Jezebel 
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New York, 10:01 PM
Mon Nov 9
52 posts in the last 24 hours
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09/15/09
I think if we stopped photoshopping even size 2,4,6 models, it could increase self confidence. Because then we could acknowledge that no person (no matter what size there are) is perfect.
That's my two cents for the day....
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I think a start would be using plus size models in children's media. It's all well and good for Glamour to show us "real" tummies, but I worry most about young girls and the ridiculous images they absorb. I think if they were shown a variety of sizes that were all held up as desirable - not just the pretty thin girl and her chunky brainy friend - it would be a big help.
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Since the runway samples usually go to either a PR firm or the sales showroom right after the show, the sales reps and buyers are the only ones to see them before the orders are "cut" (this is when the clothes are actually made to order; and most designers only cut the sizes that are ordered). As such, (and from experience) when sample sizes are larger, buyers often complain, "Ugh! That looks too boxy/baggy/[insert complaint here]", based on the appearance of a larger sample.
When I would work with buyers, they would literally pass over items that were cut in a 4 or 6, because it "didn't look right"...even if they were actually ordering those same sizes for their store. This of course, leads the reps to ask the designers to only cut samples in a 0 or 2 because they can't sell from a size 6 or 8 sample collection.
09/15/09
09/15/09
I think you're assuming a competence that used to be there but really isn't anymore, particularly among the "but Ah'm a desyyyynah" types.
(Full disclosure - my grandmother was a dressmaker so good
1) she could look in the Bloomingdales catalogue or NYT and reproduce clothes just by looking at the pictures, and
2) her workmanship was so exquisite I can still wear a blouse -- with covered buttons -- that she originaly made for herself.)
09/15/09
09/15/09
Its no wonder women develop eating disorders! We need to be told that it is okay to eat and it is okay to be ourselves. Eat a balanced diet, exercise, and accept the body you were dealt.
It has taken me so long to realize this. I've done Weight Watchers numerous times, only to regain 3Xs the weight I lost every time. I finally had to accept the genetic makeup I got from my grandma and realize that having chocolate cake every once in a while is fine as long as I enjoy my broccoli and work out too!
09/15/09
But first, I'm going back to WW; it makes me accountable. I refuse to believe that I am destined to be this size for the rest of my life; my dad is a Type 2 diabetic and has changed his life, and my arthritis is much worse with the weight.
Of course, that box of tootsie roll mini-chews I just ate is not helping.
09/15/09
personally I love WW - it helped me lose my baby weight but in the end I found it to be a big mind game - scrutinizing everything I ate and drank. The positive is that I learned how to add quickly and I was able to gauge the total points of a latte and LF coffeecake from Starbucks!
I go back and forth if I want to join - I sometimes feel the vanity of if I lost this much I can lose another 10! But lately I see ladies like Crystal Renn or Christina Hendricks and I'm okay with myself and I know I look foxy in a sweater set and pencil skirt!
09/15/09
Even losing the 40 pounds I want to lose puts me 20 over my original weight, which I know is impossible to get back to (I have a thyroid disease). But I know that carrying weight in the mid-section is the most dangerous place to carry it - and where I carry so much.
09/15/09
If you're feeling this down on yourself, I suggest finding a therapist who specializes in body image issues, and possibly eating disorders. They tend to be more sensitive to weight related concerns and can really help you get perspective. Or you could try an nutritional therapist, who can help you find a healthier outlook/habits with food, but also towards your body.
No amount of self-loathing is going to be good for you. And this level of hating your body is not good. We would never talk to a friend the way we sometimes talk to ourselves. If you can, try to be kinder to yourself.
09/15/09
Speak the truth, Crystal! It's not about seeing all super-skinny girls, or all super-curvy girls in fashion- it's about seeing all girls that are doing what feels right for them. The bodies of some women naturally gravitate to size 0, while other women might settle around 8, still others 16, and so on. The moral of the story isn't "Be plus-sized", it's "Be yourself".
09/15/09
Thank god for out-spoken, healthy models like Crystal Renn.
I'm about to meet up with my under-weight mom and sisters who all have extreme eating disorders and I'm feeling high-anxiety.
I've battled EDs in the past. But, for the last few years I've been ok/happy with my body.
Lately, a new medication has caused me to gain weight. I'm still in a healthy range, but over 20lbs heavier than I've ever been before. The anxiety I'm feeling about my new shape and esp about meeting up with my fam. is intense.
I'm so anxious, I just used my tax returns to go out and buy some killer clothes for my new rounder body (your welcome, fashion industry.) just for this vacation with family. I hate that I need props to even approach feeling comfortable with my fam. and not sliding back into unhealthy habits.
So, ahem, thank you to Jezebel and to Crystal Renn for this post and article.
Positive reinforcement and all that. :)
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09/15/09
But I think in general, most of the criticism of dieting on Jezebel and by bloggers like Kate Harding tends to focus on the degree to which we have a culture of dieting, where you are either a size 0 or you are actively trying to lose weight through diet and/or exercise. My company has a lot of "get healthy" initiatives that tend to take the form of "Let's all join Weight Watchers!" or "Let's all commit to lose as much weight as we can by November!" That's fine for the people who share those goals, but for those of us who don't, we are often chastised for not participating or even for eating sweets at the office. My director has a lot of food issues and eats an extremely restricted vegetarian, no-sugar diet. Which she often breaks and then feels terrible about. And she takes out her frustration by constantly commenting on what the rest of us are eating.
So while I don't think anyone should be made to feel bad for dieting, I think we should all be more aware of how talking about dieting and losing weight a lot can start to affect other people in a negative way.
09/15/09
The point of discussing dieting is really to critically look at it. Because it's a huge industry with a specific agenda, and because it's part of our larger beauty culture. And the truth is, a lot of the diets currently out there, encourage unhealthy restricting and obsessive food habits. They encourage, at the very least, disordered eating. And the truth is, they don't work. Drastically cutting your calories is generally not something you can maintain forever, nor is it healthy to view foods in moral terms of "good" and "bad". The diet industry is based on the yo-yo effect, or the perpetual diet. And there's compelling evidence that dieting is the real culprit in our issues with maintaining healthy weight and body image.
Most nutritionists will tell you that diets don't work. Because they're not sustainable and require a lot of food restrictions that aren't practical or healthy. If a person wants to change they way they eat they're better off seeing a nutritionist and finding what areas of their diet they can improve on (add more veggies, lean meats, healthy fats, carbs) than they are obsessively counting calories.
I think the only point this site has ever made is that individuals can do what they want. But they should have all the information.
09/15/09
I don't think anyone is saying don't try to eat healthy or don't work out. They're saying don't put your faith in diet plans that are essentially designed to fail.
09/15/09
I put those words in quotes because, though we feel like our life choices are our own, they're likely shaped by influences and constructs of which we may not be aware. "Diet" is a broad term. Does it mean an XYZ-calorie per day intake? Does it mean an attempt to generally eat more veggies or give up soda?
In many contexts, a "diet" is a means to change one's body. And we should be asking WHY. Health? Or thin-ness? Both? I think it's hard to separate social pressures and aesthetic conformity from the mindsets and decisions that produce "dieting." And that's what people want to talk about, and rightly so.
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However, I don't think a comment in general about the statistical likelihood of success, or a column discussing such likelihood should be considered an attempt to mock or demean dieters. Perhaps I am wrong.
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09/15/09
You now know "The Secret": if you don't believe you are beautiful, no one else will. It's a mind/body connection. If the inside is rot, the outside will mirror that reality eventually by giving you the face you've earned.
And yes, both you and she are very, very beautiful!
09/15/09
I read a lot of old Russian and European novels and historical nonfiction, and it's always amazing to me to read descriptions of beautiful women having sensual round shoulders, plump arms, etc. Did you know that Marie Antoinette wasn't considered sexy until after she got a little older and had children, after her figure filled out? It's one thing to hear that the very thin, very young beauty standard wasn't always there, it's another to look at Crystal Renn.
09/15/09
By the same token, on vacation, I was freaking out about wearing a bikini. But once I saw a 70 year old woman strike confidently by in hers, I felt better about myself.
It wasn't an "thank goodness I'm hotter than her!" moment. More a "She's comfortable and happy with herself. I want to be too."
Also, I use too many "quotes".
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Mmmmkay, I'm right with you: swimming in a bikini makes you feel a lot less "on display" than sunbathing (which I'm too pale for anyway). I got my bikini at the "serious surfer girl" store (no Roxy string thing to prance around in, but a substantial LOLE suit to hold up my boobs) and it makes me feel ready for action, not reactions...
09/15/09
09/15/09
Your genetics, not my genetics.
09/15/09
should be able to find some better fitting
jeans, regardless of your genetics.
09/15/09
Doesn't it ever feel like, I don't know, like everyone has an opinion on what you should do/eat/look like? Up to an including this? But it's usually based on what THEY look like.
/semi-serious rant
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Everybody eats differently and has a different body. I personally think that dieting is a waste of time, but we all have to define for ourselves what constitutes a diet, what measures we are willing to take to be at a certain weight and what kind of lifestyle we want to live, etc. There is also a point where these behaviors can clearly be a disorder, or are negatively impacting our happiness and well being.
09/15/09
And sure, everyone does. But in this case it's meant to build up, not tear down. It's said to let people know that it's not the diet, or you. It's the unrealistic expectations we internalize and beat ourselves up with.
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09/15/09
You raise such a good point. I think the collective culture is so used to feeling a distinction in size ranges is somehow necessary, that it's ingrained and, by many (myself included until I just stopped and thought about it), assumed somehow relevant.