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Finally, a modeling competition in which contestants will be required to have a little meat on their bones. Re/Dress, a boutique for plus-size women in Brooklyn, N.Y., just kicked off a modeling competition, reports the New York Daily News. The catch? The call for models starts at size 18.
In theory we're all for it; we're just a bit confused by all the body-image absurdity these days. Shall we review?
-The fashion industry refuses to look twice at a woman who's one potato skin past a perfect size 4. In fact, they prefer perfect 0s. Or any women who resemble a "hanger," the famous fashion dictate which says that clothes look best on a woman whose body most resembles the wire accessory.
-- When a size 10-ish model with tummy pooch appeared in the September issue of Glamour magazine, the response was so rabid, she was quickly rechristened "the girl on page 194," and the magazine vowed to be the first to include more models who reflected "real women" in its pages. We sighed: Finally, a model who looks like us.
-- Despite that pledge, two months later, Glamour featured famous plus-size model Crystal Renn in a dress she didn't quite seem able to zip up. And we argued that most of the models the magazine deemed "plus-size" were actually smaller than the average American woman, who is a size 14.
-- Now, one of the first modeling searches celebrating real women and their curves skips over the sizes 12, 14 and 16 -- and jumps straight to 18 and up.
We ask: Is promoting women who are size 0 -- or size 18 -- beautiful or irresponsible? And why can't magazines -- and anyone who's going to send women down the catwalk -- select more models who aren't at either extreme?
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Wednesday 10 February
By Michele
Let's see..........larger sizes have been put down for decades, but don't say anything negative about thin ones?! Typical BS. Being a larger size doesn't mean that they are "fat" or overweight. Growing up, I was the largest of all my friends and family members. No one had to call me fat, I felt that way everyday, because I didn't look like those around me. When I got into my 20"s and into the real world, I noticed that a size 14 wasn't fat or obese! I weighed 135 lbs. and looked fabulous. But, still I had to buy my clothes at the big women specality stores, for I was a size 14. Thank goodness, it's not the way anymore! They have a long way to go, but large women should be represented in a positive way. Large & healthy beats thin & bulimic, hands down.
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Wednesday 17 February
By Heloo, wake up! bY: Corry
No one has anything against the "large and healthy" BUT, let's be honest, we would rather appreciate nice looking models that are able to keep their weight to a limit, than the large ones who simply "feel good" . NO offence but no one asked you if you feel good in your own skin :P The topic was another one. It's all about business here, it's about look. Good Luck sales.(like the big fake boobies filled with silicone that -btw- i'm totally against, these women have no ideea how much they'll suffer later) It's a fact. THe models have to be a "model" for the people that watch them, and i dont think this is easy.
I'm not talking now about anorexic models or crazy obsessed women that look like skeletons. I speak about women with long legs and good proportions. AS an example i could give you Beyonce. She's not skinny. But no one can deny that she looks just Gorgeous! Where would you include her? in the LARGE and healthy category? think again ;)
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Wednesday 10 February
By Alice
Okay, here's the thing. People in magazines and in movies are not *meant* to look like the "average" woman. I'm not saying size 0 stick insects should dominate the glossies, but I don't want to see an "average" size 14 woman modeling "average" clothes just like I don't want to see one of "average" age, with "average" skin. If I wanted that I could look out of my window.
Also when you say the average woman is a 14, consider the age range of this average. Most people put on weight when they're older. Most women in magazines are in their teens or twenties.
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Thursday 11 February
By Dee
The point of the "AVERAGE MODELS" is to sell more clothes......So they are targeting all of those people that are the average size....Why would anyone want to see size 0 models when the majority of the people can't fit in these size 0 clothes? It's about being real.....and hopefully also letting children know that being big can also be "beautiful." Unfortunately, not everyone has the same opinion. There will always be some person attacking another individual for being "FAT" or "SKINNY" - Men love all sizes of women, and I believe that women are ones who label the most....and are their biggest enemy!
Thursday 11 February
By rori
there is nothing wrong with average.i'm a size 18, i'm healty and i think i look good. i also ride a harley. i do believe we as a society have done our children wrong by letting them think that whats on the runway or catalogs is how they should look. we have all types of people with all types of styles. i also believe we should teach our children how to eat and not starve themselves. our children already have enough issues at school trying to keep up or trying to be cool.half of these models are addicts of some kind. if not to chemicals or licquor then addicts to keeping them selves from eating healthy. and i also believe that if you take off all the make-up... well that's a different story.
Wednesday 10 February
By Rob
Sometimes women are just large. My wife has played soccer for 15 years of her life, can run 10 miles a day without a problem and all of her blood work comes back UNDER what it should be (cholesterol and such) and yet she is a size 18. No matter how hard she diets and exercises she doesn't get any smaller. I think she is a beautiful woman and in my opinion any woman under a size 12 is not attractive. I am not a fan of skinny girls and think that most models out there look very unhealthy. I don't think that someone being a size 1 or 0 and weighing 90 pounds when they are 5'10" is healthy at all. Just as some women are predisposed to being skinny some women are predisposed to being "plus-size" and I definitely think that most people don't realize that.
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Wednesday 10 February
By belinda
Rob, You rock! Your wife is a lucky lady!
Thursday 11 February
By marianne
Hey Rob:
I agree YOU ROCK!!!! MY HUSBAND LOVES ME NO MATTER WHAT SIZE I AM!!
TO ALL: I am a big woman and we are just like all of the thin ones, we all have issues to deal with so just accept us for who we are and not what we look like or our size. Come on, get over it already size is just a size, if you don't like someone's size that's your problem, we all have enough to deal with in life, someone's size is their business. Thanks.
Thursday 11 February
By B.B.
YOU GO ROB!!! I AGREE WITH EVERY WORD YOU TYPED. YOUR WIFE IS ONE LUCKY AND BLESSED LADY! LOOK AT THE HEART AND SOUL, NOT THE WEIGHT. LOOK BEYOND THE SIZE. LOOK DEEPER.
Thursday 11 February
By Anne
Bravo, Rob! The thing I notice most is that plus sized women usually end up marrying great guys like you. My daughter is size 18, she lap swims every day and she found a guy who loves her for what she is, not what she could be. While it doesn't address their personal issues of wanting to lose some weight, haing the support from men like you means everything. You are a gem for speaking out.
Wednesday 10 February
By relative sizing
Who's putting anyone down? The "coat hanger" remark is a reference to another quote explaining why a really hot and really thin woman got rejected for being too fat. People are so hyper sensitive.
Anyway, this is getting ridiculous. Soon there will be more weight/waist sizes in runway modeling than in boxing. Why don't people just accept the fact that the modeling world is bogus and that nobody wants to look like a runway model anyway. That way with this size 18+ contest, women will be so disgusted they'll start losing weight.
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Wednesday 10 February
By Jenni
Oh good lord not this crap again. Why are these articles still being written?! Both large and skinny women have been insulted for centuries because who doesn't like to pit insecure women against one another? Remember a time when being rubenesque was the end all of hotness? (That's every century before the 20th century) Remember Marilyn Monroe and Liz Taylor? Hot. That said there are people who are naturally rail thin and HEALTHY. Also, there are larger women who are plus size and HEALTHY. Then there is the smaller group of people who have eating disorders that are harmful (obese or sickly skinny). The point is to stop making idiotic and insecure distinctions between people just because they may be different than you. Women of all shapes are beautiful. I think that it is refreshing to see plus size models among the mix. However, this EVIL size 4 keeps being brought up and...golly that's my size! It MUST mean that I'm shallow, self absorbed and/or annorexic right? Get over yourselves. If it makes you feel bad stop looking at fashion mags so much. T
Thursday 11 February
By Nicole
Tell me what is so disgusting about an 18+ sized women? I think being as thin as a stick would be more disgusting. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a little meat on your bones. People strive to be thin because they see skinny runway models on television. I think it would be great to have a plus size runway show. It will show people there is more out there than just being skinny. Sometimes it just consumes ones life to where they binge to be skinny thats not healthy by any means. I have been plus size almost my whole adult life. I am 6 feet tall and by no means "fat". It hurts my feelings when people make fun of "fat " people. Imagine how they feel. I don't care if you don't care about what I wrote I just wanted to say something.
Wednesday 10 February
By queeriam
The day size 18 is referred to as extreme is the day I walk with a little more weight on my shoulders. Seeing an ever present need to pretend that one understands "why" the fashion industy is allowed to get away with encouraging judgement, humiliation, and discomfort within one's own skin is completely mindblowing, and unacceptable.
The majority of the women I grew up around wore at least size 18, worked constantly in their gardens, played outside with children, walked everywhere and never once sat on a couch with bon bons. But being "blessed" with bosoms of fury, and rotund bodies didn't seem to phase them as being anything but the norm. The way that statements made by almost every facet of modern public media now impact the very soul of each woman of size, and the judgement of woman based on a non-existant norm is disgusting.
Now, it seems that all of the info that we need to tell someone's life story is a few descriptive firebombs... ex; this woman is an obese lazy lost cause that no one would ever want to date or love, so why should this fat-bottomed girl get in a twist when their guess jeans don't fit?"
The issue should not be how extreme being a size 18 is, and how its crazy that someone would think women of size can rock the hell outta some vintage clothes. The issue is this: People's bodies are different. When we forget that, shit gets dangerous. People get hurt, not just feelings.
Love your body, and encourage that love amongst the women around you. Shake what your momma gave ya, whether its a little, or a lot. That's the only way anyone, thin or thick is ever gonna be happy.
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Tuesday 30 March
By Jaime Newcombe
Queeriam,
Well said, if I could hug you right now, I would!
Thank you,
Jaime
Thursday 11 February
By AfroTitty
If the author of this article took the time to RESEARCH the model search, they would have seen that the boutique in question is partnering with the 18+ division of Plus Model Magazine. Thus the invitation to women who wear a size 18 or larger.
This article is size-hating and misinformed.
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Thursday 11 February
By Kim
I just have to respond to one comment posted:
"Why don't people just accept the fact that the modeling world is bogus and that nobody wants to look like a runway model anyway. "
I would have to disagree with that somewhat, sure we know as we get older that they are not the ideal size so to speak, the biggest thing about always picturing the size 0's is thats what all of our young impressionable teenage girls see on the cover of every magazine they get when they go to read about their latest celebrity crush. It's almost as if it sends a subliminal message to them at a very young age that a size 0 is the way you need to be in order to be popular and acccepted. Therefore it can promote very bad eating habits and disorders. I'm not saying they should all be thin or they should all be fat, I'm saying they should be what is healthy for them without the pressures of the media. Let's face it a size 0 can be just as unhealthy as a size 20. It's not about putting one side down or the other, there should be variety to help show our children that it's ok to be who they are and that people are different in many ways.
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Thursday 11 February
By susansdjewel
I do not find fat attractive, in any way. I do not find skinny attractive in any way either. However, with that said, these sizes depend soooooo much on body type and height.
If you are 5 feet tall wearing a size 20, you are fat. Simple as that. If you are over 5'8" wearing a size 0, you are too skinny, simple as that. We try to make rocket science out of all of this when really it is common sense.
If we take a look at celebrities (and I only use them because people know what they look like), I do not consider JLO fat or Beyonce or Scarlett Johansson. They are nicely curved women. I would die for either one of their bodies. On the other side, Kate Moss, Terri Hatcher, Amy Whinehouse, Kelly Rippa, I think not!
Kirsty Alley, Oprah, and the 'Precious" woman are fat! No two ways about it. I don't want to see them modeling clothes.
There are beautiful 'large' women, but these woman do not have rolls of fat,thunder thighs, double-bubble butts, and stomachs hanging to their knees!
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Wednesday 07 July
By brita
ur a asshole ya some pepole are big bt ur just rude
Thursday 11 February
By susansdjewel
I forgot to add that I am overweight and there is nothing attractive about it! When I was younger- much younger- I wore a size 12 and I am 5'5". It was a PERFECT size for me. I still had curves, did not look fat at all and was complimented on my shape many, many times. I had an hour-glass figure and was proud to display it.
Today, I am fat, and I am realistic enough to know it, and not pretend this larger me is ok. It is not! I FULLY realize that at my height, the size 18-20 is NOT attractive and having someone like me model clothes would be absurd! Now, if I were 5'10" or more, I might look good enough to do it, but clearly not at this my height.
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