Perfect Bodies

In the last two days, I have seen two items on Twitter and Facebook about models in fashion. The first article was about how we should embrace plus-sized models over the underweight models that are typically seen on runways and fashion magazines. I had problems with this article, because it set up the skinny woman v. "real" woman argument that ignores the real issues. You may have seen the images of Marilyn Monroe that were going around that did the same thing. Women should not get involved or start a skinny v. thin v. curvy argument.



A skinny woman may not be healthy, and the same holds for the overweight woman. A woman who is obsessed with her appearance and weight is probably not healthy either. Many women who are skinny want to gain weight to become healthier and many women who are overweight are struggling to lose weight. We should all be striving to be healthy and strong.

Instead of this infighting, we should be pushing for realistic and HEALTHY images to be promoted. We should demand an end to the use of Photoshop in advertising. Instead of protesting the used of models who are thin or skinny, we should ask for models to match the size they claim to be wearing in the ads, without tailoring or other major adjustments.

I am not the first person to propose this switch in targets. Heather Cromarty did it about a month ago, and I'm sure she wasn't the first.
I think the best argument for this new target was made by Jesse Rosten, who just happens to be a man. He uses humor to make his point, which I always think is the best way.

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.