Pepsi has joined the fashionistas who say that a woman can never be too rich or two thin, unveiling their new Skinny Can at New York’s Fall 2011 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

PepsiCo Chief Marketing Officer Jill Beraud announced:

“Our slim, attractive new can is the perfect complement to today’s most stylish looks. “We’re excited to throw its coming-out party during the biggest celebration of innovative design in the world.”

For starters, the New York fashion industry is considered the least innovative group in the world, but that’s another subject.

Frankly, I’m so drained taking on the Vatican with their attack of Planned Parenthood this week, and fighting the men of South Dakota who wanted label ‘justifiable homicide’ a man murdering his wife for assisting her daughter in getting a legal abortion in America, that I just can’t take on Pepsi right now.

Lynn Grefe, President and CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association has weighed in on Pepsi’s new can:

“It is painful that a major Fortune 500 company needs to denigrate the majority of women in this country to sell their products. Most women are not skinny, nor should we encourage them to be anything but their own personal healthy size. Pepsi should be ashamed for declaring that skinny is to be celebrated.”

I’ve written countless pieces on the fashion-religious-political patriachy that is ruling women’s lives in America.

On the one hand, we constantly address America’s enormous obesity problem, which I believe is related to everything from too much addicting sugar in regular Pepsi to an American culture that tells women we’re washed up at 28, to the Conservative and Catholic morality police trying to take away our right to birth control while reminding us that good girls hate sex.

Sorry, but I gotta work on Planned Parenthood being defunded.

Truthfully, I wish Jill Beraud — who I know from our Victoria’s Secret days — fought that battle on behalf of American women, but American corporations don’t like public controversy, even if their women customers are losing every right we’ve won in the last 50 years.

Lynn Grefe was quoted in WSJ, she doesn’t care if the can is a donut shape. She’s fixated on the message to women, which was quickly dismissed by Simon Doonan, Creative-Ambassador-at-Large of Barneys:

“Oh, it’s so silly. ‘Skinny’ refers to objects — skinny can, skinny latte — not people.”

I might agree with Doonan if it wasn’t so blatantly clear how the fashion industry has changed the image of the beautiful woman, downsizing her from a model tall 4-6 to a size 0. Do I see intent in that fact? Yes, I do.

A more sensual, curvaceous version Sofia VergaraAnne of Carversville is on fire in terms of readers. We may cross half a million uniques this month — 38% direct — in an amazing response to my arguments and dot connecting issues of morality, fashion, and female empowerment. I have hit a nerve with women, no doubt about it.

Second wave feminists are understanding that if we don’t stand up for women, no one will. Our disempowered ‘Sex & the City Girls’ need a lot of coaching. Women’s rights and control of our bodies is in a crisis state for American women, and the Pepsi can is just one more example of it.

What follows is my writing on this axis of fashion-religion-morality-size 0 models. My most recent article — a then and now inspired by Crystal Renn’s near licking of Karl Lagerfeld’s boots caused me to understand how totally in charge men are of women’s bodies these days.

Gone are the great 1990s Supermodels who held their own against the guys. They were too powerful as were American women generally. Since then the image of the beautiful women has shrunk to nothingness.

I disagree with Jezebel as often as I agree with them, because Jezebel refuses to admit that American women eat too much cake, leaving us in a national health crisis. But we came together in my Crystal Renn having a Miss American moment with Chanel.

Jezebel was ranting against the beauty and exercise magazines, when Morning Gloria hit bingo:

Never stop wanting to be smaller than you are. Your ultimate goal should be to shrink to the point of complete invisibility. We should not be able to see you when you turn to the side.

These two images in my article, one of top 90s Supermodel Cindy Crawford (right) and new hot girl Emily Baker (left) give us a visual example of what we’re talking about. I call this the downsizing of American women by the fashion industry.

Before you jump, I’m on record countless times acknowledging the movement of the luxury market to Asia where women are smaller. Nevertheless, these images sum up my point in spades. Karl Lagerfeld insists “not an ounce of fat and no visible muscle.” Also, preferably no breasts for fashionable women.

Crystal Renn’s Miss America Chanel June 2010 coronation in St. Tropez resonates with many American women obsessed with our celebrity culture.

I’ll take Cindy Crawford any day, restating my view of fashion’s definition of strong, independent women.

The 90s Supermodels models didn’t begin to know how to kiss butt with such reverence.

America doesn’t tolerate strong women, unless they have Conservative values and can shoot straight.

The rest of us require constant management of a unified effort to keep us in line. That patriarchal determination to dominate American women is rife all over Washington this week, as Republicans and Catholic bishops remind us that we are ‘incubators’ to use former Rep. Stupak’s description of women.

One positive benefits is that when they take away our birth control so we make babies — if we are thin enough — we can stop menstruating.

Boy, that will fix ‘em. But then we’ll be force fed like in Figi or wherever it is. A girl just can’t win in America. Anne

Fashion & Feminism | Crystal Renn’s Miss America Chanel Moment