Jezebel 
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New York, 12:47 AM
Mon Nov 30
18 posts in the last 24 hours
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08/27/09
08/27/09
Matt Lauer, you blow hard!
08/27/09
08/24/09
I thought the real problem was the lack of inclusion of women (humans!) of all kinds. Christ. I almost wish that I cared about clothes so I could just start my own damned magazine, and show women in awesome clothes who are normal, and abnormal, different races, mixed race, tall, short, old, young. With different shaped noses. Magazine models always have beautiful noses, graceful ears. I want to see a model with ears that stick out!
You know in the art world, that's normal. Fashion is just too retarded and when they want to start making money on their fugly clothes everything gets messed up. That image someone posted on the woman with the red wrap is a typical art model. That's a world where the size 12 woman is queen. Maybe if ya'll feel bad about your bodies look at less fashion and more art. it won't make you want to buy stuff but it might make you feel good. it works for me.
/rant over. Thanks to Jezzies for your patience.
08/24/09
08/24/09
But I still must stand up and applaud for the use of a real body without protruding bones. I love how natural she looks. And no airbrushing!
08/24/09
Honestly I buy fashion mags to look at the clothes, not the models. I know my body and what looks good on it and what doesn't. How the clothes fit the model has nothing to do with how they will fit me.
And just because a model is being used that has my body type doesn't suddenly make me a better mother, wife, daughter-in-law, sister, or bookkeeper.
Why should this picture make me (or anybody else) feel better about myself?
I haven't picked up a Glamour in years. Do they still print articles about being An Independent Woman right next to articles about how to "catch" a man?
Re-reading my comments, it occurs to me that this woman has no clothes on, making my point a bit moot. sigh...
08/24/09
Also, I have no idea what does look good on me. And fashion magazines are not helping with that. So it's great that you do and can easily translate what you see to something you might wear, but not everyone has that. And your point about her being naked--a comment below even mentions that it would be nice to see women of her size wearing clothes. This is all about saying to the world--look, we have real women too! It's not about incorporating women of her size into the regular modeling rotation.
All this being said, a single picture (or a couple) is hardly a revolution, and I was shocked to hear she's a size 12-14. I know what size I am, and a part of me thinks, well if she's a size 12-14, I should look better than I actually do,m given my size. But whatever... baby steps, baby steps.
08/24/09
I mean, yeah, magazines are fun to look at for the clothes, but I think the broader issue is media in general and how women with little or no clothes have to be one size.
08/24/09
We're all effected to some degree or other. And there's a difference between knowing something on intellectual level, and how it effects you emotionally. For a lot of women, not meeting our beauty ideal has led them to face a lot of ridicule and judgment. And for many of them, it's difficult not to internalize the judgments of others. So when you see images of that ideal, it just reconfirms all the ways you don't meet it.
A lot of our culture as it relates to women is built around finding ways of promoting ideals, especially of beauty, that are narrow and limited. Just like it's not surprising that many woman feel alienated and "ugly" in comparison to the thin ideal, many black women feel the same way due to the white, blonde ideal.
So an image that deviates even a little is surprising and, for many women, encouraging.
08/24/09
"So an image that deviates even a little is surprising and, for many women, encouraging"
I hear what you're saying. I do. I'm glad some women find this encouraging.
But, being that we are all internet savvy here, I would think that we would be confronted with differing "images" of beauty every day.
08/24/09
08/24/09
And beyond that, our overall culture encourages a huge level of body commentary. The internet especially. It's rampant. From stars to just someone on the street, their are sites dedicated to tearing women down. It's become ingrained.
So, sure, sites like Jez are great because they actively seek to point out the flaws in this, and regularly showcase beauty diversity. But not everyone is viewing Jez, nor do most people have any idea why it's a problem to begin with. That's why this is encouraging, even if it's not really a drastic leap.
08/24/09
08/24/09
08/24/09
08/24/09
08/24/09
I do also applaud the use of a real woman. But most people in their twenties don't know how good they've got it! I look back at pictures of myself when I was younger and now laugh at things I used to think were "imperfections". Things only go downhill as you age I am afraid!
But I am also much more happy in my skin now. Maybe as I have aged I hve been able to put things in perspective? Maybe I just don't have time to worry? I don't know, but my body is probably the least like the perceived "ideal" it has ever been, yet I am more content with it than I was when I was young and more in line with the "ideal"!
08/24/09
08/24/09
Just thought I would clarify.
08/24/09
It isn't about waiting for someone's permission to accept ourselves. It isn't even about being recognized as beautiful. It's realizing that our worth is no more tied to being accepted as beautiful than it is to being of a certain caste or creed.
Yes, it's fantastic that the hierarchy of beauty is being widened just a bit to accept different colors, shapes, and sizes. And no, I'm not sitting around waiting for these distinctions and classifications to become less significant culturally. What I am doing is realizing that my worth lies elsewhere; that what is lovable and important and REAL about me lies outside the physical realm entirely.
Learning to forge an identity outside of my body was the biggest and most healing component of recovering from ED. So while it's rad that fuller, healthy bodies are a little more "in" right now, I don't really need them to be to accept myself. Nor should any of you amazing, intelligent, BEAUTIFUL women.
08/24/09
This is genuinely inspiration. Thank you so much for this.
08/24/09
The real world is out THERE and in your heart and mind, not in those pages or even in your own mirror.
08/24/09
08/24/09
I just learned the model in this picture is Crystal Renn, the woman who at the ripe age of 23 has already dealt with anorexia and is now (yep) a size 12 plus-size model. I've run across this picture in the last few months, and always always find myself transfixed for several seconds. Gorgeous.
08/24/09
08/24/09
08/24/09
08/24/09
But he just didn't believe it. He has completely bought into the myth that all people, especially women, can be tiny if they just "work at it" and that bigger women are that way because they are lazy and have "let themselves go".
That's why we need to change our perceptions. It's bad enough that women feel bad about themselves. What's worse it that our entire society has come to believe it's all just a question of discipline and will power, and see nothing wrong with perpetuating ridiculous and unrealistic standards for us.
08/24/09
08/24/09
08/24/09
What's so fucking FUNNY about my own self-consciousness is that I can look at a woman who is my same size or larger and admire her beauty and poise and fashion sense. And then when I look in the mirror sometimes, I wish my limbs were put together differently. What is that?
Also, maybe your man friend would get the message if you told him you thought any guy could look like Mr. Universe or Ah-nold back in the day. Because just like women, men have different body types - some are prone to be skinny, some naturally built, some thick and strong. Surely he must see that in his own friends.
08/24/09
As a size 14, I was disgusted when the receptionist overheard me discussing an upcoming 5k and said, "YOU run?" The implication being that someone my size couldn't possibly run.
Not only did I run...I came in fourth for my age group.
08/24/09
08/24/09
08/24/09
08/24/09
08/24/09
Yes! I have been noticing this SO MUCH lately! I'll find myself checking out a cute woman at the beach, or I'll get angry when a gossip blogger insults a celebrity I think is really gorgeous, and about a minute later I'm like, "Wait a minute -- but you don't find that body attractive when you're looking a it in the mirror, and you say that sort of shit about yourself all the time. What is wrong with you?"
08/24/09
08/24/09
And still--STILL--people drop hints about my not exercising, because I'm a size 14 and carry extra weight, so of course that means I don't work out, right? Just yesterday I met a friend of my sister's who made such a comment. My sister is small (size 2) and is a runner, and her friend said to me after meeting me, "You're more like me than you are your sister. I never exercise, either." I had to tell her politely that yeah, I work out almost every day. She seemed shocked, as most people do when I tell them that. The thing is--and I know I'm preaching to the choir here--my sister is naturally small, and I am naturally big. I am a size 14 person, maybe a 12 if I really, really work at it obsessively. That's just who I am. If I work out as much as I do and am still a 14, then that's what I am.
08/24/09
08/24/09
08/24/09
08/24/09
Really, what's important here is not her size, but her very reasonable comment not that her size is normal, but that it's normal for her.
08/24/09
08/24/09
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08/24/09
08/24/09
08/24/09
Which is the point. If the average size in this country is 12 or 14, why are we still calling that plus size? Why isn't that "regular" and anything below it "minus size" or some other other-izing term? I think Sputnik was reflecting on the fact that the standards- and the language we use to talk about those standards- are not reflective of reality.