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Original poster

To not understand how this different from putting an anorexic model on the cover

601 replies

Spinderelle · 30/08/2018 12:59

Cosmopolitan have a morbidly obese model on their cover this month. I am absolutely behind the idea of body positivity - after children my body is far from perfect and it’s nice to see companies like ASOS use larger women and not airbrush stretch marks etc.

But this model is dangerously obese and risking her health. How is that any different from having a dangerously thin model on the cover?

OP posts:
Ta1kinpeace · 30/08/2018 18:30

People are overweight for a massive range of reasons
99% are overweight because they eat too much for what their body needs.
If they ate less they would lose weight.
Its a choice.
Normalising obesity is a bad thing

GoblinSharts · 30/08/2018 18:37

Why can’t these bloody magazines show women who are a size 12/14/16?! Why does everything have to be to extremes?

Ta1kinpeace · 30/08/2018 18:46

I just looked up a friend of mine who is a model with a top agency
She is 5'10"
She normally wears size 8 clothes.
Her bust - waist - hips are 32" - 24" - 35"
I happen to know she eats MASSES (healthy vegetarian stuff, but MASSES)
When she appears on adverts and in magazines she is perfectly healthy.

Sorry but a current size 14 / 16 in somebody under 5'7 is overweight (as measured by body fat percentage).
Its about time people started to judge themselves by their health metrics - body fat and visceral fat - rather than clothes sizes

AsAProfessionalFekko · 30/08/2018 18:50

So your friend is either naturally very slim, or manages to keep the weight down in other ways.

Either way, she will be classified underweight (as was I when I was up to my mid 20s a tad shorter than her but the same size). I was naturally skinny and ate/drank shed loads. Now I am not...

Ta1kinpeace · 30/08/2018 18:53

Fekko
Her BMI is around 19. Yes she is lean build - that is why she is a model
But she is by no means scrawny - I have known her all her life - Size 8 is a healthy size

OftenHangry · 30/08/2018 18:55

People are overweight for a massive range of reasons
99% are overweight because they eat too much for what their body needs.
If they ate less they would lose weight.
Its a choice.
Normalising obesity is a bad thing

I actually agree in here quite a lot and I am a person who started putting weight on due to digestive issues. When I am on my best eating behavior and not upsetting my belly, I can actually drop a bit of weight really quick. Even if someone's obesity is caused by an illness, there is in absolute majority of cases something which can and has to be done..
I am actually throwing away my old plates, because I realised how massive they are and that we tend to put more on them, because even with big portion they don't look full.

The lifestyle has changed massively in last decade.
Portions have to be bigger and food more exciting. Have you seen freakshakes? Or the carb and fat overload on so many meals in restaurants?
Add to it that we have slowed down physically, because we are comfortable and you have a recipe for a disaster.
We have smart phones so no need to run to pc or a bookshelf to find something. We got smart tvs, smart lightbulbs, alexa and google chrome, rumba, smart appliances, all that perfrct cleaners so we don't have to spend half an hour cleaning a bathtub with a brush and more.

We can now literally control our homes from a sofa. Comboned with the food I mentioned...
We are doomed unless something changes. That something being us.

WillowRose79 · 30/08/2018 19:04

Most of the country is obese and seeing people like this on the cover give them an excuse to say oh it's okay it's the norm- it's not the norm and it's not healthy

herworldoutsideit · 30/08/2018 19:06

I agree OP. Extremes of body size at either end are not healthy. And there are more people dying early/ disabled/ ill from being obese than from being underweight in this country.

Despite what some PP are saying, being overweight is becoming normalised so that people are starting to not recognise when adults/ children are overweight. Sure, no one will go out and stuff their face to look like that model, but it all feeds into a cultural atmosphere where it is becoming overweight is becoming normalised.

As others have said, why not have magazines with a variety of women on, different ages and healthy sizes rather than extremes.

OftenHangry · 30/08/2018 19:10

Despite what some PP are saying, being overweight is becoming normalised so that people are starting to not recognise when adults/ children are overweight.
Agreed. Every shop now sells large sizes. Every shop.

theipadsavedmylife · 30/08/2018 19:17

I think it's a nice change. She is showing that people are different, many models are cookie cutter thin and vacant looking.

I'm of an average weight myself but suffered with poor body image in my teens and sadly magazines and media were an influence.

Aaaahfuck · 30/08/2018 19:23

Ta1kinpeace

Would you like to evidence your assertion that 99%of people are overweight because they eat too much?

I think it's worth thinking about why people might be eating too much and thinking of that as the cause. Eating too many calories because you are on a low income and experiencing poor housing for example and food is your only source of joy. The eating too many calories part of it is not the cause or reason in my world.

PaulHollywoodsSexGut · 30/08/2018 19:31

I just don’t agree with promoting anybody - literally any body - who makes their body their “brand”. Especially when they are circling the extremities.

That goes for the Chloe Madeleys of this world as well as this one and the utterly repetitive BodyPosiPanda.

Love your body so nourish it, be happy and healthy and just get on with it. Stop broadcasting your “positivity” right left and centre as I buy you as much as I bought Clean Eating

[sniffs the air for shite and is not found wanting]

TweedAddict · 30/08/2018 19:32

It’s still photo shopped

FASH84 · 30/08/2018 19:38

Why can't they just use unaltered pictures of women who are a normal , achievable, healthy weight (full range of body shapes)? It's not that complicated surely?

auditqueen · 30/08/2018 19:55

I wouldn't worry too much - she's just in the cover. I'm sure that the inside will be full of tall, slim and airbrushed within an inch of their lives women as usual.

NoSuchThingAsAlpha · 30/08/2018 20:00

So Cosmo is kindly telling us that all women, no matter how overweight, can benefit from buying the beauty products advertised inside their magazine. How altruistic of them!

LaurieMarlow · 30/08/2018 20:15

Why can't they just use unaltered pictures of women who are a normal , achievable, healthy weight (full range of body shapes)? It's not that complicated surely?

Because it doesn't sell magazines.

They're only doing this for the controversy and to make a 'right on' point.

auditqueen · 30/08/2018 20:20

You can need to lose weight to be healthier but does that mean you should be disgusted with yourself and not care how you look and hide away in the meantime?

This.

I'm fat. I'm a size 20 - 22 and I know I'm overweight and I'm struggling to lose it at the moment. I'm also in my mid 40's, have health issues (unrelated to obesity) and have a lot of stress going on in my life. I literally do not have the headspace to deal with a diet at the moment, so I'm tracking calories and trying to not overeat or drink and try to get some exercise each day, but I'm not beating myself up if I have a bad day and I'm concentrating on looking the best I can despite my size

. I don't want to look like Tess and I do not want to put on any more weight. I want to be back to the size 14 I was a few years ago. I don't want to see obesity glamourised, but sometimes, in a world that batters and judges women who are overweight, it would be nice to see one of us looking good. And no, this model or whoever she is isn't looking good. I can only think that Cosmo is doing this to shock its readers.

OutPinked · 30/08/2018 20:22

It’s not aspirational to be fat yet half of all adults are. Normalising obesity doesn’t exactly give them a reason to change that.

Size 12-14 isn’t obese on most frames, maybe on someone who is 5 foot. Size 18+ is obese for any height.

Spanglylycra · 30/08/2018 20:27

I agree OP both anorexic or obese people on a cover does not enforce a positive body image. On the other hand at least it's a change.

She has a beautiful face but you don't get cheekbones like that being that overweight which suggests she's had work done and therefore probably not as body confident as she makes out.

maZebraltov · 30/08/2018 20:31

Most people just see & agree with what they want to agree with.

If they want to be proudly fat, they will love TH on the cover. If they think fat is ugly, they will still think "Ugly fat girl alert!"

TH's tats are magnificent, that's what I most noticed. Those tats will look awful if she ever loses weight so maybe she's stuck with her size, now.

SerenDippitty · 30/08/2018 21:00

I am 5ft 2, 9st 2lb and size 10. I know some MNers would not consider that slim but it is healthy. I’m a large frame with long muscly legs. I could diet down to the middle of my healthy weight range which would be 8st 5lb but I have an underactive thyroid and I know from experience that maintaining that sort of weight is extremely difficult for me. I wouldn’t look that good either. I think it’s far better to be at a realistic healthy healthy weight I can maintain than to aim for an unrealistically low one which I can’t.

Mrbatmun · 30/08/2018 21:05

I am 5ft 2, 9st 2lb and size 10. I know some MNers would not consider that slim but it is healthy.

God when I was that weight and size (am also 5ft 2) it was the skinniest I have ever been and I would give anything to be back at that now!!! I looked lovely!

Originalsaltedpeanuts · 30/08/2018 21:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ta1kinpeace · 30/08/2018 21:44

original
How does smoking link to the rocketing numbers of obese children?
How does dieting link to the exponential rise in obese children?
What does walking have to do with anything ?