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Compounding the persistent cultural emphasis on skinniness is the fact that actresses are increasingly replacing models as designer muses and spokesmodels (Bosworth, for example, represents Revlon) and are feeling heightened stakes when they turn up at awards shows. "When you're walking down [the red carpet], there are truly like 100 photographers, and you do want to look your best," says Curb Your Enthusiasm's Cheryl Hines.
The result can be a saturation of relentlessly thin images from movies to magazines. "Young girls see celebrities losing weight, and the more famous they are, the more weight they lose," says Costin. "It creates a climate that says it's unnatural to be a natural size."
In interviews with PEOPLE at malls across the country, most teenage girls rejected Richie's body as "nasty" and "too skinny" but acknowledged that she and other stars serve as style role models. "Nicole's body is gross because her skeleton shows," says Kailey Koepplin, 17, of Eden Prairie, Minn. Other teens said they admire healthier-looking stars like Jessica Simpson ("She has cute clothes and she doesn't show too much"), Beyoncé and Jessica Alba ("She's tiny, but she's not too tiny").
