to make that choice, to fight back?

CALLES BARGER: I think there's two parts of it. I think that we live in a certain culture and we are products of that culture, but I think that we can engage in intentional acts. We can intentionally refuse to submit ourselves to serving the images that are unrealistic, that really don't reflect our whole person.

KAGAN: Good choices, and we will try to control that. Lilian Calles Barger. The book is "Eve's Revenge." Thanks for coming on and kind of giving us the other perspective, not getting too bummed out about what we can achieve -- or not achieve when it comes to our bodies. Appreciate your time.

CALLES BARGER: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 7, 2003 - 10:55   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, even movie stars and super models have a hard time keeping up with the idealized version -- vision of a woman's perfect body. In fact, pursuit of that body can ultimately be destructive. The book, "Eve's Revenge," seeks to offer women a healthier self-image than the one promoted by popular culture.
Author Lilian Calles Barger joins us to share her thoughts about the fact and fantasy of a woman's body image. Good morning. Thanks for being with us.

LILIAN CALLES BARGER, AUTHOR, "EVE'S REVENGE": Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

KAGAN: How many of us don't wake up -- from the moment you wake up, thinking about from what you're going to wear to being bombarded by magazines. It seems, as women, that's what we have to think about all the time.

CALLES BARGER: And it doesn't really seem to matter what we accomplish in the world otherwise. We're always reduced down to what our bodies look like.

KAGAN: Exactly. Now, this is kind of coming to the forefront now because there are some pictures coming out. Sarah Jessica Parker, the actress from "Sex and the City," she had a baby six months ago. Six months ago, and these images here, they're going to be in "W" magazine and also in "Us" magazine, I believe.

And you know, it's kind of discouraging for women thinking like, Oh, so that's what I'm supposed to look like six months after I've had a baby?

CALLES BARGER: I think it's very discouraging for women. First, we don't really know what the time, the effort, and the body type goes into having that kind of a look.

KAGAN: Well, she does talk about -- she does talk about it in the interview, she does say...

CALLES BARGER: She does?

KAGAN: ... come on -- yes, she says, Come on, it's not realistic, I have the money, she has a yoga instructor come over an hour and a half every day, she has child care so she can actually set aside that hour and a half to work out, and if you saw her before, you know that she was petite little thing even before she got pregnant. So she does have a lot of things going for her that most women do not. CALLES BARGER: Right. And on top of that, we are not talking about women's success, we are not talking about her work, we are not talking about what she has accomplished otherwise. We're always continually reducing women down to their bodies, and that's the thing that I find the most appalling, and the thing that is the worst for women is that no matter what else they do, no matter what else they accomplish, they're always judged by their bodies and what their bodies end up looking like.

KAGAN: Now, interesting enough, there are some women out there, young women and also some women not as young, who are fighting back, who are saying, you know what, enough. And I think the cover of "Us" magazine this week is particularly interesting. Here is the young woman who won "American Idol," announcing, I will not starve to be a star.

Now, when you look at her, she certainly is not fat. She's -- I think like 5'4" and she weighs like 125 pounds. She's not fat, but she's not that anorexic skinny look that we're used to seeing on the cover of magazines. Good for her. Finally getting her shot at stardom and saying she's going to do it on her terms.

CALLES BARGER: Yes, but it's not just about weight and body size, because even if you change weight and body size as a different standard, you're still talking about judging women by physical beauty and women having to spend a lot of time on physical beauty in some other way, your eyes, your skin -- your skin has to be beautiful, your hair has to be just right. It's more than just weight and body size, and it is just the fact that we are concentrating our entire effort on this. And I think it kills the romantic imagination. Women have a hard time seeing themselves as a whole people because of this.

KAGAN: Well, and in your book, you don't just complain about it, you offer a solution. You say, Come on, women, let's band together, and there are other more productive places that we can put our energy than freaking out about how big our thighs are.

CALLES BARGER: Yes. I think that one thing women can do is really start thinking about community improvement and building their spiritual lives, and thinking about transcendent beauty, things like justice and virtue and things that really we have lost, and we have spent all of our energy -- put all our energy on pursuing something that's basically impossible for most of us.

KAGAN: Do you think that we are powerful enough as individual women to make that choice, to fight back?

CALLES BARGER: I think there's two parts of it. I think that we live in a certain culture and we are products of that culture, but I think that we can engage in intentional acts. We can intentionally refuse to submit ourselves to serving the images that are unrealistic, that really don't reflect our whole person.

KAGAN: Good choices, and we will try to control that. Lilian Calles Barger. The book is "Eve's Revenge." Thanks for coming on and kind of giving us the other perspective, not getting too bummed out about what we can achieve -- or not achieve when it comes to our bodies. Appreciate your time.

CALLES BARGER: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com