So.
Glamour magazine has a new mission: make sure everyone knows that bodies are beautiful at every size.

It started in our September issue with a small photo of Lizzie Miller sitting au naturel*—confident, sexy and clearly unconcerned about a little belly overhang. We loved the photo, but it was just one of more than a hundred of full-figured women we’ve run in recent years, so we were surprised when it hit a nerve. “This is true beauty!” wrote one commenter on glamour.com. “A woman that eats!” Added Megan Fehl, 23: “Because of my own belly, I always thought I was some deformed woman, but not now. Holy hell, I am normal!” And in the words of another reader: “I’ve struggled with eating disorders and body image since I was 12. Seeing this picture is the first time I have felt good about myself and comfortable with my body (just the way it is) in a very long time. Thank you for the self-esteem.” Full article here: http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/2009/10/these-bodies-are-beautiful-at-every-size

Now, while I'm sure some of you may not care about whether high fashion takes notice or not (I'm not a very chic person, myself), but I can not explain how much this means to me. The average designer makes sample clothes, sizes 00, 0, 2 and 4. Anything past 6 is considered "plus-sized," which means a lot of women aren't able to wear them. This means that celebrities, who--let's face it--people look up to, have to lose weight to fit into these sample sizes. If they don't fit them, they don't get the dress. Major celebrities can sometimes be cut a break, getting dresses made in their size as a coutesty. But, for the most part, the small size is shown to look like the "right" size. The "perfect" woman.

They are soooo wrong. All women, at any size, are beautiful. You obviously want to be as healthy as possible, but a size-16 does not necessarily equate to "omgmajorobesityshe'sgoingtodieahhh!" Some women are just built differently, and the point is to allow everyone the opportunity to love themselves, just the way they are. Tall, short, big, little, flat, flabby, whatever!

Anyway! I just had to share.

*The photo that started it:


And the photo that will be in November's issue, celebrating beautiful women:

P.S. I am NOT saying these women are big to ANY extent.
Compared to the majority of women in America, they are either average-sized or smaller (I believe these women are size 10-18).
All I'm saying is that any attempt at change is change, and I appreciate it. It's a step in the right direction.

They are so beautiful. Calling them 'plus sized' is ridiculous; they're obviously healthy and not at all fat!

yay! it's about freaking time that magazines start using plus size models. i'm not plus size or the typical stick model, i'm about the size of these women which is AMAZING! whenever i looked in magazines there would either be super skinny models or plus size, so i always felt left out. this is really really great!

Thats just crazy.

This makes my heart smile :).

Me too, Lauren. :)

another thing I love about this... They aren't tan! Some of them are pretty pale and I love that!

This is AWESOME!!! Im so glad things are coming around, for us non- super thin girls... the size 00 is too skinny, and very unnatural.... I love this though, it made me smile. Thanks for sharing. :D

Gosh, yo! Those women are huuuuuuge!! How do they live with themselves!? hahaha! Nah. They still look like size 4s to me. Other than the good boobs! It's rare to see size 4s with decent boobs, yo! But they all seem very slender and beautiful. Of course they love themselves, they're all HOT! That's not really the average norm... so I'm not sure what Glamour are trying to prove!!! hahaha

The point is that most women in magazines are tall, lithe women. The curvier women in this article, with a bigger waist and some flab represent a larger demographic of women that have been pretty much ignored by the media.
These women are size 10-18, I believe, which is "plus" sized by industry standards.

I agree... this is SO not the norm... they're all gorgeous!

Definitely! I'd hate to think what it does to women's esteem to have images of "REAL WOMEN" and "NORMAL WOMEN" projected to them who are all absolutely gorgeous and slim.
With size 0 models I'm sure most women suspend their disbelief and are all "Ok. No one is that thin! That's stupid! These are airbrushed! And Anomalies!" But now they're being told "LOOK! THESE WOMEN ARE REAL! THIS IS HOW NORMAL WOMEN LOOK!" That seems way more dangerous because it's implying that if you don't look like those hot young women up there then you're not real and you're certainly not normal.

Honestly, you would be surprised what the size 0 models (and they do exist, portruding bones and all) do to a little girl's self-esteem. OR all the women in the US (and around the world, really) that have eating disorders or work out obsessively to look just like them. If people could so easily dismiss those super-skinny women, fad-diets wouldn't be such a ridiculously huge business. Weight Watches, Atkins, South Beach, Zone, Nutrisystem, diet pills like Hydroxycut, etc.
There are always going to be women who are more attractive, that's why they end up being models. The whole point of the article, though, is to show that there isn't just one, size 2, stick-thin body type. They aren't "normal" women in the sense that they are all average-looking, but they ARE normal in that they have bodies with a little flab, which most women do.

It's a bit of a stereotype to say models cause EDs... I am sure they exacerbate them but they are way too complicated to have just one cause.

I'm not saying they cause them DIRECTLY. But they portray the general image that that is how women are "supposed to look."
A lot of models (not all, obviously) even have eating disorders themselves, to try and stay that way.
The only point that I was trying to make is that it isn't as easy as just dismissing them as skinny anomalies.

It's ridiculous to consider anyone over a size 4 plus sized. Hell if I could fit into a size 12 I damn sure wouldn't consider myself plus sized. The size I am now is plus size. Stupid ass media and their constant ridicule of women.

I agree.
I couldn't fit one of my THIGHS into a size 4, let alone my bust or hips.
Good thing I don't rely on big fashion names to clothe me, I guess?

Good lord, when I was in high school and wore a size 12, you could see all of my ribs and my hip bones popping out! :(
With my frame and whatnot, a 14-16 would be my ideal size ;D

Yes, this is true - like, so much depends on a person's body frame. I have been googling this elusive size 0, and I have found the following two size 0 girls:

This young girly, who, while thin, looks pretty healthy and in proportion for her tiny frame and young age:



And this woman, who, with her taller, wider frame, looks positively skeletal and ill:

Fucking nice!

Oh that is nasty.

eugh! McDonalds anyone? ........this isn't healthy either! ^^^^^

You know I used to be a size 0 before I had a baby & I HATED my body. But now at a size 7 I LOVE it! So being a size 0 isn't everything it's cracked up to be. I love my curves now!

Exactly! People don't realize that a size can't be a standard. Different body types call for different weights and sizes, just as a person can weigh a large number and they carry the weight well and you'd never believe they weigh what they do.