Mayim Bialik, who I will always regard as Blossom, has written a new book, and it’s not then typical Hollywood tell-all. The Big Bang Theory star chatted with Glamour about the book, called Girling Up: How to Be Strong, Smart, and Spectacular. The 41-year-old actress told the magazine that, unlike typical biographies, she wanted to take an “anthropological approach to understanding all things female.” She went on to add, “I really thought of it more as an academic treatise rather than a personal one because I’m not really, like, a memoir person. That’s not what I wanted this to be.” This coming from a woman whose first written work was a doctoral dissertation entitled Hypothalamic regulation in relation to maladaptive, obsessive-compulsive, affiliative, and satiety behaviors in Prader-Willi syndrome. Try finding that one on Amazon.
Mayim shares stories of growing up and her acting career, from child star to very well-adjusted adult. It wasn’t all easy, and the actress discusses topics that many of us have also been through, things like anxiety, therapy, divorce and death.
Of course, working in a profession where appearance is everything, some of the book is devoted to a discussion on body image. In the book, Mayim writes, “what a lot of us do — myself included — is to try and find ways to make ourselves look like those people we see images of.” When asked by Glamour if she was happy with the way she looked, she replied, “I’m very human about that.” I’m not sure exactly what she means by that, but she went on to say that she admired Amy Schumer and Sports Illustrated model Hunter McGrady for being comfortable with their “imperfections” and went on to note:
There was just a woman who showed her reverse transformation, going from a size 6 to a size 16 and how empowered she feels. Honestly, that’s totally great for those women. I don’t have those feelings about the “imperfections” of my body at all. It’s something I spoke to Hunter about. I said, “I understand there are some women who love to show off their cellulite and stretch marks; I don’t feel empowered by that.” I think that’s going to vary, and I think both things need to be OK. I don’t feel shamed. I grew up with a very different standard of beauty and attractiveness, as did many women my age. It takes a lot of adjusting for some of us to get used to this notion that all of a sudden things women were teased for and hated for I’m now supposed to flaunt. It’s just not how my brain’s going to work, but I think both things can be OK.
I am not a fan of Big Bang Theory, but I do like Mayim, and I tend to agree with her on this topic. It’s not only because there is no way in hell I’d be showing off my imperfections on social media, it just makes sense. And, hey, the woman is a neuroscientist. If you ask me, I’d rather flaunt my brain any day. Oh, and for my fellow Blossom fans, Mayim posted a photo on Instagram on Wednesday with her TV big brother Michael Stoyanov, who played Anthony. In the caption, she noted, “He looks more like me than I do.” I know I’m not big on reunions, but getting the Blossom gang together would be fun. I’m sure Joey Lawrence is free.
Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com
Agree with Blossom. Not everyone has John Legend as a husband admiring his wife’s
“perfect Imperfections.” Today being my 38th year on this planet and holding my eight month old daughter, while my 15 year old daughter goes to school, you realize how perfectly imperfect life is. And a happy weekend to all…..
Happy Birthday
Happy birthday !
Well John Legend wife went also back to her body asap…anyway I think she has a point: she understands what all those women are doing showing their “imperfections”, at the same time she admits it’s not her thing (or mine either, for the record).
What a perfectly lovely sentiment. Happy birthday!
Welcome to the 38 Club, Nancy!
Thanks girls. The 38 Club is a nice one to belong to Kitten. Someone has to pry my little Gemma off of me at some point so I can go out to dinner with the husband this evening. I only really care about birthdays when mine falls on Mother’s Day. That’s the best gift. Happy Mother’s Day to all, whether your babies are children, kitties, dogs, whomever you feel maternal to. Go Cavs!
Haha… thank you Nancy. Proud cat mom here. Also another member of the 38 club.
Happy birthday, Nancy! Loved your post.
And Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums here and “out there”!
I don’t think a lot of those women are “flaunting” as much as they are attempting to normalize very normal body shapes. We don’t see many different body shapes in the media, I follow several body-positive folks on instagram to remind myself that most folks do have a belly and cellulite.
I agree, I think she’s misunderstood this pb movement a bit. Nobody says that flaunting your belly rolls on Instagram should be the new normal or that you’re supposed to do it. It’s about showing people that the fitness guru with the gym and porridge bowl pics isn’t the only beautiful person out there. And it’s nice to be reminded that I won’t be the only one at the beach with cellulite. You tend to forget that sometimes.
I appreciate that aspect of Instagram a great deal. I can now follow people who are more my size and have my aesthetic. I don’t need to stare at the size 0 fashion blogger and ask myself WHY I can’t dress cute like that (I still follow some but I appreciate the options).
I don’t fully understand this need to make everything the same. Call it normal, beautiful or something entirely different- why is it positive to equalize everything? And why is it so important to be beautiful to strangers? I don’t get it. Nothing is going to change by having plus-size models, stretchmark models, double-chin models etc. People are going to be more fixated on appearance rather then less by having a larger group to compare themselves to.
I remember watching the Olympics with my Mom, and seeing some of the track and field stars had cellulite despite their fantastic muscles and gorgeous, strong legs. And I remember asking my Mom how it could be possible that these women with almost no body fat had cellulite, and her explaining that most women of a certain age just did, and that it was nothing to be worried about or ashamed of. It was a great, early lesson, and that little bit of cellulite didn’t take a single thing away from those beautiful, strong, cool women.
sasa, I’m not sure what you mean by equalize. But to me, it’s important to feel comfortable with myself and that’s a lot easier when the images of women I see every day (and you can’t avoid it) include women of all shapes, sizes, colors etc. So yes of course things be easier for a lot of us when we see ourselves represented by women with stretchmarks and cellulite. And when you feel more comfortable, you fixate less on your appearance. You really believe seeing nothing but one type of woman (young, white, tall, thin) during my teenage years helped??? No. It did not.
https://mic.com/articles/130344/do-plus-size-models-send-a-bad-message-about-weight-study-explores-complicated-question#.DCtNospTk
You know, a lot of times we convince ourselves that we need help with something but it turns out the problem is completely made up. People are feeding you with “solutions” for something that doesn’t exist because they have something they want to sell you, simple as that. That’s my opinion.
You do realize that you’re the one focusing on weight here, right? I never made this about plus-size women specifically. And this study focuses on advertisements featuring – again – bigger women. You compeltely ignore the fact that a) that is not the only aspect of the body positive movement and b) you said nothing is going to change by having different images of women displayed in ads or on social media. That can of course be your opinion, it’s just not based on facts.
I think you’re right. I grew up in the 70s and my mom and her friends all wore shorts shorts and swimsuits and seemed to have no worries about their cellulite and imperfections.
In fact I remember thinking cellulite was a sign of being “grown up” in the same way that breasts and menstruation were. The uber toned/athletic ideal had not yet emerged. It would be nice to go back to a time that to me seemed more carefree in regards to body acceptance.
Definitely. They’re doing something they’re not supposed to, specially if they are actresses or models.
Thank you for pointing out what bugged me about this. I don’t want to parse her words too much but the use of “flaunting” reads as shade to me. Then again, she is Orthodox Jew correct? I know she’s talked a lot about her preference for covering up, modesty etc so maybe everything seems like flaunting to her.
@kitten I came here to write the same thing. The woman who ‘flaunts’ her ‘modesty’ (is someone modest when she prides so much her modesty? Isn’t that an oxymoron?) does not undestand women who flaunt their imperfections? It is actually two sides of the same coin.
I think it is shame, though. She’s been condescending as hell to women many times in interviews in the past. I find her very unlikeable. We were all here not long ago commenting on a thread about her bashing women who care about their physical appearance because she personally thinks that smart women are too important to waste time on those kinds of things and she was condescending as f-ck to women who do. To me, Mayim seems like a very insecure woman whose defense mechanism is to just kind of attack and be super preachy and judgemental of other women.
Anilehcim, I agree. She comes across as someone who’s a little hindered by their intelligence. As in, she knows she’s smart and educated and that somehow makes it harder for her to accept that not every woman needs a doctorate to feel good about themselves. Because she KNOWS. I’ve met a few female academics like that in my life and they are exhausting. She has a very narrow definition of a strong, modern woman and that includes judging all things “unnecessary” like a focus on fashion or cosmetics etc. Maybe she feels insecure and uses it as a security blanket or maybe she simply feels superior but whatever it is, it gets on my last nerve. It’s the “she can’t be smart and pretty” argument twisted. “She’s smart, why does she want to be pretty?”
I feel so lucky that the women in my family that I grew up admiring have both their PhD’s and a push-up bra (and some cellulite to boot!). Why is she making this an either/or proposition?
Thank you Anilehcim and littlemissnaughty for putting into words what I couldn’t! I completely agree. I find her so condescending and problematic.
I think many people are just straight up exhibitionists. They do like to “flaunt” because they enjoy external validation. The thin types get that validation easily and the fatter ones dont. That annoys them so they fight for that validation. I really thing this is just a personality thing and she is right to use the word “flaunt”. Some people are born peacocks.
I have what many of my friends call a good body and I am not genetically disposed to cellulite but I have never had the urge to “flaunt”. I just dont get off on the validation and frankly the attention makes me uncomfortable. Thats my personality. I imagine theres a larger girl out there exactly like me who is baffled by the selfie girls and wondering “why do you need this public validation so much?”
I was commenting on the article which mentions Amy Schumer and Hunter McGrady by name, both bigger women. The main focus of this movement is on weight. I haven’t seen many “big nose” advocates or ears that stick out ambassadors out there. The evidence for my opinion is not strong but is is based on articles like the one I linked to (do have any links to support your claim to the opposite?) and on subjective observational evidence. I haven’t seen women go: oh, this model has cellulite so now that I’ve seen it I will be able to forget about mine. I have seen: oh, this model has cellulite, let me see if she has more or less than me and is she otherwise more or less attractive etc.
I don’t like BBT or Mayim. I can’t support the anti-vaxers – especially ones that are lauded for being so intelligent. She’s also incredibly self-righteous in an exhausting way. This interview was a bit more human, but she’s said so many things that I find gross that I just can’t back her.
She’s anti vaccination? This is confusing to me.
I knew she did attachment parenting, and breast fed until her kids were four, which I have to work very hard not to judge.
Just did a brief google, and she isn’t anti vaccination, although she’s made noise about deciding on which vaccines are best for her kids, so not sure what that means.
Oh she went on a huge rant about it on facebook in response to a pro-vaccine post (few years back), then deleted it a couple of hours later. She received a lot of blowback from the Jewish community, and after that she went and spouted off a ‘clarification’ of sorts. I don’t think she really changed her mind – I think she just decided to say the things that won’t alienate her fans.
As of several years ago she was. Blossom Bialik of course used her big fancy science degree as a reason why her doubts about the safety of vaccines were completely valid. She used the same pediatrician as Jenny McCarthy. She wanted to take her kids to Israel, so she eventually relented at least somewhat and got the kids whatever vaccinations were required for entry into the country. But yes, this chick most definitely was howling about how there are still questions as to whether or not vaccines cause autism etc. in children. Never trust anyone who waves their degrees around instead of actually using them.
I do find her self-righteous. I don’t hate her but I don’t particularly like her either.
She’s always come across as a bit pretentious to me, but I figured that was just my own issues about her personal choices. I frequently find people who adopt modesty have a hard time not couching it in a moral statement. It makes it really hard to judge those that they deem immodest, it seems.
I was really hoping she could be a solid role model though for people who espouse similar orthodox views, and having an advanced degree in science is really good exposure for women in science. Which makes it extra disappointing that she’s supporting really bad science. Not vaccinating your children is leeching off of society and increasing the danger to other children who cannot be vaccinated.
“Never trust anyone who waves their degrees around instead of actually using them.”
Truth.
The Sixlets had a fad of watching BBT a couple of years back. It is possibly the most irritating programme on TV. I cannot fathom why it is popular. Screechy and annoying. I used to put on my headphones while they were watching it.
I had watched a bit of the first season when it came out. There is the occasional scene that is genuinely funny. But they kept getting fewer and more far between as the show went on. It’s a typical Chuck Lorre kind of Two and a Half Men type show. They reuse the same tired plot points, have a lot of barely likable characters, and offend the “nerds” that they try to court. They’re just a big caricature of most nerdy type people – and I’m pretty comfortable saying that since I’m basically a professional nerd doing web design/development surrounded by a ton of other “professional nerds” in an IT company.
LOL it’s a cute show.
Yes, Erinn. Not a lot of nuance in it, is there?!
Stars – no! Not cute! Loud and a-n-n-o-y-i-n-g. (I say this in the voice of a miserable old woman shaking her fist at the clouds).
I don’t get it either, it’s like a fight to see who is more witty, sarcastic, or cold.
I’m super sarcastic, but I didn’t find their punchlines funny.
It’s f*cking terrible show. AWFUL garbage IMO. Could not be more unfunny.
(I’m a fan, obviously)
I am allergic to anything with canned laughter, so there is that. But more than that, this show just DOES MY HEAD IN.
There are downsides to being a parent and one of them is most definitely the TV shows your children like to watch. It gets even worse when they suss that they can put YouTube playlists on their mother’s tellybox…
… or perhaps the Sixlets are just tasteless little herberts.
I am a tasteless little herbert! I hope this isn’t seriously offensive, because I rather enjoy it.
No, seriously, I have fairly bad tv show taste. I really enjoy Big Bang Theory sometimes because its mindless, interchangeable nonsense that I can multi task too, but I enjoy a lot of bad tv/movies, so whatevs, lean in. This isn’t even close to the most shameful.
My partner, who has significantly better taste in all things art related, hates this show and when he accidentally laughs at it feels deep shame.
@Sixer – I try to “cure” my kid’s bad taste in shows by finding good shows everyone can watch such as my new love Parks & Recreation.
Their new trend: an American couple who plays games on YouTube. They have the most annoying voices on earth. I just put headphones too.
The WWE phase, while shortlived, was the worst. I try not to remember those days. Closest I’ve ever come to banning anything.
At the moment, the favourites are Dear White People, People Just Do Nothing and Doctor Who – ALL OF WHICH I LIKE.
It’s almost as if a miracle has happened. Or it would be, if we didn’t have to watch everything they like at least three times in succession.
What an incredible miracle, Sixer. Enjoy it while it lasts. Or it just means they’re growing up. With me it’s just the youtubers. I’m like an old man shouting ‘get off my lawn’ with them.
I don’t watch any of those and was wondering if I should give Dear White People a try with the kids, thanks!
Rupaul Drag Race is a must for my daughter and middle son (but in small doses as it sometimes gets a bit too graphic).
And Gilmore Girls for the whole family, unashamedly!
@ Sixer :
I love the way you name your family members. I gave you a shout out before for the name “Mr. Sixer”. But the name “Sixlets” for your kids tops even that! Thanks for the laugh 🙂
I saw her interview on Colbert and really wanted to like her for having a doctorate and writing a positive book for girls. But I kept getting negative waves from the way she would answer Colbert’s soft ball questions. Colbert has had scientists on his shows before and they were so much more down to earth. Her personality really put me off.
She always come across as very judgemental to me. She went on a rant against Game of Thrones a while ago, which would be fine, except she never even watched the show. And her rant was that the show used pretty women to entice the audience, while failing to acknowledge that her own show does the same thing.
Yup, she definitely enjoys taking the self-righteous religious chick road all the while ignoring her own stuff. If you dislike billboards showing underwear models and GOT (don’t watch myself), that’s great. Stop getting spankings on your own TV show while your face is hovering in a guy’s crotch.
I have a rule about self-righteous rants for myself. If I’m going to criticize something, I have to have watched it or read it myself. It’s intellectually dishonest to do otherwise (I have graduate degrees too, Mayim). This has led me to sit through an entire screening of the first Twilight movie (yuck) and to attempt to read the entire Fifty Shades of Grey book (only made it to page 100, then barfed and put it away). And I make it a point to go to the Fox News website every week and also to Breitbart.com because I think it’s important to know what kind of information other people (people not like me) are getting. But at least my negative opinion of these things comes from actual experience.
Sorry, that is the end of my self-righteous rant.
She’s decided to be very outspoken on numerous things- sometimes it’s great (standing up for women, science, etc.), sometimes she’s wrong and judgmental, and sometimes you just want to roll your eyes at her.
I think it’s really nice she’s still friends with her former customer, and I do admire her for her education andpushing STEM, especially for girls.
I liked TBBT a lot
Show about science and how awesome physics and engineering is along with discussion of geeky shows? Hell Yes!!!
But then they stares focussing on relationship and love and science being just a tool for comedy and it just became weird
And now they have two more seasons planned!!!
Things penny say, the way sheldon penny interacts: there was so much potential
The characters could have aged and matured in unique way. But nooo, every episode is basically the same interactions with season1
Yet I am a shameless loyal viewer and they r making easy money because of that. Even the actors don’t try
And we have two highly qualified MENSA ladies and a successful sales person, yet no workplace interaction of the ladies even come to play
It would have brought variety
But no
They would rather go the marriage pregnancy kid route
Rant over
It seems in guise of praising hunter and amy schumar, Mayim is just ridiculing acceptance of normal and all shapes and sizes
Well Sheldon proposed last night so wedding planning is probably going to be a huge part of the story line now…unless she says no (it was a cliff hanger).
She seems so smug and judgmental to me. I admire her for her intelligence but she doesn’t come across as very kind or understanding of other people. She thinks she is better than everyone else and her opinion is right b/c she’s so smart and everyone else is just dumb. I don’t dislike her but I don’t like her either.
This interview is the most relatable I have ever found her to be. I don’t have any desire to purchase the book though. Academia has its place, but I’m not sure how much interest there will be for it in that arena.
She’s not a neuroscientist, she may have studied neuroscience, but she’s an actress. And I say “may have studied” because she seems to have a disdain for science-researched data, like when it comes to vaccines.
Yeah, I’m with you.
There are two ways you get accepted into an advanced degree – grades and research, or connections
There are two ways you get through an advanced degree – hard work and consistent effort, or you piss off you advisors so much they just want to get rid of you and the board thinks you are really close, and everyone just kind of pushes you through with the knowledge that your academic career ends here.
I’m starting to believe she is the latter for both. Or at least victim to the depth vs breadth issue that seems to affects students and researchers.
@ Detritus : I had to laugh at your comment about pissing off advisors so that they just want to get rid of you. We had a work placement for a woman studying to be a paralegal. She would constantly miss “work” (problems with ex-husbands, ex-boyfriends, sick children, “women’s health” problems, runaway pets, etc.) and we would wait by the office manager’s computer in the morning to see if the student was going to send in her usual “I can’t come in today because …..” communication. The person she reported to finally did a letter to the college (falsely) confirming the woman’s full participation and (non-existent) work skills just so that he could get rid of her.
She has a doctorate in neuroscience…. which makes her… a neuroscientist.
Nah it just makes her a PhD.
A scientist is actually a job position, usually only given to people who have advanced degrees and research experience. So by acting, she’s not actually a scientist, or a neuroscientist.
Really? I have a Bachelor’s in design….I’m Yves Saint Laurent! No, she’s a TV actress with a college degree, just as I have filled a variety of job descriptions that had nothing to do with my college major. Simple.
No, working as a neuroscientist would make her a neuroscientist. There’s a vast difference between studying something and actually doing it.
I have 5 degrees. That doesn’t make me a lawyer biologist philosopher engineer historian. I chose to pursue one of those as a career and so I am just an engineer.
She’s got a PhD in neuroscience which means that her area of interest/expertise is the nervous system and the workings of the brain. This doesn’t necessarily automatically mean that she would be interested in or even knowledgeable about any other area of science, and she continuously proves this by being pretty much hostile to various other branches of science and scientific research.
I think she gets a little too pretentious sometimes and obsessed with the term “scientist” and gets carried away with finding it necessary to spout off her personal opinions as if they’re facts.
I wear size 0/2 and have stretch marks on my hips and a little cellulite. No big deal. It’s a normal thing. When I wear shorts or a bathing suit, it’s not because I want to show it off! Just because I don’t look perfect doesn’t mean I should always be covered head to toe. She seems to think she knows it all, and really comes off as way too judgemental
I’m a size 4, and I have cellulite. Even when I was at my skinniest, in my teen years, when I was 108 pounds dripping wet, I still had cellulite. I’d have to dip down to some terrifyingly tiny, anorexic, ‘so skinny I’d have to be hospitalized’ weight NOT to have cellulite. It’s just how my body’s built. It doesn’t bother me, I’d rather be healthy.
To each woman her own in regard to her body and what she’s comfortable with/wants to show off… However, I got stretch marks when I was like 10 years old and spent my entire youth, even times when I was way too young to be thinking this way, thinking that my body was destroyed and no one would ever want me. I’m still insecure as hell about my body, but I try really hard now to learn to love myself and accept my flaws. I like that we’re coming to a place where women are becoming so comfortable with their flaws that they show them off without regard. Why not? Why are we stuck at a place where we think you have to be perfect to be confident when no one is even perfect to begin with? It’s just so odd.
Mayim has come a long way. I remember her episode on “What Not to Wear” before her career was revived by the Big Bang Theory… she was dressing in actual rags and was all sorts of uncomfortable and insecure when Stacey London and Clinton Kelly gave her a makeover. It’s nice to see she actually wears clothing and not just random strips of fabric now.
On another note, I find her insufferably pretentious and I can’t understand why she’s always touting that she’s a woman of science when she’s openly hostile to science every time she opens her mouth. She has a PhD in neurology, and it seems very clear that neurology is as far as her interest and even belief in science goes. She’s interested in the workings of the brain, clearly, but when it comes to other scientific things, she has some really scary opinions.
My experience was sort of similar to yours anilehcim, and if as a teen I’d seen pictures of other bodies that looked like mine and were still beautiful (like Ashley Graham), it may have helped me focus on the things that really matter. Endless cycles of failed diets left me with so many mental and emotional health issues. I don’t think the body positive movement is about glorifying unhealthy bodies, but rather normalizing a variety of bodies so that people can focus on getting healthy instead of thin. Or not worry about cellulite.
And I really want to like Mayim, but she seems insufferable. Nice thing: she looks really beautiful in the photo where she has a real smile.
I loved Mayim back when she was Blossom, but I find her insufferable, now. As others have said, it’s her self-righteousness that grates me.
I get where she’s coming from, but she comes across too “I’m not like other girls, I’m smart!”
Hmmm wasn’t she the same person who said she was sick of people calling women “girls”? Now she’s using it in her book title !
OMG yes!
LOL I didn’t even catch that. I can’t stand her.
The book is written for young girls.
She uses the fact she has a PhD in neuroscience to hold up all sorts of nonsense (like the anti-vaccination stuff). However, she has not published a single scientific article. Which means that in the entire time she was a graduate student working on her dissertation , she did not produce work that was of high enough quality to withstand peer review. Which in her field means that she failed as a scientist.
I wish I would’ve enjoyed shorter stuff when I was younger…miniskirts and shorts- back when I had the legs to wear them. Now there are all of these cute little printed shorts that I want to wear but feel embarrassed to because of my cellulite and varicose veins. 🙁 I bought one pair for the summer (not dukes, we’re talking ann taylor loft here). Maybe I can work up the courage to wear ’em.