Beauty: Is Thin Really Still In?

There was a recent popular post on wordpress about a stunning Pakistani model. I’m not going to argue: the girl is beautiful, unique and very attractive. Some of the comments left on that article, however, really disgusted me. One reader wrote that they “prefer not to see size 13 women” because they are “not inspiring.” Not inspiring for who, may I ask? Anorexics and bulemics?

I’m writing this post because it horrifies me that the obsession with extreme thinness is still so prevalent–not just in the fashion industry but in the popular opinion in general.

The most popular dress size in North America is a size 14. And let’s face it; a lot of these women are beautiful. They’re your mother, your sister, your wife, maybe even your daughter. Why support an unhealthy and (for most) unattainable image of beauty?

Luckily, there’s a countermovement in the works. The majority may not know it, but there is a burgeoning “plus” (read: normal) sized fashion and modeling industry growing around the world, and particularly in the United States. Even major modeling agencies like Ford are establishing Plus divisions throughout the country.

http://www.walkthecatwalk.com/ offers insight into the fashion industry and their demand for size 0-4 models, and puts forward a challenge to print magazines and designers to begin to subvert this. Turn on your speakers–there’s an introductory inverview with Liis Windischmann and Diane Pellini, both phenomenally beautiful models that challenge the standard definition of beauty.

If you have any doubt that normal sized women can be both stunning and beautiful, I suggest you check out the Fenomenal Calendar online. Click the corner of the calendar to turn the pages and see a year’s worth of beautiful, average-sized women.

Plus models are also beginning to be featured occasionally on the covers of prominent fashion magazines. A handful are starting even make a name for themselves. Fluvia is a perfect example. Check out this stunning latina model’s website here.  Just so you know, she’s a U.S. size 16.
Here are some others:

DLo, with Elite

http://www.suzlyons.com/

a photographer who does a lot of plus work-you’ll notice how alarming the occasional straight size model looks thrown into the mix

Isn’t it time that beauty of all sizes is acknowledged equally, particularly in the fashion industry?

Ford CEO Rakes in $28M for 4 Months on Job

I know news like this shouldn’t throw me into a state of incredulous disbelief anymore, but it still does. From a CNN article, see the full article at the link below:

“Struggling Ford Motor Company, which posted a record $12.7 billion net loss in 2006, gave its new CEO Alan Mulally $28 million for four months on the job, according to a statement filed Thursday. The details were made public as Ford moves ahead with plans to close plants and cut more than 30,000 hourly positions from the company in an effort to stem losses.”

http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/05/news/companies/ford_execpay/index.htm?cnn=yes

According to the poll on the article webpage, 20% voted that this $28 million, 4-month compensation package is “appropriate if he can turn Ford around” while a staggering 77% thinks it’s “inappropriate no matter what he does.”

If this is truly the case, why do obscenely large corporate bonuses/salaries still remain standard in American and international companies? If the common workers don’t like it, shouldn’t they try to do something? Mobilise? Anything. I mean wow, that’s horrendous. These people at the very top of corporate hierarchies are largely figureheads, and not a whole lot more. What do you think can be done?