The People Have Spoken, And Glamour Mag Complies
Posted by: Erin Flaherty
Filed in:
style
11:10AM, Tuesday September 1st 2009
You say you want a revolution? Change is afoot at Glamour after the magazine has received tons of PR from its “shocking,” controversial decision to show a semi-nude plus-size model in their September issue. (Actually, they had shot gorgeous blonde model Lizzie Miller nude in the mag before, but this time, they showed a more “unflattering” angle highlighting her belly and the media went wild!) Naturally, bloggers had plenty to say on the matter, and Miller and Glamour editor Cindi Leive even made an appearance on “Today” to talk about how their readers were overjoyed to see a woman who wears a size 12-14 in the mag. Now it seems they’ve decided to milk the publicity stay true to what readers want by shooting another feature with plus-size women for the November issue: A “Page Six” tipster says famous curvier models like Kate Dillon, Jennie Runk, Amy Lemons and Crystal Renn are all involved. While a mainstream mag like Glamour certainly won’t influence hyper-haute fashion mags like W and V, they do have a huge circulation. Whatever their motives, look for their moves to be copied by similar ladymags soon. Are you ready to see less airbrushing and more normal-sized women or what?
TheFrisky.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network
amber
wrote on September 1 2009 @ 10:28 am: [report]
What do you mean by normal sized? I know that most of the country is overweight, so will that be the normal they are showing? What about a woman who is 5 or 7? To me, that’s more normal that a 10 +. I’d like to see someone middle of the road, I don’t think we need size 00 or 16+ in magazines.
Erin G
wrote on September 1 2009 @ 10:40 am: [report]
I’m still irritated that they call this woman in the photo “plus sized”. Give me a break. According to doctor’s, I’m at ideal average, healthy size, and this woman is still thinner than me.
betty123
wrote on September 1 2009 @ 11:04 am: [report]
Actually the average size is size 14. Therefore, by definition, her body size would be considered normal. Everyone is all like, what is normal? Well, normal has a definition which is the range surrounding the mean(average). There you go, it is a normal body.
And I think to say that she is a “Plus size model” doesn’t have to mean that she is plus-sized per say. But in the modeling industry she would model plus-sized clothing so it would be accurate to say she is a plus sized model.
I think everyone is too sensitive about terminology. Focusing on little details like that does not address the bigger picture that, yes, she is beautiful, and there is a place for bodies of all shapes and sizes in women’s magazines. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
Raugiel
wrote on September 1 2009 @ 11:11 am: [report]
She looks healthy - deffinatly not overweight! The important part is not that she is a size 5 or a size 14. I for one, would never fit a size 5 because my hipbones are just not that flexible. From her looks, it appears like 12-14 is right for her, at her height and with a healthy weight. The important part is that she DOESN’T look like she had to starve herself to get into whatever she is modeling.
bogart4017
wrote on September 1 2009 @ 12:52 pm: [report]
I wouldnt say she is normal(thats such a relative term and i hate it). Lets say healthy????
hlnbabe
wrote on September 1 2009 @ 01:31 pm: [report]
@Amber: Perfectly said.
Casper
wrote on September 1 2009 @ 01:41 pm: [report]
I wouldn’t say she’s plus size in that clothing size here, that size is considered the norm in the UK. I like that she looks confident with her body and that she’s confident enough in herself to let them print a picture where she has a belly, that alone is beautiful.
I really don’t care if they show thin or bigger models as long as they look healthy and are in proportion to their height, what i don’t want to see is unhealthy models that either need to eat or do a bit of exercise, I’m a plus size girl and yes it’s nice to see bigger girls are getting the chance to model and it does make you feel better that you can look good but on the other side it’s making the unhealthy weight acceptable instead of bad for you. Like someone already said, they need a happy medium.
Aidra
wrote on September 1 2009 @ 06:31 pm: [report]
Casper, you do know they’re talking about a US 12-14 which is a UK 16-18, right? I wonder if she has lost a lot of weight or had a baby? Maybe it’s because I don’t carry my weight in my stomach and haven’t seen many naked women to see a variety of bodies to know what is “normal.” I think she glows and she looks great. A size 14 can look drastically different from woman to woman. I saw this lady on TV and she does not look plus size. I don’t consider 12/14 plus size. I say, if you can find it in the Juniors section at most stores, you are good. If anyone ever goes on Torrid’s or Lane Bryant’s websites they’ll see a size 12/14 available in most of the clearance items because those sizes can be found at a lot of other stores, like H&M and Forever 21, even designer brands sell 12s. Why shop at a plus size store when you don’t have to? But I will agree with a lot of people commenting: Why only show either size 0-2 or 12-18? What about all the very normal and common size 4-10?
fallonthecity
wrote on September 1 2009 @ 08:33 pm: [report]
I think this is great and all, but the problem with “average” is that it doesn’t represent all of us. I wear sizes 12-16 depending on the brand and cut of clothing, so it does represent me… but I hope someday that industry will break out of having a “normal” size for fashion, and represent bodies of all sizes. “Average”, very small, very big. All sizes. You know?
purplearies
wrote on September 1 2009 @ 10:01 pm: [report]
Amber, a clothing size does not denote if a woman is “normal” or not. That is pure ignorance on your part.
We need ALL shapes and sizes, because that is the true “normal” here. We’re all individuals - let’s start embracing that concept.
lindseyhoos
wrote on September 2 2009 @ 08:48 pm: [report]
Not everyone who is skinny starves themselves to be skinny. I am 5’9’’ and 118 pounds. Right this second I am eating a double BLT. I don’t understand why it is socially acceptable to beat up the skinny girls. I can’t make statements about big girls without being labeled or mean, so stop beating up on the skinny girls.
lahnne
wrote on September 2 2009 @ 11:20 pm: [report]
@lindseyhoos; I don’t believe anyone was beating up skinny girls here, just discussing how “average” is subjective (and girlie, you ain’t exactly average with those measurements) and how good she looks.
I think it’s great that “midlevel” fashion mags (Glamour, etc.) are trying to diversify their models. Smart move, too, since it’ll probably end up expanding their demographic.
Erin G
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 08:12 am: [report]
@lindseyhoos: I liken skinny-girl-hate to jokes/comments/whatever about white people. Its okay according to our culture to hate on those who have it the best, be it the “privileged white” or the “privileged skinny” (especially the ones to say “I eat and eat and eat, its my metabolism” as if its going to make the average-to-bigger girls feel better). When I’m referring to “white bashing”, think Chris Rock comedy.
People have differing opinions on if its alright to make negative remarks, either as mean jokes or mean comments, about those who have it better. I’m more or less on the fence about it, because while I am on the higher side of average (5’6” 145 lbs.), I’m also white, so I’m on both sides of the issue.
casablancas
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 03:37 pm: [report]
Who cares about sizing and terminology? People are too obsessed with comparing themselves to one another. The important thing is the fact that Glamour, and hopefully other magazines, are taking the first step towards presenting women as they are, not as popular culture and gender stereotyping dictates.
Sweet Cheeks
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 04:16 pm: [report]
Now being a little “healthy” myself (5’5” 135 lbs), I’m all for the magazines using more plus size models. I believe all women are beautiful in their own way. However, the picture of this girl is not flattering her figure at all and isn’t something I’d like to see in a magazine. But, don’t get me wrong, I’ve reacted the same way to those super skinny models that don’t look appealing.