02-05-11, 03:37 AM | ||
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Lund, Sweden
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Quote:
The issue of "fatness", "obesity", "plus sizedness" etc. is an extremely complex one because body composition and appearance have been taken as a symbol of so many other things-- mainly about who qualifies as "good", "hardworking", "healthy", "attractive", "worthy", etc. and who's "bad", "lazy", "unhealthy", "ugly", "unworthy", etc. Non plus-size models embody the dominant ideal of beauty in our society (which is not to say that they represent everyone's ideal). BUT there are other standards of beauty and large groups of perhaps "plus sized" consumers that the fashion, cosmetics, travel, and other industries want to reach. Modelling is all about selling something after all. Hence plus size modelling. I think wearing any clothing size is "okay". Beauty and worth don't depend on what size a person is. And health depends less on it than we are often led to believe. The idea of anyone purposefully avoiding exercise just so they can become a plus-sized model sounds a lot like the fantasy thinking of teenagers. Even very large plus sized models exercise and take care of their health in other ways. Teenagers have a lot of issues about their own body shapes no matter what those shapes happen to be. Larger teenage girls suffer even more. I think the key is something you've said in one of your earlier posts. What's the difference between just another overweight teenager and a plus sized model? If you're a plus sized model, does that somehow magically make being a larger size "okay"? Well in this girl's mind it clearly does, and that's why she's claiming that identity. There are a lot of other people telling her in subtle and not so subtle ways that she's not okay. That's sad. And clearly it's not having the "desired effect" of making her feel ashamed enough to conform. |
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02-05-11, 08:48 AM | |
VF Supporter
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Paris of the Midwest
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I think I get it now, too. Thanks for explaining, Tyt.
I would say that sizing, particularly in women's sizes, is so arbitrary that it can't be used as a measure of anything. Not your overall desirable size, weight or level of fitness. The fashion industry is messed up. I also have three sizes of clothes in my closet and my weight is pretty stable. When I see someone post (or say, IRL), I am a size eight, or four, or fourteen, I always think, how do you KNOW that? And modeling - whether plus sized or runway or fashion modeling - is a whole different world. I don't think you can draw any conclusions about weight or fitness from that world at all.
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Suze How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.” - Author Unknown, but definitely not me. |
02-05-11, 10:36 AM | |
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Ohio
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See, this is why I'm glad I cancelled cable. MTV is not a good source of information on, basically, anything.
Almost all commercial television is designed to sell products, especially "reality" shows. There is money to be made in playing upon people's fears, and very young women are susceptible to these fear tactics. If you don't look a certain way, you could never be a model. Well, why make that a life goal anyway? Really, models' lives look kind of horrible to me. Even looking at the "glamorous" parts of it, they're traveling all the time, they're posing for hours at a stretch... even fashion shows seem kind of dull and hectic at the same time, which just sounds awful. Who wants that sort of life? And being constantly hungry to boot? If one is fearful that men only want "models" to date, that's also a huge myth. If you polled ten teenage boys about who they find attractive, you would probably not get a list of ten fashion models. Honestly, I don't watch reality shows anymore or buy any women's health/beauty magazines anymore, and you know what? My self-esteem is all the better for it.
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peace.tranquility.calmness.serenity |
02-05-11, 01:33 PM | |
Join Date: Sep 2010
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I think all of us on VF know that fitness and health comes in many sizes and shapes. And that's great, if we all looked the same it would be a boring world. From the tone of many threads it seems that most of us are interested and motivated by all the health reasons to exercise and also many are at least a little motivated by the aesthetic reasons and hopes of achieving or maintaining the look they desire.
However this does to me see to be a relevant topic or there would not be so many replies to the original post. Body image and whatever ideal someone is comparing themselves to is very relevant to health and fitness. I remember as a teen who was not at all overweight comparing my measurements to the ones fashion magazines reported certain models having and as a result believing my hips and chest were disproportionately large. If I were comparing myself to more of a range of people well I probably would have noticed they were not, but I felt extremely self conscious. I also remember watching the olympics and thinking that the female figure skaters looked fat! (Yikes! I see them now and think they look strong and very lean. I am not sure what my eyes recognized as fat on their bodies). I actually wonder if it might be a little better for teen girls now as there seem to be more variety in body types and ages represented as beautiful though looking at the models I am not sure that fashion has caught up. I personally think that exercise, fitness and sports are part of the answer to this as for many girls and women these things help them see their bodies as functional and also changes the aesthetic they prefer. But it is a touchy and complicated issue (and do disrespect to any women with a model type build as health, beauty and fitness comes in a lot of ages, sizes and shapes including the thin, long model type and many others too).
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Feeling Fit, Bit by Bit My fitness/lifestyle blog: http://www.feelingfit.info and books/entertainment sharing: http://slysamenjoys.blogspot.com |
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