to think Cosmo threw these models under the bus?

[Hangingover]

AIBU to think this caption choice was deliberate to cause a Twitter-shit-storm (with the side effect of loads of horrible comments about the models)? Feels like they took something positive and deliberately twisted it to make people angry.

Finally, the diet conversations tend to be all or nothing. If you don't get down to a healthy BMI you have failed. This is crap. If you weight 18 stone and you get down to 16 stone, you still would have made a massive difference to your health. It should still be celebrated as a success and not enough people recongise that.

I absolutely agree with that. But we can't celebrate it unless we pat our own back and tell people, because it's not ok to mention weight, apparently, no matter how. (Thread on weightloss topic about this actually).

Ignoring that. It is a success. Any loss is success, as is a gain if peraon needs it. It really helps mentally if people realise that.

disturbing messages we're fed around diet and body shape
Yup.

@CrotchBurn

Cosmo getting desperate now.

I bought one for the plane a few weeks ago, first time in years. There was literally without exaggeration just ONE article that wasnt a blatant product pitch. Even the non fashion/cosmetics parts shoehorn in ads. "How to relax...." by buying this candle, that weighted blanket, this massage break etc.

It was nauseating. All they're trying to do is to shock here in a desperate bid to remain relevant.

This is why their sales are dropping. I bought last in 2019. Similar feelings to you.

This is another of the women that participed. She has what I would think of as a fairly 'average' body size.
Shes ok, but still better off losing a few pounds.

No we are not being obtuse. They have used an open ended controversial phrase "this is healthy" with a photo of an obese woman. They blatently know its a shock factor and people will interpret it as saying she is healthy and not the act she is doing is healthy. Hence why the other models also say "this is healthy" whilst none of them are doing yoga poses just stood or sat staring at the camera.

Totally agree @SchrodingersImmigrant

The conversations right now are fraught and difficult to navigate and that makes celebrating success difficult for people because they don't think they can mention it. The change, therefore, needs to come from the individual to see their own success. That health is not binary so it's not a case of being or not being healthy.

Health is a movement. There are things every single person can do to be healthIER than they are. Every time they do so, they should feel free to really enjoy the success they've had.

Whether that's losing a few pounds, putting on a few, getting better sleep, reducing stress levels, exercising or moving more, or anything else that has been shown to improve health. They are all successes.

@Malin52 That 'model' is Jessamyn Stanley a yoga teacher who 'has made a career out of breaking down barriers to wellness activities like yoga, making the practice accessible to everybody and every body'

She is stronger and fitter than many slimmer women younger than her.

She's 33 now and her natarajasana pose on that cover while really good compared to most people's is really poor compared to that pose held by her 29 year old self. The difference being that she appears to be carrying a more body fat now than she was 3-4 years ago. (Though photoshopping makes that hard to judge accurately.) There could be other reasons, her pose has deteriorated so much between the two photos, she could be carrying an injury, even a mild hamstring strain in her standing leg could limit her. But there is a very strong likelihood that the increase in her physical size is limiting her.

One of the issues with being overweight at a young age, is that it's rarely static. It tends to creep up and up, it's all slow gains but before you know it 5 years have passed and you have gone up a couple of sizes (though with flatter sizing and stretchy clothes you can think it's actually just one). And it all takes more and more of a toll. Stanely is a very flexible woman but flexibility is only one part of fitness, and compared to cardiac fitness and muscle/bone strength arguably the least important, especially if it's passive flexibility rather than active.

www.self.com/story/jessamyn-stanley-is-changing-the-yoga-world-one-pose-at-a-time

Looks like Cosmo wants attention and perhaps to pick up some new readers from the body-positive movement. I don't like that movement. I've seen people online told they are fat-shaming because they have spoken about wanting to diet and exercise to lose some weight in a healthy way! Apparently this is a common belief amongst that crowd.

In my experience, I got much more criticism and personal remarks when I was underweight at size 4. I'm sure people thought things privately when I was overweight, but nobody said anything to my face. However, when I was very underweight (and clearly quite unwell!) some people seemed to take pleasure in telling me how awful I looked. Some of whom were people I knew, and who I very much doubt would ever have made equivalent comments to an overweight person.

I've seen people online told they are fat-shaming because they have spoken about wanting to diet and exercise to lose some weight in a healthy way! Apparently this is a common belief amongst that crowd.
Rebel Wilson was attacked for betraying "her own"
. So was Adele. Few voices, rather than majority, but loud enough to make an impact it seems.

She's 33 now and her natarajasana pose on that cover while really good compared to most people's is really poor compared to that pose held by her 29 year old self

Or the photographer took it from that angle/wanted her to adjust it because s/he felt the lines looked better for the photo in relation to the letters C and N.

The fact that somebody is exercising at a higher BMI is healthy. Constant images of only women with nigh on perfect bodies taking part in physical activity reinforce the attitude that exercise is not something you should participate in when you're actually in a group that would likely benefit the most from doing so.

After all, if the perception that only slim and gorgeous women do yoga or any other exercise, why would the overweight or obese woman wishing she could try it want to risk going to a class? She'd be surrounded by perfect people/be laughed at/they'd be horrified by her polluting the purity of their gaze.

I've generally been treated perfectly well in gyms and classes, but there have been times when I haven't been - on one occasion, it was a pair of men on the stairs to the gym who took it upon themselves to inform me that a fat bitch like me had no business being in their gym and I should fuck off 'back to MccyD's', another time it was a woman whispering conspicuously amongst her friends 'I don't know what she's doing here, she won't have a clue what level we're at'. There is no way on earth I would ever exercise alone outside, however, as the abusive comments yelled at me from cyclists and van drivers was fucking relentless. I know that this is not a phenomenon restricted to just larger women, but having done it when both underweight and overweight, the number of spiteful and outright aggressive comments go up exponentially as your BMI increases.

To me, complaining that larger women should not be seen to exercise and essentially erasing them from discussions of fitness unless as a dire warning or device to criticise does more to convince them not to even think of taking any steps that could improve their health - the same mindset that says 'You might as well not bother if you can't be perfect' in weightloss, healthy eating and anything else that requires a bit of bravery or change in behaviour.

And that isn't healthy.

@NeverDropYourMoonCup great post.

There is really something a bit twisted about the idea that overweight women shouldn't be seen exercising lest they promote the idea that being overweight is healthy.

The way I see it is this. Yes extra weight isn't good for you, however once you are already fat - trying to lose that weight is almost impossible (for a whole host of reasons I'm not going to go into here). And mostly causes people to get into a yoyo dieting routine, that is physically bad for them (increasing insulin resistance etc), and mentally bad for them (I'm a failure). So shifting your mindset and focusing on having as healthy a body as you can right now, with good food choices and establishing an exercise routine is going to be better for you in the long term. This is what body positivity means to me. The acceptance of my flaws, but embracing the good things my body can do in terms of exercise.

Or the photographer took it from that angle/wanted her to adjust it because s/he felt the lines looked better for the photo in relation to the letters C and N.

It’s absolutely nothing to do with the angle. The difference between the poses in both photos are night and day in terms of skill/ability. And the photographer isn’t going to have asked her to do a so/so pose that pretty much anyone could do within a month of practice as opposed to one that shows years of practicing and effort. Especially when the older picture shows a beautifully symmetrical pose much more pleasing to the eye.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with anyone exercising and improving their body’s ability. The opposite is true. But pretending that excess body fat doesn’t impact your abilities and health, and increasingly so, the more you gain and age, is really dangerous.

Actually if they had used the first photo it would have been better visually as her foot would have been a natural continuation of the slant of the A and her hand would have bracketed the front of the C

The Fat Acceptance Movement has a lot to be blamed for.

Of course that model isn't healthy and of course her joints are under incredible strain.

Of course you'll meet very overweight people with great health who work difficult jobs and can do better than their peers (see PPs) but that's like the 40 a day smoker who lives to 90. They are not a good example and you feel good til you don't. And that shit will hit the fan.

I'm a bit overweight after this year. My partner is like 150kgs and very overweight. It's shit. People are lying to themselves. I have run marathons And know people who are overweight who do. It's hard.
You are doing far more work with every extra lb.

Alonelonelyloner

Agree. I am obsess. Brough try BMI down slowly, still loads to do and still a BMI of 38. Realistically, it's very, very hard. I am not healthy. Being fat is not OK- well, it's OK in so far as people shouldn't comment, but it's not OK for my health.

@HibernatingTill2030 absolutely. I'm so sorry it's so hard.
I struggle with my weight and my partner does too. It can be miserable. But it's not made any easier by people who say, 'just love yourself' or 'it's ok to be fat'. For that person it may be, but I really think they're lying to themselves.

I watched a documentary about the Fat Acceptance Movement years ago and the woman from Wilson Philips (a band from the 1980s) was on it and she was so angry about how the FAM had held her back from losing weight for many years instead of supporting her in her weight loss and nowadays women are scorned by this movement like they are traitors when in reality they just want to feel better, which includes physically. Because it's a lie that it feels ok and healthy to be breathless climbing stairs or being unable to bend to pick something up from the floor. It makes me so mad. Sorry I'm ranting.

I worked in the USA before and first few visits I was shellshocked by the locals. Super size was so common place. Never seen such daily obesity as it’s the opposite to Hollywood and I was located nearby in Santa Monica. I feel sorry for many there including children who are already obese. The Covid outcomes data reflect the widespread basic health and wellness issue. This type of magazine would just normalise the acceptability of clinical morbid obesity which will not address the underlying problem.

I am not in any way anti sizest but in certain work situations as the only still considered regular (non American) size person in the room I felt uneasy and sense a touch of reverse discriminatory behaviour. Apparently since I left the small team the hiring manager supposedly only hired like size colleagues. I was on secondment. I trust this is not offensive as none intended but a real account to share in relation to the size of person in this magazine. Most of the larger size people were content with their size and enjoyed their super size foods, snacks and drinks. Amazing value in American restaurants, cafes and super markets as most portion sizes suit more than one! On the flip side being coastal SoCal you also find a few slim models on the beach and in bars and restaurants too. So it’s both commonplace obese or media types who are slim obsessed. So different from England generally.

The health at every size message as I understand it is that every ‘body’ has a healthy size. Be that a size 8 or a more, that your body has its own healthy size. It’s not that every size is healthy, my body maybe healthy as a 14 but not a size 8 or 18. We’re so used to seeing a very narrow range of sizes that we have been conditioned to think thin equals healthy.

Not really. They believe that obesity is unrelated to health and that weight loss causes more physical harm than obesity does. Basically flat earthers.

Health at Every Size(HAES) is a hypothesis advanced by certain sectors of the fat acceptance movement. Proponents reject the scientific consensus regarding the negative health effects of greater body weight,[4][5]and argue that traditional interventions focused on weight loss, such as dieting, do not reliably produce positive health outcomes.

At the same time, HAES advocates argue that sustained, large-scale weight loss is difficult to the point of effective impossibility for the majority of people, including those who are obese.

HAES proponents believe that health is a result of behaviors that are independent of body weight and that favoring being thin discriminates against the overweight and the obese.[7]Stephan Rössner, an obesity researcher, argues that efforts targeting weight loss may cause rapid swings in size that inflict worse physical and psychological damage than obesity itself.[8]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_at_Every_Size

You'll not see a HAES advocate that isn't porkingly enormous!

I agree with whoever compared it to heavy smoker.
Few will be fine, most will not. Whether it comes in 5, 10 ir 20 years absolutely majority of people will end up with serious health issues. I myself oroclaimed I am a healthy fatso. My pressure, sugar and everything else is perfect. But I realised that it's not
"I am healthy at this size" it's
"I am healthy at this size for now".
I am also pretty sure I got smaller since I got fat, based on measures with GP😐

Very interesting the comparison of poses by pp btw.

I agree with the 'you can't necessarily judge health by weight' sentiment. I'm technically quite overweight but I'm very fit.

However, one of those models I follow on social media is literally morbidly obese, has poor mental health, cries a lot about her weight, etc. She now says she wasn't trying to say she was healthy but they put her under a title 'this is healthy' in a sports bra -
So yes I think they threw her under a bus.

If she genuinely exercises regularly and the article contained some actual medical test results then fair enough. But it didn't.

I am a fellow fattie, but have no wish to see a hippo in leggings.

Also agree that Callie Thorpe has definitely been photoshopped or it's an EXTREMELY clever angle.
If you watch her recent videos on Instagram she's much bigger than that.

I think Cosmo threw women as a whole under the bus some time ago.

I recall they did an article in their teen version a few years ago enthusiastically normalising anal sex. In a teen publication FFS . It may have been their US version but still.