Magzne pics shock w/ model vs plus-size model disparity

[Bliss]

Magazine editorial reveals shocking disparity between sizes...

Published January 12, 2012
| FoxNews.com

Photo courtesy of PLUS Model Magazine.

A size 6 is now plus-size in the fashion world, and most runway models meet the physical criteria for anorexia, according to a report that offers shocking insight into the disparity between models and the real-life women they are purporting to represent.

In the January issue of PLUS Model Magazine, plus size model Katya Zharkova and a straight size model are seen in the nude in an attempt to “open the minds of the fashion industry," which is stepping further away from reality, according to PLUS founder and editor-in-chief, Madeline Figueroa Jones.

The magazine reveals that some of today’s plus size models are wearing the same size as models Christie Brinkley, Paulina Porizkova and Cindy Crawford at the height of their fame in the 1990s. Zharkova, 28, wears a size 14.

The photos appear alongside statistics about today's sometimes dangerously thin straight size models and the continuously shrinking frames of plus size models.

Among the revelations: “Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8 percent less than the average woman. Today she weighs 23 percent less” and “most runway models meet the Body Mass Index physical criteria for Anorexia.”

When Jones first saw the images, shot by photographer Victoria Janashvili, her reaction was immediate and emotional.

“I nearly cried,” she told Fox411.com. “The images were submitted to other mainstream magazines and while they loved what they were seeing, they would not publish them. When they came to me, there was no hesitation on my part. I knew this would be amazing for people to see and that if we added the correct statistics, the impact would be powerful.”

And powerful it was. When PLUS model magazine published a blog post, boldly titled “Plus Size Bodies, What Is Wrong With Them Anyway,” it spread like wildfire.

The post asks why the fashion world is afraid to cater to plus size women in advertising, but is willing to accept their dollars.

“This is not about healthy vs. non-healthy women,” Jones tells Fox411. “Because if that was so, most of the models on the runway in New York and Paris would not be walking. Not eating for days at a time can’t be healthy. But I don’t see anyone proclaiming how unhealthy it is and yanking them off the runway and denying them fashion.”

Jones added that the feature is simply about “those plus size women who do embrace their size and want to be treated, marketed to and accepted as equals.”

The response to the blog post blew Jones and her team away. It received more than 300,000 hits within the first days of being published, as well as more than 7,000 Facebook shares and more than 1,000 on Twitter.

“The statistics and photos in this article have had a global impact,” Tulin Reid, Executive Marketing and Creative Director of PLUS said in a statement. “As a plus size fashion magazine, we are thrilled with the results as it expands the conversation that we have monthly between advertisers, designers, readers and the modeling industry.

“We are not advocating an unhealthy lifestyle, but the right to have as many fashion options as the next size 2, 6 or 8 woman,” Jones said. “There are all sorts of epidemics right now besides obesity, which include cancer, auto immune diseases and a myriad of eating disorders.”

Most of the comments on the post have offered support of the message and include shared accounts of painful shopping experiences.

Still, the response hasn’t been all positive and Jones admitted that the experience was an eye-opener for her.

“I knew that we would get some backlash but I did not expect for plus size women to be compared to drug addicts,” Jones said. “Some of the feedback was so bad, we couldn’t even approve it for the public to see. But we want the conversation to happen because it gives us the opportunity to help them see that this is not a health issue. It’s an equal rights issue.”

Read more/more photos: http://issuu.com/plusmodelmag/docs/plus_model_magazine_plus_size_january_2012/61

I appreciate where Plus Mag is coming from...just a call to recognize that many women not only cannot live up to what is expected of them visually, but to give thicker women their recognition and respect.

 

[Bliss]

Here is a comparison of what many in mainstream circles tease as 'fat' or a "doughnut away from spreading."

And a fitness model....
Miss Texas Kendall Morris in the 2nd round Lifestyle and Fitness competition of Miss America,
where she won a $1000 scholarship in Las Vegas.

While both look good in their own way, only one continues to get respect.

Coco.

 

[GFunk]

The modelling world is fucked up. Don't find most runway models that attractive.

 

[Sin Mari]

I'm in lust with Amber Rose. She's so goddamn sexy!!!

 

[Soulthinker]

Kunoichi,those people who said those women are fat are mentally deranged. They looked good and normal. If pick-up stick legs and no butt are fashion items boy it will be a tragedy.

 

[JordanC]

I hardly look to the modeling industry for advice on body matters. You can never tell what's real with all the airbrushing anyways.

They take perfection bodies and airbrush them......ie. Jessica Alba, Jennifer Anniston and Demi Moore all have been highlighted as having their pics messed with body wise.

 

[Iggy]

What is the avg dress size in the United States? Isnt it like 14 or 16? Thats fuckin huge. There is definitely a weight problem in the US(and other places as well)

I dont see the point of this article at all. Yeah, most models are skinny. Ladifuckinda!

Still doesnt change the fact that there are tons of fat chicks in the United States

 

[JordanC]

What is the avg dress size in the United States? Isnt it like 14 or 16? Thats fuckin huge. There is definitely a weight problem in the US(and other places as well)

I dont see the point of this article at all. Yeah, most models are skinny. Ladifuckinda!

Still doesnt change the fact that there are tons of fat chicks in the United States

I think you are close I think I read a 12 or 14. With vanity sizing those women are buying size 0 or 2 though. The scale doesn't lie though, even if the clothing industry does with their sizing.

 

[Ches]

Runway models are thin because clothes move and "show" better on very slim bodies. They shouldn't be held up as the benchmark of beauty for women.

There is such an obsession in this country with the only-thin-can-be-sexy standard for women. When's the last time you heard a guy ask a buddy "Does my butt look big in these pants?" When's the last time you heard of a guy binging and purging or starving himself? When's the last time a guy worried if his woman would still find him attractive if he gained a few pounds?

 

[Sin Mari]

Runway models are thin because clothes move and "show" better on very slim bodies. They shouldn't be held up as the benchmark of beauty for women.

There is such an obsession in this country with the only-thin-can-be-sexy standard for women. When's the last time you heard a guy ask a buddy "Does my butt look big in these pants?" When's the last time you heard of a guy binging and purging or starving himself? When's the last time a guy worried if his woman would still find him attractive if he gained a few pounds?

Actually there are men who suffer from eating disorders. The lead singer of the band 'Silverchair' (aussie band) was one of them.
I'm sure men worry about body image a lot too, they just don't talk openly about it.

I think the only real problem here is self confidence and self esteem. People (men and women) need to teach their children to be proud of who they are and what they look like. Yes, we're bombarded with pictures of supposedly perfect women (and men), but we need to teach our children (and ourselves) that these images are artificial and in the end those people wake up looking like hell on earth, just like everyone else.

As for the weight issue...again, teaching children to eat a fucking vegetable now and then is a good start. Geezuz, the number of people I've met who have kids that won't eat anything but crap, is astounding. My sister use to know a woman who gave her toddler Coke instead of water. Seriously, the kid never drank anything else, not even juice, because her parents didn't either. Yes, that's an extreme example, but there variations on that everywhere.

As adults we're all responsible for our own bodies and other people need to shut the hell up, and we need to teach that as well.

Although that won't stop us bagging out celebs, I'm sure.

 

[Ymra]

Here is a comparison of what many in mainstream circles tease as 'fat' or a "doughnut away from spreading."

And a fitness model....
Miss Texas Kendall Morris in the 2nd round Lifestyle and Fitness competition of Miss America,
where she won a $1000 scholarship in Las Vegas.

While both look good in their own way, only one continues to get respect.

Coco.

what circles are these? If you mean FASHION yes......anything else. I don't follow.

 

[Iggy]

When's the last time a guy worried if his woman would still find him attractive if he gained a few pounds?

Huh? You're joking right? Men worry about their body all the time. Read Men's Health for once sheesh.

 

[Ches]

Huh? You're joking right? Men worry about their body all the time. Read Men's Health sheesh.

Uhhh, I would read Men's Health if I were a man. Do you read Cosmo or Ladies Home Journal on a regular basis?

I would venture to say that men are concerned more about how they stack up against other men than whether they will lose their woman's affection or interest. Let's be real: it's way more common for a man to lose his interest in a woman if she gains weight than the other way around.

 

[Sin Mari]

Uhhh, I would read Men's Health if I were a man. Do you read Cosmo or Ladies Home Journal on a regular basis?

I would venture to say that men are concerned more about how they stack up against other men than whether they will lose their woman's affection or interest. Let's be real: it's way more common for a man to lose his interest in a woman if she gains weight than the other way around.

How could you possibly know that? I hate that women think men aren't worried about their bodies, that it's a 'female only' issue. The only 'female only' issues that exist revolve around pregnancy, vaginas, breast feeding and cancers of the female reproductive organs (am I forgetting anything?). Everything else has a male side to it as well.

 

[Ches]

How could you possibly know that? I hate that women think men aren't worried about their bodies, that it's a 'female only' issue. The only 'female only' issues that exist revolve around pregnancy, vaginas, breast feeding and cancers of the female reproductive organs (am I forgetting anything?). Everything else has a male side to it as well.

I never said men aren't worried about their bodies. The point I'm trying to make is that alot of women are driven, sometimes by dangerous means, to maintain thin bodies out of fear of losing or not attracting a man. I don't believe that men are driving to maintain fit bodies out of fear, but more out of the desire to be competitive and attract women.

 

[wtarshi]

Actually there are men who suffer from eating disorders. The lead singer of the band 'Silverchair' (aussie band) was one of them.
I'm sure men worry about body image a lot too, they just don't talk openly about it.

I think the only real problem here is self confidence and self esteem. People (men and women) need to teach their children to be proud of who they are and what they look like. Yes, we're bombarded with pictures of supposedly perfect women (and men), but we need to teach our children (and ourselves) that these images are artificial and in the end those people wake up looking like hell on earth, just like everyone else.

As for the weight issue...again, teaching children to eat a fucking vegetable now and then is a good start. Geezuz, the number of people I've met who have kids that won't eat anything but crap, is astounding. My sister use to know a woman who gave her toddler Coke instead of water. Seriously, the kid never drank anything else, not even juice, because her parents didn't either. Yes, that's an extreme example, but there variations on that everywhere.

As adults we're all responsible for our own bodies and other people need to shut the hell up, and we need to teach that as well.

Although that won't stop us bagging out celebs, I'm sure.

so agree with everything you said.

as for my kids, their early years were as vegetarians so vegetables are a staple in our home, along with fruit, legumes and the rest. i also teach the kids that beauty is from within and i'm trying to have them understand that their body is something to be looked after and fed and not abused. i've said this before, they do not do macca's, kfc, hungry jacks etc. because a) i don't and b) there is no nutritional goodness in them. i look upon them with pride when they sit with a bowl of brussels and kale in front of them and eat them, while friends fight with every mouthful to put a piece of broccoli in their kids mouths.

education starts at home. lead by example and they will follow

 

[APPIAH]

Guys dont really give a fuck if they dont have a 6 or 8 pack as long as his belly is not hanging around his kneecap

 

[pettyofficerj]

Huh? You're joking right? Men worry about their body all the time. Read Men's Health for once sheesh.

lmao

i have a bedroom full of weights, plates, and bars that would agree with you.

I always make sure I spend time keeping my body tight.

 

[Sin Mari]

I never said men aren't worried about their bodies. The point I'm trying to make is that alot of women are driven, sometimes by dangerous means, to maintain thin bodies out of fear of losing or not attracting a man. I don't believe that men are driving to maintain fit bodies out of fear, but more out of the desire to be competitive and attract women.

I know the point you're trying to make, but you're making it badly. You don't know what drives men to keep fit, or anything else. And to say that women do this shit simply out of fear of losing or not attracting a man is naive at best.

 

[MissWacy]

How could you possibly know that? I hate that women think men aren't worried about their bodies, that it's a 'female only' issue. The only 'female only' issues that exist revolve around pregnancy, vaginas, breast feeding and cancers of the female reproductive organs (am I forgetting anything?). Everything else has a male side to it as well.

agreed, its very annoying