This morning I was watching the Today Show and there was a segment about this photograph that appeared in Glamor Magazine’s September 2009 issue. Basically the discussion was about the amount of buzz this photograph garnered. As I write this blog post, the magazine has received 366 comments, most of which are positive. The amazing thing is that the picture is not on the magazine’s cover, but on page 194. It is 20 year old Lizzi Miller who is a size 12-14. The size of the average American woman.
I take offense that this woman is called “plus sized.” She is NORMAL! She is AVERAGE! She is the size of the average American Woman. I much prefer the “full figured” moniker. On the TV show, America’s Next Top Model, Tyra Banks has dropped the term “Plus Size” and now uses the term, “full figured.” I think that’s great because these models have hips, full breasts and maybe a little tummy.
On one of the segments of Project Runway, the contestants were asked to design an outfit for their competitors mothers. Some of the designers had a fit because “they aren’t used to designing for fat people.” I thought, “One of those fat women is your mother – what’s wrong with you.”
My female friends and associates range from size 2 – 28. The majority of them being size 9 and up. Size 0, 1 and 2 is not the norm and in some instances it’s not even healthy. When I was in junior high school, I was a size 10. In high school, I was a size 7 but during my senior I got sick and lost down to a size 5. With today’s sizing charts that’s about a size 3. At 5′ 7″ tall, I was too thin at 118 pounds, size 5. My daughters saw some pictures of me at size 5 and asked if I was anorexic. My goal these days is to maintain a size 14-16, which as I age has become increasingly difficult.
It’s difficult to keep a positive self image when the media continues to tell us that any size over 5 is fat. It’s also not healthy for our children who want to emulate what they see on television, in magazines and on the runways.
I hope we are moving away from rail thin models and celebrities. DOVE has it’s Campaign for Real Beauty, America’s Next Top Model usually has a full figured model (one of whom won a few seasons ago) and now there’s More to Love with all full figured contestants. These are normal looking people. Are they good for ratings, I don’t know. But, they are good for us normal people who look like them.
nothing wrong with her body to me. i mean even i have a pouch i’m trying to get rid of – not to meet someone’s criteria, but for my own personal health and well being. and i need to tie my shoe, but it’s good to see woman who are not rail thin advertised all the time.
I agree w/Natural; and a sexy stomach that is not flat is even more of a turn on to many; good for her, and let’s see more of em!
Natural and Sonic Mike, thanks for stopping by. Isn’t it a shame that the media has placed so much value on being thin, that an average size person is perceived as plus size.