It was on The Oprah Winfrey Show’s final season when American Idol sensation Jennifer Hudson sat one on one with Oprah and revealed to the world how many pounds she actually lost.
Neither Oprah nor the packed studio audience could believe Hudson when she uttered the number “80.”
The singer lost 80 lbs using a personal Weight Watchers Leader. “I didn’t expect to go as far as I did,” the soon to be 30-year-old singer told People StyleWatch. Hudson went from a size 16 to a size 6! But, she isn’t the only starlet in Hollywood that made a drastic weight change.
There’s a list of African American women in Hollywood who are suddenly shedding a lot of pounds. Consider these actors/singers: Jill Scott, Jordin Sparks, Marsha Ambrosius and Raven Symone. All these women were once full-figured.
Could it be that Black women in entertainment are being compelled to loss weight? Or could it be that a thinner frame enhances an artist’s image and may boost album sales? Perhaps it’s just a choice that these women make, the idea of wanting to look good and build self-confidence.
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Throughout Jill Scott’s career, her weight was pretty steady and she was known for being curvaceous. African American women around the world who were curvaceous too, looked up to her and embraced that. The soul singer arrived on the scene in the late ’90s rocking ethnic head wraps and dark lipstick.
Scott released four albums; only the first three album covers did not have full body images of her. It wasn’t until the fourth album, which is the most recent, that actually shows her full body on the cover with a thinner frame. Why couldn’t her first three albums, when she was thicker have her full body image on the cover? Waiting until she loses 50 lbs to have a full body image appear as the cover of the album may raise a few eyebrows.
“People make a big deal out of this ‘Oh you lost weight!’ ‘Oh you gained weight!’ I’m used to this. I’m still me. Losing weight or gaining weight does not make me any smarter. It doesn’t make me any more sexy. It doesn’t make me more… anything. I’m still me,” Scott told a Washington D.C radio station.
She also added that she recently gave birth to her son, which motivated her to get back in shape. This resulted in the singer losing 50 lbs. Curves should be embraced and not erased.
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“I definitely didn’t want to lose my curves,” Jordan Sparks tells People Magazine. She assures that she won’t take her weight loss too far because she admires her curves. The singer went from a size 14 down to a size 8, bringing her to a weight loss of 30 lbs.
“In this slim world I do now realize I was being discriminated against. I’m offered more parts. There is much more excitement about me now,” singer Jennifer Hudson told Grazia Magazine.
Possibly, this can be why African American woman in entertainment are quickly reducing their weight for more jobs and Hollywood attention. One is to wonder why the same treatment cannot be given to a woman who may appear to be thicker than average.
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“I find it funny that people now come up to me and say, ‘Wow, you are absolutely gorgeous.’ I’m like, ‘I was beautiful before I lost weight. Egotistically speaking, I thought I was amazing,” 25-year-old actress Raven Symone once stated in a recent interview. As long as an individual feels beautiful and the talent is still there why should weight be an issue?
There is a thin line between wanting to please Hollywood and just desiring a healthier lifestyle.
Perhaps these women wanted to kick their old habits and just get fit. “It’s really fun to see the different muscle groups that I couldn’t see before, my quads are sticking out,” Jordan Sparks says smiling in an on-camera People magazine interview. “I have a bicep muscle, it’s just really nice to be able to see that.” She adds.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to loss weight, but just make sure that the intentions are for a good reason. No one should be pressured to look small because who one is originally should be good enough.
Big, fat, skinny or tall, everyone is good enough.
Lathleen is an entertainment reporter and freelance writer. She spends most of her time writing and freelancing around the country.
