I don’t normally follow Glamour, but even I wasn’t immune to the furor over the fat model in this current issue. The small picture was part of a piece entitled “comfortable in your skin” and I suppose the girl definitely looks that way–comfortable. What I don’t understand, however, are the people who are rushing to say that this is some watershed breakthrough.
I think this woman has a very pretty face, but her stomach looks like the after product of a gastric bypass. I don’t think it’s beautiful.
I understand the impulse some women have to laud “normal” bodies as beautiful, but why? Do we claim an average song to be a masterpiece? Is Milli Vanilli on the same plane as Mozart or even Madonna? This woman is pretty, don’t get me wrong, but I think fashion exists to fulfill a fantasy. I am frankly sick of the politically correct women seeking to make an idol over any woman that looks like she hasn’t been to the gym since No Doubt was on the Billboard 100.
To me, this woman is not regular sized. She is fat. I don’t think that we should encourage women (or men, for that matter) to let themselves go in this way. I think it’s endemic of our culture where over-consumption is encouraged. Girl needs to put down the Big Mac and enroll in a pilates class.
UPDATE: Since I am getting a lot of spirited feedback, which I think is great since a dialogue definitely needs to be had on the subject, I pose this question: How would your perspective change if this was the girl your boyfriend left you for? Would she still be a pristine beauty or might you become a bit more cynical? Just a thought.
Moreover, I am not disputing that she is pretty. I don’t, however, think that her body is beautiful. That’s just my opinion and you can take it with a grain of salt as I am not attracted to women anyway. I think that models look best stick thin. I like my Agyness and Coco Rocha like I like my toothpicks.
how many times do you go to the gym? just because you’re naturally built like an elf doesn’t mean your healthy.
I don’t need to go to the gym precisely because I’m built like an elf. I am not talking about health in this post, anyway. I’m talking about beauty.
” I think it’s endemic of our culture where over-consumption is encouraged. Girl needs to put down the Big Mac and enroll in a pilates class.” hmm sounds like health to me
You ARE partially talking about health. You say she is FAT, not that she is lacking beautiful. You say for her to put down the Big Macs, that is implying for health reasons. You ARE talking about health, whether or not you knew it. I’d like to see you get your arteries checked out and see what’s hiding in them. You need a serious reality check.
*beauty, my bad.
While I agree where women need to remain a healthy size, make smart food choices and maintain some degree of physical activity we need to visit the other side of the coin. Although I do not know any models personally, I would bank that most of the size 0 or size 2 models would also benefits from making smart food choices and allowing themselves to eat, reduce the amount of cigarettes and alcohol consumed among other things. We live in an inbalanced society and unfortunately there are no true winners in this debate.
The model is a pretty girl – no double chins and has nice arms and can cross her legs. Yet, the belly ends up being the target of this conversation. However, most (not all) end up looking like this after a birth of a child as well. When can we let ourselves be who we are. Is there something wrong with a model being able to represent women who are size 12 as well? I understand Gucci, D&G, and Chanel will not run out to this market, but it would be nice for someone to.
Adrien, I love reading your articles and I couldn’t agree with you more on this one!
There are plenty of counter arguments that can be made concerning the definition of beauty you are positing here. Clearly you see beauty in very narrow terms, and seem to suggest that there is some objective, true bodily beauty that this woman doesn’t fit into. Just looking at artistic representations of bodies via painting, drawing, and photography throughout history reveal that what is considered a beautiful body changes, dependent on social, cultural, and market trends. Beauty isn’t static; there is too much variety in the human form for it to be. And this is just in Western white culture, the body you find beautiful is probably not the body other cultures find beautiful.
But, what I find interesting about this post is the analogy you draw to music. Pop music has only very recently considered something capable of ingenuity and genius. If you can comfortably juxtapose Mozart and Madonna and say these two artists of genres at opposite poles are capable of creating brilliant music, it seems that you should be able to find beauty in a wider variety of forms.
You are reprehensible. Just because you’ve bought into and invested yourself in a socially acceptable opinion of “beauty” it does not mean that that is it, period. “Beauty” comes in many different forms and is different to every person. This isn’t a skinny vs. fat controversy. This is a “women are told they must look a specific way or they’re worthless” controversy. You spout off about masterpieces and Mozart, but really…you’re saying a size 0-4 (etc.) are the only kinds of “masterpieces” there are in regards to women. And the rest of us, what? We’re trash? We’re the Milli Vanillis of human existence? If we’re going to stick with the “art” comparison, let’s keep it going shall we? Say every woman is a work of art. Some paintings are considered beautiful for their angelic pictures, for their awe-inspiring images. Some are considered beautiful for their pain, for the darkness they portray and the horror. There are DIFFERENT types of beauty. The “regular sized” woman has been, for quite some time now, above a size 6. It’s a fact. That doesn’t make her obese. That doesn’t make her unhealthy. While I agree that fashion exists to fulfill a fantasy, I believe that’s where this body idolization (in regards to either full-figured women or skinny-minnies) must end. Yes, the fashion world holds standards of beauty in a different regard to the “real world”. But that’s because it IS a fantasy which people invest millions of dollars in time in trying to replicate. I love fashion and I love the fashion industry. This is not an attack on either of those things. As a size 8 woman, this is not a misplaced case of low self-esteem rage, either. This is a commentary on the fact that derogatory terms like “fat”, in regards to a perfectly normal woman (and YES, she is normal. I’m not certain what kind of people you surround yourself with but she is QUITE normal), are what are most damaging to our society and it’s constant desperate need for perfection. I could go on and on about the affects your words have on teenage girls, their perceived body image, woman’s rights, hell, even human rights, but it’s cliche and we’ve heard it all before. I just want you to be aware that you don’t come across sounding like some honest martyr. You’re not trying to tell it how it is. You’re trying to tell people your opinion on beauty is the only one…or the only acceptable one at least. And for someone who puts themselves in the public eye and whose blog and writing is so inextricably linked to their career, you’d think you’d be a little more eloquent and persuasive in your point than simply saying “She’s fat. Gross.”
How do you know she hasn’t had a baby? Even if she hasn’t, many many women look like this after a baby even though they are back down to their 121 pound weight (hint hint guess who I’m talking about). That is extra skin, not fat. No amount of time at the gym will fix that. Surgery will and that just isn’t an option for many people. You really should educate yourself before start spouting off about fat and health.
I know she hasn’t had a baby because I read the article on her. Do you think the extra skin is attractive? That’s my point and that’s why women do often opt for surgery when it is a possibility.
I’m 18 years old, and a size 0, and even I’m offended by your interpretation of this woman’s level of beauty. It’s not about size at all. With a few weeks of crunches, she’d have that little pooch conquered, and she’d be even more gorgeous than she already is. She has the confidence to pull off whatever current flaws you think she might have. I love the fact that you use Mozart and Madonna as comparisons in the same breath. I think you need to go perfect your vain little self, and then come back and talk to us. In case you didn’t know, perfection doesn’t exist. You judge much too harshly my friend.
I think she’s gorgeous, with her extra skin and “plus size”.
Its people like you that make the majority of people in this side of the world feel like crap because they’re not size 0. Grow up.
I completely agree. And good for you for braving the minor shitstorm that this post will surely generate. The very meaningfulness of words like “beautiful” depends on their limited applicability – if everyone is “beautiful,” then no one is.
Actually, this woman looks like she has had a child. I realize that someone above mentioned that she hasn’t but this is typically what a woman’s stomach looks like afterward, and sometimes permanently. There is usually nothing that can be done without surgery.
My question to you, Adrien: would the fact that she had a child change your view as to whether her body is beautiful? Because I think it might say a lot about men’s perceptions of women who have children.
Your view on overconsumption in America is skewed because you fail to consider how socioeconomics plays a large role in the way we fed ourselves. I’m not saying this is true in all cases, but certainly in many. It’s probably fine to you to make fun of the fat people in Wal-Mart, right?
My answer to you – what I would think if my mate chose her over me?: I would likely be upset if my mate chose anyone over me. She happens to look like a kind, happy, confident person, by the expression on her face. I would feel more threatened by that than feel bad because she happens to be bigger than me. A woman with confidence is much sexier and attractive than a bony person without it.
No, Maya, it wouldn’t change my view. It makes no difference why her body is like that. I don’t find it beautiful. I understand that everyone feels like they have a right to the term beautiful, and maybe they do, but that doesn’t mean that I have to see beauty the same way.
yeah, amen
I think that you have a valid opinion, and you support it well. It is somewhat pointless to argue whether she is beautiful or not because: 1. you have made it clear that in your opinion she is not beautiful. 2. Others have made it clear that in their opinion she is beautiful. 3. There is no real objective measurement for what is truly beautiful or not, nor should there be one. People have different tastes for a reason. If your not attracted to her, than more ‘fat’ chicks for me.
My only issue is that you say she is not normal sized. The average size of women in the US is 163 lbs for a 5’3″ woman. [ http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/aprilholladay/2006-12-04-size-age_x.htm ] I agree that beauty is not currently revered by the masses as what is the ‘everyday’ but what is the ‘extraordinary’ (and for some, therefore, superior), but we should still have a firm grasp of reality. If skinny beautiful models are what you prefer than that’s just as fine as someone who loves one who is morbidly obese but neither of these is an accurate representation of reality. I would hate for women to feel that their bodies (whatever aesthetic or health value you or others may attribute to them) are not normal.
And to add a gratuitous feel good message to the end: We should all learn to love and appreciate ourselves, mind and body, regardless and in spite of the opinions of others, while striving to achieve our best selves.
Lizzie Miller is a professional model. She is paid to look good. So if my boyfriend left me for her, my reaction would be…my boyfriend left me for a model. What’s the point you were trying to make?
You’re probably right from one angle, though. Fashion models might look best thin, because then they don’t obstruct the clothes. (I don’t agree with that line of reasoning–I prefer fashion that showcases ME, not fabric, but I see why designers prefer models that don’t interfere with the line.) But this model is obviously not a fashion model, or at least is not being used as one here. There are beauty models and parts models and catalog models and runway models — and a zillion types of beauty to match each.
If fashion only served to be a fantasy, then your statements wouldn’t be problematic. But fashion isn’t just a fantasy; the fashion model’s silhouette is superimposed on every single woman in America, and the majority of us are found wanting. We’ve elevated the fashion model to a place of idolization, so suddenly what should merely be a source of pleasure for those who care about fashion becomes a source of pain for the average American woman. The comparison of an average song being considered great isn’t quite right; it’s more that if you put, say, “Stairway to Heaven” into 19th century Austria, when there were inordinately strict rules about what music should be, Led Zeppelin’s great song suddenly becomes something abhorrent instead of totally rockin’. We’ve restricted our definition of beauty in the same way, so that instead of this beautiful woman being seen as beautiful (as is Agyness Deyn and the like), she’s a controversy.
Okay, Adrien. In response to my question, you say that it makes no difference as to why a woman would look like this (e.g. if she had a baby or a thyroid condition or not). You admit that she is pretty, but her body, in your opinion, is not beautiful. You state that it’s not a matter of health, but rather, of beauty, but yet you ramble onward about how our culture encourages over-consumption and that people need to stop eating Big Macs. Which really is funny, considering that you’re a drone in the fashion industry, which encourages consumption to fill the latest fad and voids in people’s lives — except that it’s not funny because you’ve made yourself appear to be a total hypocrite.
I get the view that women’s fashion magazines are supposed to be this fantasy-lala-world that show women what their “best” could be or should be, but I don’t fully buy it. Many women look like this and feel wonderful about it; many women look like this because they’ve gone through child birth; many women look like this because they have an endocrine disorder. Many women look like this and they go to the gym. While I agree that the US needs to become healthier (men and women), you can’t just accuse someone of being unhealthy because they have a flap of skin on their stomach.
Fashion can and should play a fantasy role that includes any type of woman. The more your kind of thought process is reinforced, the worse women feel about themselves, because they anatomically cannot look like Lily Donaldson. Do you care about that, Adrien? I’d like throw that out there for discussion – do you, as a gay male who is not attracted to women, care about the psychological effects the current state of the fashion industry has on the average American female? Why or why not?