Q: Was Marilyn Monroe really a size 14?

A: With her hourglass figure, Marilyn Monroe has become today’s poster gal for curvy women. “You think a size 12 is fat?” goes the argument. “Well, Marilyn Monroe was a size 14!” … or 12 … or 10.

… Until some dern naysayer pipes up. “Actually,” (says a whiny voice, nose in the air—at least in my head) “she’d be a size 6 by today’s standards.” … or 4 … or 2.

OK, I must admit, I never thought Marilyn Monroe looked like a size 14. She was 5’5 1/2″, for goodness sake. If we’re going to make an argument, it’d be good if it were fact-based, so I did some digging. And I found the truth. And the truth, my friends, is not black-and-white.

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Bollywood

Used to be, Bollywood actresses were curvy. (Like it used to be here, come to think of it.) But alas, the U.K.’s Telegraph reports that Bollywood is shrinking:

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If these actresses were fat, boy, are we in trouble.

Here are a few quotes from healthy-looking actresses who’ve been through the ringer.

“To all girls with butts, boobs, hips and a waist, put on a bikini—put it on and stay strong.”
—Jennifer Love Hewitt on her blog in 2007, after being ridiculed for beach photos. (Less than a year later, she lost “18 LBS IN TEN WEEKS!” per US Weekly, though not because of the insults, she said.)

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