Plan B Forum

You can almost hear the whispered tones of David Attenborough, speaking from a vegetation-covered hide.

He has spied the unfettered body of Christina Hendricks, who has emerged, hesitantly blinking into the glare of the hot Italian sun.

Not since the Fifties has such a magnificent example of this female species — known to zoologists as the Lesser Spotted Voluptuous Goddess — been captured on film.



This is a beast feared to have been rendered extinct by the show-business world’s Weight Police. She is as rare these days as snow leopards in Kashmir.

Pale, big-bodied, small-waisted and sporting the most mesmerising frontage — Ms Hendricks was a rare sight indeed when she stepped out of the swimming pool at her Lake Como hotel.

Many, myself included, doubted we’d ever see the like again, convinced creatures like this had retreated into a permanent exile —made to feel unwanted and unloved by the modern world and its obsession with stick-thin limbs.

Now, joking aside, let’s think for a moment about how shocking most of us find this photograph of the Mad Men actress who, because of her curves, is lusted after by men all over the world. We never, ever see women like this — ie, curvy, natural and womanly — in the pages of magazines or on celebrity websites.



If these women have become famous and successful despite their size, they normally hide in dark cupboards, ingesting baby food and performing Bikram yoga, before they are small enough to be allowed out.

We are used to seeing big breasts, of course; just look at the photos of Katie Price frolicking in the pool in Marbella over the past couple of days. But not real big breasts. Not the sort that have purple veins in them, that droop when unsupported and that don’t sit bolt upright when their owner lies down.

This, of course, is where the media, all media, differ from real life, and why we find this image of Ms Hendricks so startling.

Even on our TV screens as the formidable office manager Joan Harris, we get only a hint of what lies beneath those shift dresses and smart suits.

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There should be more celebration of women of all shapes and sizes in our society.