YoYary says:
Thu, 8th Oct 200910:33 am 

Even if it is just for the cash I think its a good thing. If the plummeting sales of magazines is what it needed to take to finally start getting real women featured in them then that's is just what needed to happen. The important thing is… at least their in them now.

Claudzilla6 says:
Thu, 8th Oct 200910:58 am 

I see your point, and the number one priority for any magazine is profit. But I think it is a great start. These magazines are giving plus sized models work, and hoepfully soon designers will give them work too on the runway and in ad campaigns. Which could someday change the way women think of what is beautiful. I think its a great first step to body acceptance at any size!

Maura says:
Thu, 8th Oct 200911:14 am 

Its a smart move that magazines are capitalizing on this obsession. But I think that women are happily justifying their weight because magazines are putting more of them in. I agree that for cash or not we shouldn't be putting anorexic women on magazine covers but we shouldn't be putting overweight women on magazine covers. Being skinny and being plus-sized is easy, you either don't eat enough or eat too much. The hardest thing to do is to find a balance between how much you eat and how much your body actually needs. America doesn't need to glorify the plus-size image to perpetuate the already existing problem. (Clothing sizes today are at least two sizes bigger than they were 20 years ago where a size 4 now was a size 6 or 8 then. We have more resources now, doesn't mean we have to consume them all at once.)

Be offended if you would like, but the truth is that being plus sized is being overweight. Being overweight is not healthy and neither is being underweight. Yes skinny models are real women, they live, breath and eat(sometimes). Yes plus-sized models are real women they also live, breath and eat. But instead of applying the "real woman" label to just one group of people, why not accept everyone as a real woman literally and not the "perfect woman" which is what everyone seems to think it means when people show up in magazines. Everyone should strive to be as healthy as they can be, not skinny, not fat, just healthy. Healthy isn't being the most attractive person or the person that looks like girls in magazines. Healthy is as different as people are and more beautiful than what our outsides.

But power to the magazine companies for figuring out how dumb we are. And how much we need someone to say that what we are doing is okay. I look forward to the day that we are all comfortable in our own skin and realize that our health is paramount in everything we do. Regardless if some executive decision from the media says it is or not.

Jenna says:
Thu, 8th Oct 200912:05 pm 

I agree. I have sort of a dual opinion of the whole plus-sized model thing, and not because of magazines profiting off of it (after all, running a magazine is a business, and all decisions will ultimately relate to creating a profit).

A lot of my doubts were cleared up by Glamour's editor letter this month, where the editor-in-chief said that the magazine will not aim to feature not only plus-sized models, but a range of girls from all sizes.

The only lingering concern I still have is the branding of girls any bigger than a size 2 as "plus-size" in the modeling industry. This is NOT overweight, and it is not plus-sized. Not that the now-famous model is a size 4, but I'm referring to the industry in general. What's plus-size in modeling is average in the real world (not just America), and that bothers me.

Jenna says:
Thu, 8th Oct 200912:09 pm 

P.S. My concern that was mostly cleared up by the editor letter wasn't that Glamour would only show plus-size models in the magazine, but that they would only show plus-sizes in singular articles where they featured bigger models and repeatedly patted themselves on the back for doing so.

Casey says:
Thu, 8th Oct 200912:25 pm 

Maura, You took the words right out of my mouth! I totally agree. I hate that the label "real-women" is given to women who are overweight! The message that that is sending is just as hurtful as portraying anorexic models as the ideal.

I am naturally a size 2-4, that's if I eat whatever I want, and live a sedentary lifestyle, but that doesn't mean I'm healthy. But when I work out regularly and eat healthier I'm a size 0. (But more importantly when I'm at that size 0 I FEEL better! I don't just look better.) My natural body doesn't fit into the "real-women" category and I'm sure many other women have this problem. It's not fair that we aren't considered real sized because we're naturally thin. I've known girls who look anorexic but eat everything in sight (without throwing it up afterward) some people have extremely fast metabolisms and when others look at these types of girls they think "ewww she's too skinny! She must be anorexic!"

I think health needs to be a bigger concern in this world, not "the perfect body" or how you can LOOK your best. Everything in our society is centered on how you look, instead we should forget how we LOOK and think about how we FEEL. A size 18 model certainly isn't any more "real size" or healthier than her size 2 colleague, in fact, she's probably less healthy, but in an obese world more of the average, which is extremely sad. And to promote such an unhealthy lifestyle is absurd. Like Maura said, they are both easy to achieve. I think the whole "real woman" idea is bullshit! It's just an excuse for people to accept being fat and lazy, and being fat and lazy is no better than being skinny and lazy (having an eating disorder is LAZY!)

Sara says:
Thu, 8th Oct 20092:23 pm 

Casey, although I disagreed with a lot of what you said, I could at least understand it, until you said "having an eating disorder is LAZY!" That's just ridiculously rude. Someone with an eating disorder isn't having competent conscious thoughts to starve themselves because they don't want to work out to lose weight. They instead have a psychological disorder that makes them perceive themselves differently than what they actually are. To call that lazy is very rude in my opinion.

Rachel says:
Thu, 8th Oct 20092:24 pm 

"…they are finally realizing a whole population of their readership has been left out of every fall fashion special, every swimsuit edition, every best-jeans-for-your-body article. "

Not exactly. Fall fashion spreads, yes, but I recall many summer issues where they profiled real-life women ranging from 95 to 205 pounds. And the best-jeans articles always come with a plus-size/curvy section. Yeah. plus-size women are underrepresented, but Glamour is probably the fairest out of most of the ladymags.

Casey says:
Thu, 8th Oct 20092:35 pm 

You're right Sara, I retract that statement. That wasn't what I meant. Having an eating disorder is a psychological disorder, you're exactly right. What I was referring to are the people who throw up their food just to lose weight, not because they perceive themselves differently but because they think "I can eat whatever I want and just throw it up and be fine". I went to high school with a bunch of these girls they would go out and get mcdonalds or taco bell for lunch then come back and say "OMG did I really just eat that!?" Then they'd all go to the bathroom together to throw it back up.

Alisha says:
Thu, 8th Oct 20093:12 pm 

This is like any other issue that comes up, people head to both extremes without stopping in the common ground. I eat healthy, work out when I can, and am overall happy with my weight and how I feel. I am not a size 0-4, nor a 16-18. Now, the average girl is lead to believe that they are "fat" compared to the skinny girls, and that "real girls" are obese, so where does that leave me, a girl who will never be a size 2, yet will probably also never be a size 16?

Sonia says:
Thu, 8th Oct 20093:40 pm 

Just saying – Marilyn Monroe was a size 14.

I also think its fucked up that you are referring to her as overweight…she obviously isn't.

Also saying that fat people are lazy is bullshit, a lot of people that are considered to be on the heavier aside may have health issues or that is just the way their body is meant to be. You're doing the same thing to them that you're saying is being done to you.

And girls that throw up after fast food, even in a group that still sounds like a psychological eating disorder to me.

Respect, it is not hard to do.

Sara says:
Thu, 8th Oct 20094:06 pm 

Sonia, Marilyn Monroe was a 12/14 back in the 50's – meaning the sizes have changed. If anything she was probably a 4 or a 6.

Other than that I agree with you. Genetics definitely play a roll in a person's size. I could starve myself and never wear a pant size below an 8. I just have insanely curvy hips and I only ever seem to lose weight from my top. (Thanks Mom!) But besides that I'm happy I have those curves, I think curves are a beautiful thing; it makes me feel like a woman. To each their own though.

Casey says:
Thu, 8th Oct 20094:25 pm 

Sonia, I didn't think I had to specify, bu apparently I do. I wasn't talking about people with diseases. Obviously that can't be helped. My varsity soccer coach in High School (who just passed away last month, RIP coach!) had a glandular disorder and he was the biggest person I have ever seen, in person. All the students called him "fat pat" which seriously hurt my heart. He loved sports but could never play them, so he coached all the sports he could, soccer was his favorite though. So don't think I'm being insensitive, because I'm not.

Also, I realize some people will never be, say, a size 2. It wasn't my argument that everyone should be skinny. I never said "people should be skinny", I said people should strive to be HEALTHY, there's a major difference! What I consider "fat" is people who eat whatever, don't do any sort of workout, and are overweight. You can eat healthy, workout religiously, and still not be a size two. It depends on your body and how you were made. For some people it's unhealthy to be a size as small as a 2. My entire post was about HEALTH, NOT "being skinny".

I think a lot of you readers just want to find offense in the things you read, because more often than not people totally misinterpret my comments and find qualms with something that wasn't even there. Maybe re-read before you comment?

And there is a difference between throwing up to lose weight and throwing up because of a disorder. Like Sara said, an eating disorder is where you look in the mirror and see yourself differently then you actually appear (like the deathly skinny girls who still think they're fat) these girls knew they were skinny, and just didn't want to retain the calories, but they also didn't want to stop eating fattening foods.

Jenna says:
Thu, 8th Oct 20094:39 pm 

Keep the skinny models on the pages of the magazine. Top fashion designers don't make clothes for fat pigs who can't control what the eat. It is hard work to eat right and stay in shape. Why should women who do this be penalized for being beautiful? That makes no sense. They need to be celebrated and admired for not being the typical fat pig woman that seems to be literally taking over America. It is extremely common to see an ugly fat woman in America. But, how often as you are going about your daily life do you see a beautiful skinny woman? Few and far between. I hate fat women.

Dirk Diggler says:
Thu, 8th Oct 20095:28 pm 

@Jenna:

…betch.

With that said, glorifying fat people is just as bad as glorifying overly thin folks. For the vast majority of the population a healthy body type is attainable through eating smart and and leading an active lifestyle. Is it fair that some people have an easier time of it than others? No, but that's life and your left ventricle doesn't care if your mother's college roommate had a slow metabolism- if you want to be fit then work for it!

And for the unfortunates with conditions that render them fat no matter what, might I suggest a career in stand up? Fat people have kickass senses of humor.

Maddie says:
Thu, 8th Oct 20096:39 pm 

what about average sized women? we went from way too skinny to overweight.. uhh??

Sierra says:
Thu, 8th Oct 20098:43 pm 

I'm all for accepting different body types. However, the problem I do have is that we need to constantly point out that these women are "plus-size" first, and models/women after that. When we call them "real-size," like some other people have said, we imply that skinny women are unhealthy which can be entirely false.

Not to play devil's advocate, but top designers are hesitant to use larger models in shows because of this- people are conditioned to notice that the women are plus-sized first, which obviously distracts from the clothing.

We need to reach a point where we don't label women by their size and we don't objectify larger models to sell magazines. Why not integrate models of all sizes throughout the magazine instead of lumping them together in one spread or story and constantly pointing out that they're 'different'? There's a difference between embracing body types and using them as a gimmick.

Darwin - New York Un says:
Fri, 9th Oct 20099:31 am 

I agree with Sierra here. Labels really suck. People are people. We come in all shapes and sizes. We shouldn't have to be subjected to just one perspective. There should be no reason why magazines aren't opening up to different markets.

Ibrahim | ZenCollege says:
Fri, 9th Oct 200910:46 am 

I think this is a great step for women everywhere. It's a breath of fresh air from the objectified image that a woman should be a size 0 to look her best.

Regardless of the magazine publishers intent (and I'm sure their intent has dollar signs attached to it) I think it's a great move!

Erin says:
Fri, 9th Oct 200912:48 pm 

I think it's a step in fat acceptance, and yes I guess according to many here I am fat as a size 14. I think it's great to see larger women who are beautiful and have good self esteem. That is how I see it, I don't think it should be a battle to finally consider your self beautiful the way you are, whether you can help it or not. I think acceptance of your body the way it is is a step in getting healthy mentally and physically.

Greg says:
Fri, 9th Oct 200910:37 pm 

Girls who are above a size 2 are not datable. No desirable guy wants an ugly fat girl like that.

Margot-Montclair Sta says:
Sun, 11th Oct 200912:24 am 

Maybe there's something wrong with my vision but this woman looks thin to me! She could be airbrushed and look like a normal model. Size 18? Are you kidding me? That's huge, she looks like a 6 or 8! Maybe that was a typo size !8! Oh and Greg If you were fuckable you wouldn't need to say bullshit like that and be commenting on this website. I'm sure plenty of guys would be happy to have sex with this woman.

Margot-Montclair Sta says:
Sun, 11th Oct 200912:35 am 

Leive identifies the model as 20-year-old Lizzi Miller, who is "size 12-14 and avid softball player/belly dancer."

I clicked the link and found her real size! College Candy Tsk Tsk Tsk, how hard is it to get right?

She must be pretty tall though b/c she looks thinner.

Leigh says:
Mon, 12th Oct 200910:28 am 

She's 5'10".

As are most plus size models. Yeah, they represent the "average" woman so well.

But I'm absolutely sick of the stereotype that normal people can't be slim and skinny. I'm naturally pretty slim (120 pounds) and I'm 5'8".

What happens when there's nothing for the skinny people of the world? What happens when all a magazine is about is articles for 'real' women? Real women, who they apparently believe are always plus sized.

Magazines – one word – variation. It's not as hard as it sounds.

Becca- Clarion Unive says:
Mon, 12th Oct 20092:52 pm 

Casey, I was mildly offended by the fact that you automatically assume being overweight is the same as being unhealthy. I am incredibly healthy, and I'm also incredibly overweight. While I COMPLETELY agree that "real life modeling" needs to apply to women of all sizes, I don't necessarily agree that the size 18 is any less healthy than the size 2.

I do think that magazines and media need to focus on things like, keeping yourself healthy, and loving yourself the way you are, over here's ways to lose weight, and things to change to impress your man. maybe focus like this will stop the wrong idea that if you're overweight/underweight you're unhealthy. sometimes a body just is. and there's not much you can do to change it…

Maybe we can put in a few more segments about loving your body the way it is… and get a few different looks from girls that range from all sizes. (COUGH COUGH HINT COLLEGE CANDY HINT COUGH COUGH)

Becca- Clarion Unive says:
Mon, 12th Oct 20092:53 pm 

oh!!! ps. sorry if that seemed like I was coming down on Casey super hard…

the first bit yes…. the rest is more of a grievance with the media

MLG says:
Mon, 12th Oct 20094:05 pm 

I know that when I say "overweight," I mean someone who is unhealthily heavy, not just someone who's bigger than average or whatnot… Perhaps Casey meant the same?

That said – yeah, I'm going to agree with the folks saying that pushing any particular body type (beyond "healthy") is preposterous. That said… people get to have personal preferences. They're not required to believe that skinny or pudgy girls (or anything in between) are all equally beautiful, and it bothers me that this implication seems to be made fairly often at both ends. Beauty is a subjective thing – nobody ought to be pressured to downplay their own preferences because someone else feels offended by them.

Casey says:
Mon, 12th Oct 20095:20 pm 

Becca, did you read my other comments or just the first one? I'm pretty sure I clarified that I know some people can work out constantly and eat healthy diets and still not be a size 2. I know some peoples bodies just don't loose the weight, that wasn't the issue or point I was trying to make.

Yes, MLG that is what I was referring to, thank you.

el guille says:
Mon, 12th Oct 20097:50 pm 

i love how they photoshoped her stretch marks out

margostargo says:
Wed, 14th Oct 200910:31 pm 

Real women are women of all shapes and sizes, skinny, fat, short, tall, average. There's nothing wrong with being skinny and nothing wrong with being fat as long as you live healthily and it is possible. I hate this war of skinny women vs fat women, there's enough discrimination out their against all females. We should be sticking together, instead of criticizing each other.

Amanda says:
Thu, 15th Oct 20094:55 pm 

Fat girls disgust everyone. They are not humans and don't need to be treated as such.

Casey says:
Thu, 15th Oct 20098:18 pm 

Troll Alert! (Amanda is a troll)

Please, no one feed the troll!

Amanda says:
Thu, 15th Oct 200911:50 pm 

WTF are you talking about Casey? Do you want to have a conversation with yourself? Who the fuck made you the queen of this website? Shut the fuck up. Everyone should be allowed to comment without the self-appointed comment bitch deciding who is and isn't a troll. Shut your fucking fat face bitch.

Lindsey says:
Fri, 16th Oct 20097:22 am 

wow, Amanda. You'll go far in life. All people should be treated as people. That was an ignorant comment and you're not projecting a very positive image of yourself.

anyways – i read Women's health, and that magazine really focuses on HEALTHY bodies. I mostly agree with Casey here in saying that women should focus on being healthy. A dress size is just a number. I work out 5 days a week and eat a healthy diet and my goal size is a size 10. (slow process, i'm finding out – haha) And the size of my body doesn't mean i'm not datable, "fuckable", or a real person. I have struggled with body image etc. but now that i live a healthy active lifestyle, i'm much more comfortable with myself.

mollination says:
Sat, 17th Oct 20099:39 am 

more of the "can't win" mentality. Just like those who hate on Oprah because she gives for publicity, and doesnt just give to give. Though she gives more than 100% of the naysayers combined. Or she doesn't "give" in the fashion they think is best – "Why not help more people by giving less, than giving more stuff to less people?".

If you're gonna hate on the change, even though it's the very change you want to see, just because it doesn't happen for the motivations you would prefer – then you're only a hindrance. You're still contributing to the problem. You think people follow laws because they want to, because they believe so strongly in being morally good? No. They follow them because they don't want to pay a fine. C'mon.

Courtney- Rosemont C says:
Sat, 17th Oct 200912:32 pm 

I absolutely agree with you Brianna. As a plus size young woman and someone who aspires to work for one of these magazines one day, I constantly feel the pressure to lose weight to fit their "mold." I believe that recent love affair with "plus size" is simply a ploy to help the declining sales of magazines. It's very disheartening to think that way but, in a business that has historically condemned plus sized women its relatively hard to believe that they are all of a sudden so accepting. Their goal seems to be to try to appeal to an audience that simply hasn't been tapped into. It's really a shame but, what can you do? It's the media.

Chelseigh says:
Mon, 19th Oct 20096:25 pm 

I just really hope that the magazines don't go along saying mean crap about skinny girls. I hate it when people have to downplay skinny girls just to make everyone else feel better. I really hope it just says be healthy, cause that what everyone should try to be, not skinny, not fat, just healthy.

morgan says:
Tue, 20th Oct 20096:39 am 

my mom is one of those little irish women. when you look at her side of the family, they're all pretty much short and stocky, and honestly, nothing like that women in that picture.

Mr.Carrot32 says:
Thu, 22nd Oct 20098:26 pm 

Escalation of Drug Use in Early-Onset Cannabis Users vs. ,

banaras says:
Tue, 3rd Nov 200911:38 pm 

wow. so good & sexy

Dana says:
Wed, 4th Nov 20095:12 am 

YOU call HER a plus size? I am sorry but REAL plus women like me are Queen Latifa, America Ferrera, Kelly Osbourne and Jennifer Hudson.

mel says:
Fri, 3rd Sep 20101:51 pm 

Fack The Mun!!!!!!!!!!

It is our insecurities that make us feel trheaten by what or who we think is beautiful… how you see yourself is how the world sees you….change your prospesctive and accept that you are not better that anybody… we are all in this fragile world together… we all come from a vagina and end up in the ground… anytime…