Beauty: Is Thin Really Still In?
April 17, 2007
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:
Isn’t it time that beauty of all sizes is acknowledged equally, particularly in the fashion industry?
Entry Filed under: Diane Pellini, Liis Windischmann, beauty, body image, clothing, fashion, gorgeous, hot, model, plus model, plus size, runway, stunning pakistani model, weight, women. .
25 Comments Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
1.
Clement | April 18, 2007 at 1:20 pm
I think as long as designers still love thin, thin will still in….
2.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:49 pm
monoymono, Princeton, New Jersey, United States; Yesterday, 10:06pm:
For me, this can’t be generalized – some women look good while weighing more, some don’t. Fluvia is a serious chunker, for example, and I’m quite sure she’d be more attractive if she were thinner.
3.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:49 pm
gogumby, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States; Yesterday, 10:07pm:
I visited most of the links in your post. I think the women are all attractive – body-wise at least. I won’t say I found all of them pretty, I’d be lying. But they are normal women and they are attractive. My personal preference is not for super-thin like most ‘top’ models try to be, though I do tend more to slim than rounded women. Just my thoughts – it’s a good topic for thought.
4.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:49 pm
coolmoedee345,Houston, Texas, United States; Yesterday, 10:10pm:
Well, there’s a difference between fat and large. I tend not to be attracted to fat people because they’re, you know, fat. Not at all toned. Flopping about the place, as it were. All the women I followed the links to were not fat. They were just bigger than, you know, those scary thin women. But I would honestly think of most of the ones that I see there as “thin” unless I’ve got the wrong sense of scale here, and even then I’d still find them attractive for the most part.
5.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:50 pm
kcsapper, Lees Summit, Missouri, United States; Yesterday, 10:19pm:
I am attracted to divergent types. I will freely admit that Audrey Hepburn- when she was young- Knocks my socks off. I think it was a combination of her size, smile, and rapier wit though. But she was remarkably thin. Although Betty Page was really smoking as well, and she was not thin, just not obese. I think therein lies the crux of the issue, Obesity is not generally considered attractive unless you live in a Polynesian island chain where it shows that you are a rich man to have such a large wife. Blame society, blame the magazines, or just blame it all on Bob from Cleaveland, Ohio – that’s what I do.
6.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:50 pm
angelynne, Marietta, Georgia, United States; Yesterday, 10:29pm:
i’m not a boy, but i have to say that first model was just HUGE *rolls her eyes*
7.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Yock, Fairfield, Ohio, United States; Yesterday, 10:38pm:
You know, thin can be sexy, but there’s more to it than appearance. I know a few thin women that I find physically attractive, but when I think about what they must do to maintain that shape I start to understand why they’re so unhappy. Why should she starve herself half to death, or bruise your ankles on a treadmill because she won’t stop? No way, I don’t want a woman like that in my life. Let me meet a woman who is happy, adventurous, and confidant in her shape. If that shape happens to be curvaceous and womanly, that’s just a bonus.
8.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:51 pm
VMashuga, Russellville, Arkansas, United States; Yesterday, 10:41pm:
She’s a size 16? o.o They all looked good to me, body-wise. And most of them weren’t what I’d call ‘curvy’ or plus-sized. 12 isn’t huge. ): Those super-thin models are bloody scary. ._.
9.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Kosh_Naranek, Orlando, Florida, United States; Yesterday, 11:09pm:
I prefer not to be able to count the ribs of girls I’m dating. Curves rock. And the obsession with skinniness in the fashion industry has, in a way, backfired. Back in the early days of fashion, designers noticed that people tended to look at the models (who back then were definitely curvy..This is the age of Marilyn Monroe and Betty Page) more than the clothes. Being clothes designers, they didn’t like this. So they started hiring incredibly skinny girls to be, essentially walking clothes hangers whom, it was hoped, the public would ignore in favor of the clothing. Instead, the public latched onto the skin-covered skeleton look as the new ’sexy’ and we’re just now starting to turn away from that.
10.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Ashcans, Atlanta, Georgia, United States; Yesterday, 11:32pm:
Well, I think coolmoedee is well on the mark. A lot of it is in being healthy. Some people are just bigger people, and it doesn’t stop them from being very attractive. What does bother people more is actually unhealthy weight. I think you’ll find that ‘thinner is better’ isn’t entirely accurate, because there is a lower end of this where almost everyone recognises people as being unhealthy and it becomes very unattractive. The problem is that we have specific images we idolize (ie, a certain person) and in trying to imitate that individual people get into unhealthy territory.
The other part of it is confidence and carriage. Someone who carries themselves with confidence, who is happy and proud of how they look, is immediately more attractive than someone who is permanently worried and anxious — even the latter is closer to some arbitraty measurements. Most people can be sexy if they feel sexy about themselves. All the girls you linked to have that in common.
11.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:53 pm
redgryz, Kent, Ohio, United States; Yesterday, 11:38pm:
While I can’t deny that the model mentioned at the beginning of this post has a gorgeous face, I really don’t find her that attractive. I’ve always preferred curvier women for a plethora of reasons, and think the obsession with thin within this culture has been unhealthy for quite some time. I’m not saying that many people, including myself, couldn’t stand to lose some weight… But when I’m being told that my ideal weight is 184 lbs, there’s just something disturbing about that, to say nothing of what most women are hearing. So the long in the short of it is, BRING ON THE CURVES!
Oh, and one more thing, there’s also a movement within the actual world-wide modeling industry to stop allowing models under a certain weight on the catwalk. I can’t begin to express how happy that turn of events makes me.
12.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Ashcans, Atlanta, Georgia, United States Yesterday, 11:44pm:
I meant to add this to the end of my post but I forgot. It’s not exactly about weight, but I think its relevant: http://youtube.com/watch?v=2UYIbOHIQW0
13.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:54 pm
llorenth11, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States; Yesterday, 11:49pm:
I can speak as someone who appreciates women with real curves. I am quite glad to see the fashion industry and advertising changing. The changes seem slow, and reluctant, and on the fringe, but they are still real changes. The fact is that for ANY body type, from ultra thin to morbid obesity, there are people who will find that body type attractive, or they might relate to that body type somehow. Human beings have a remarkable range of shapes and sizes, and the media in general does an extremely poor job of representing that range, or even the average. This misrepresentation results in people thinking they are at fault for their proportions, when usually they are not. Affected individuals also think they are somehow hideous because they don’t fit the mold of beauty presented to them. Most of TRUE beauty comes from within, from the personality, and is a social phenomenon – charisma, really. The fashion model who is a bitch is generally unattractive to those who know her.
14.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:55 pm
mars2026, Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States; Today,12:09am:
Curvy girl on her way to fat girl because she doesn’t have the self-discipline to eat right or exercise? No thanks. Curvy girl who stays curvy because she has that discipline? Yes please. (Naturally?) Thin girl with toothpick arms and legs because she’s anorexic or doesn’t work out? No thanks. Thin girl with lissome muscles because she takes care of herself. Yes please. Self-discipline in one’s body can carry over to self-discipline (fidelity) in a relationship.
15.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:55 pm
stevarino39,Casselberry, Florida, United States;Today, 1:09am:
I think one big point everyone is missing is that in the world of modeling it’s not about the model. These women’s jobs are nothing more than clothes hangers to showcase whatever style a designer has chosen. Models are not supposed to be hot or attractive, they should just showcase the clothes the best they can. Some designers simply prefer size-0 models because they find it lets them define the curves. This is not a big moral catastrophe (well the anorexic models are, but honestly that’s their own fault for having a skewed perception of value).
16.
adkgirl06 | April 18, 2007 at 3:56 pm
I agree with that on a lot of levels, stevarino, but try telling that to a 13-year old who worships Elle and Vogue and see if she “gets it.” That’s why this is a serious problem.
17.
Mike J. | May 17, 2007 at 9:55 am
Are you kiddin’ me? The model Fluvia is danm hot! LA needs more of that! Yeah there is a difference between obese and just biologically meant to be curvy. Non of these models look FAT to me, thats just ridiculous how women in general are mentally killing themselvs about this crap. Super thin is aweful, no man is attracted to that! Fat isnt healthy, and people obviously should exercise and eat healthy, but to say these women are FAT?? OMG. Screw the world of fashion. I’d much rather have something to hold on too than hug a sack of bones.
18.
Tejinder Singh | June 6, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Still is there thin all over
19.
Sarah | June 23, 2007 at 1:59 am
The comments express here about how “fat” people look is still a stark reminder of how far we have to go in society.
A person’s body size says NOTHING about who they are as a person. That is ridiculous and false. I don’t “flop” in public either.
Saying that people who are obese are not attractive is also a flat out lie. What universe do you people live in anyway?
Women are meant to have fat. It’s biological. Models are the abnormal women – and so are the people who would pick them over normal people.
20.
shezi | August 23, 2007 at 1:42 pm
i think we shouldnt concentrate this sort of thing we should focus what is imperative for us
thankx
21.
kazy | August 27, 2007 at 2:04 am
this is a nice pic no all comment
22.
Linkie | September 13, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Curves rock. Thin is out.
23.
Zeeshan | May 2, 2008 at 2:28 am
It is very nice thind to give sugestion i appritiate this thanks_
24.
big and tall | August 3, 2009 at 11:59 pm
A change is coming .. you see a lot more catwalks with plus size people parading down them ..
25.
Bryan - After5PC | August 31, 2009 at 2:57 am
I still believe in “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”
My wife is somewhat on the plus side… but she’s beautiful!