Plus-Sized Model?

I was over at Matty's Meaty Cupboard the other day reading his thoughts on MTV and America's Next Top Model (High Priced Hookers). Now, I've seen this show on occasion - my 13 year old step-daughter watches it incessantly - but it's not a show I seek out. When I ready Matty's piece, I thought I'd see what cheeseburger needing beautiful young girls were in the finals for cycle 10. Imagine my surprise at learning that the token "plus-size" (or as they like to call it in the industry, "full-figure") model was in the final three. Then, imagine my terror when I saw this photo of one of the final three contestants and discovered that she was the "plus-size" model!


What? You've got to be kidding me! This beautiful, healthy, 20 year old girl (Whitney Thompson) wears a size 8 - a 10 on a bloated PMS bad day - and we are going to call her a "plus-size" model? Since when did healthy become "plus-size"?

Much of what I've read on Whitney's win talks about how great this is for young girls - to see that even a "plus-size" girl can win America's Next Top Model. I say bullshit! What this does is distort the perception of "normal" even further.

Do you know what's even worse? For years, men (at the hands of women) have taken the brunt of the blame for encouraging the stereotype of super thin as attractive and sexy, and I don't believe it for a minute. It's not the men that encourage this stereotype, it's the women. I've read quite a bit on Whitney's win, and it's the women who say, "She sure put on a few pounds after they selected her," and "She looked better when she was thinner."

Looked better? She looks fabulous! Maybe as women we should stop being so critical of each other, and of ourselves, and recognize the beauty each one of us exudes.