Thursday, October 15, 2009

It's About Time!

I love the magazine Glamour...and last month, many of you may have seen it, a photo of Lizzie Miller, a plus-sized model (said to be a size 12) was shown on page 194...a 3"x3" photo that has left the fashion world gabbing...and thankfully most reactions have been positive.
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I remember first seeing this photo, and I said to DH, "Look at her, how awesome...and see, she even has a belly like mine" A little loose and hangy...mine from carrying 2 large babies and delivering them by c-sections. What a beautiful photo - of a beautiful woman.

After readers came across this photo, Glamour was hit with thousands of e-mails "They were filled with such joy–joy at seeing a woman’s body with all the curves and quirks and rolls found in nature. (Raising a question: With all the six-packs out there, do you even know what a normal belly looks like anymore–other than the one you see in the mirror?)"

And really, how many of us have been that girl? I know I have, flipping through magazines trying to find just one person who looked a little bit like me. And when I don't find it I start to think there’s something wrong with the way that I look. For decades, magazines have featured models who are sizes 0 or 2...which in turn makes the average young girl / woman look at their own bodies with disgust, hatred and envy...to be as beautiful as the models shown in fashion magazines.

When I picked up the new issue of Glamour last night I was so happy...inside was something that I have never seen in a magazine before. After all of the positive reaction of Lizzie's picture, Glamour has been making the effort to push the boundaries of accepted beauty norms this month with a photo shoot featuring all plus-sized models...in the nude!!!!!
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BEAUTIFUL!!!!


It's about time we see women who look more like the average woman, And Glamour has vowed to push forward by sending this message to young women especially those who are reading their magazine :
There are a million different ways to be beautiful. You don't have to be born pin thin. Whether you're voluptuous or lean, however you're made is the right way for you.

The simplest way to change the outlook on body confidence is to judge one another, and ourselves, less. Let’s start that change right now.


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1 comment:

  1. 14 years old, standing in the gym at my high school. Hearing the other girls beat themselves up about their bodies as 14 year old girls do. When two (the 2 most popular girls in my grade) mention how they hate how their stomachs fold over when they sit down. That they cant stand how they have 'rolls'. At that point my perception of what I looked like was massively, massively screwed up. At their comment I was filled with euphoria, for up until that exact moment I thought I was the only girl under 40 who had a stomach that rolled when I sat. I was ecstatic that these creatures who I though were perfect, had, in fact, bodies who did weird pouch things just like mine. Their stomachs didn't flex and their skin didn't retract to keep their tummies forever taught. They had skin that folded, JUST LIKE MINE. Did that realization keep me from having body issues that would latter lead me to fight obesity? No. I am still there, over weight and trying to love my body the way it deserves. But in that moment 15 years ago, I wondered if it just might be possible that I wasn't such a freak after all.

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