Size 18 "Praised for Beautiful Body"

[SpicyMoth]

I don't really want this to become a thread about whether it's "okay" or not, or about whether the body positivity movement is good or bad because it almost doesn't matter at this point - at least not in terms of what I wanted to get your opinions on, I want to ideally keep this as light-hearted as possible!

Is it just me that has noticed plus sized models you see in the main stream ALSO have unattainable bodies/characteristics?
There's always been a lot of talk about unrealistic beauty standards and unattainable physiques in older school modelling understandably, but it feels like Plus Sized models aren't talked about as much as also featuring those things.

Like... Let's be real here, the majority of size 18's will not have this type of figure.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/real-life/size-18-model-praised-beautiful-31256311?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=star_main&fbclid=IwAR1_4e0oUBOCTYu8QL622OaP_pFhP2rp55zBCmT_mQr_kD7NW2WwjNg7uVA

Where fat decides to put itself varies from woman to woman. I've been out and about in the real world, it's SO rare to come across someone with extra weight in literally all the "right" places in real life - And that of course not to say that they don't exist, just that having an absolutely perfect hourglass figure with no lumps or bumps or extra rolls/creases is not the norm in real life!

Has anyone else noticed this?

Note; I do have to give credit to some online retailers who do a good job of getting a wide range of shapes as well as sizes!

Why ashamed @maddiemookins16mum ? Worried for your health I get, but that and shame are not the same thing, whatever 'concerned' people would want you to think. It's your body, nobody else's. You're allowed to live as you wish. Plenty of people drink loads, take recreational drugs, smoke loads, drive too fast, and don't feel ashamed. Those people are a danger to both themselves and others and yet somehow us fatties are meant to feel the most ashamed of our existence.

Not sure why this is on the feminism board. Anyway, agreed, she doesn't have the figure of the typical size 18 (or 22 or whatever it is), just as a size 8 model doesn't have the figure of the average size 8 person.

@JustTalkToThem

Wow - only 1 page and we're already at the fatphobic stage of the comments.

"what is actually beautiful about being over weight though?"

How is this fatphobic?

Different types of bodies can have beauty to them, and you certainly don't need to be slim.

But when you are talking very overweight, then yes, it would seem to substantially undermine the beauty of the body.

Of course it's great if you're happy that way, ignoring potential health issues; but I don't think it's sensible to say it's "beautiful" to be that kind of size.

Maybe beauty is a bit subjective, but so subjective that we can't say anything?

Apologies, I felt this was feminism related - If others agree it's not though, I'm happy for it to be moved or taken down entirely - More than anything this was not supposed to be a thread for being mean about peoples weights, sizes or shapes.

No one should feel shame for being whatever size they are, life happens! Our bodies tell our stories.
This thread was in no way meant to attack anyone for their size or their body, It was purely intended in a light-hearted "women will never get away from unrealistic beauty standards" kind of way - I'm truly sorry it hasn't been received that way >.<

Maybe beauty is a bit subjective, but so subjective that we can't say anything?

Because beauty is absolutely 100% subjective - not just a bit.

(although scientifically I think it's intersubjective)

Not convinced it's all completely subjective.

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/beauty/

Ok.

They are always tall. Even brands that promote different shapes. Never short. Even short slim models would be nice. Never mind short plus size ones.

Something that really annoys me about most of the body positivity movement is that it's still all about how women look. Does it really help when people post glamorous, photoshopped pictures of themselves in an attempt to prove that women who are overweight can still be approved by society? Many of the looks depicted require so much money and time that they are often as unattainable for most of the women as slimmer figures! Why can't we focus on what women of all sizes think, do or create, and get rid of this tyrannical idea that the only possible way to be worth anything is a woman is to be a beautiful one. Then perhaps we might have detoxified the conversation about weight to the point where we can talk about health and obseogenic environments in a more sensible way.

I agree this is fucking ridiculous. You have to be pretty in any shape, form, age - whatever you are, its fine, as long as you are PRETTY. Men, in general, can be old, fat, ugly, wrinkly - but wow, they are so cool, so authentic, so intelligent, it doesn't matter. Women - no. PRETTY.

The point is that the 'alternative' models still aren't typical.

There's still beauty standards at play.

You don't get plus size models with a large gunt over hang do you?

I'm 40odd 4foot 10 and a size 12/14 on top and a 16 on the bottom, no idea of weight I have never owned a scales. I have the body of a reject lego man, like the top of me has been slotted into the bottom if you see what I mean, The tops of my arms are gross&flabby like a flying squirrel, I have smallish boobs 36c, a flatish(3 c sections) belly, huge hips, huge arse and thighs, but I am healthy and my diet is good(mostly) it's just my shape.
Women are all shapes and sizes and that is fine, I don't get the obsession with weight and making other women feel inferior because they are too fat or too thin. Why do some women want to tear each other apart based on what the scales say?

There is some distortion going on here - I don't believe this person is a size 18.

Honestly, I have a hard time caring about this.

Models are meant to be nice to look at. They are, whatever their side, going to be people who are better looking than average. The things most people find better looking are similar - being symmetrical, pleasing proportions, smooth skin and healthy hair, and lots of the other things people have noted.

I don't think it's immoral to acknowledge that some people are more beautiful than average. And I don't think it's odd that advertising models would be chosen from people who are attractive to look at.

You don't see many old fat wrinkly male models.

She's far more than a size 18

And notice that there is no weight on the faces of these plus sized models - they all carry theirr weight on their body, not face.

It's not cool to look like a pie face

She looks good. Very glamorous. She is quite fat though and at her age could get fatter. I am not sure that plus size body positivity is such a good idea. It normalises being overweight and even encourages it when it is unhealthy.

Difficult to find the balance these days though.

I'm not sure what is unrealistic about her body, every part of it is over weight and her breasts are far from pert. I've seen a lot if plus sized models with far better and enviable figures. To me this is just an overweight lady in a bikini.

Wow a size 6 or whatever of a Victoria secret model is not the representative of an average slim woman of that size. I don't see why this is controversial. Shape, tone and a beautiful face were always going to be a winner. Its not a feminist issue. Its an aesthetic issue. Even in men, a size 30 waist doesn't look the same on all men. A man with narrow shoulders vs a wide shoulder will make the same jeans size look very different and one will be more conventionally attractive. Its biologically hardwired to like a slimmer waist and Good muscle tone
Hardly controversial.

Most plus sized models have liposuction and liposculpture to give them shapely waists, slimmer cheeks, and to remove double chins. Ashley Graham is rumoured to have had a lot of sculpting work done. It is completely unrealistic for the average obese/overweight woman to look like a plus-sized model, without absurd amounts of cosmetic enhancements.

If we have to acknowledge that maintaining the body of a regular model would require some degree of a healthy lifestyle and/or diet control, we should acknowledge that's it's not naturally possible to be overweight and have a flat stomach and a defined face.

There is also a massive double standard: back in the noughties was the height of skinny shaming, with bodies under a BMI of 18.5 considered wrong and not fit for public consumption. Models of this body type were banned from catwalks (even though at that time, many models were teenagers, when the cut off for a healthy BMI is actually 16.7). Women who are underweight are just as "real" and deserving of representation as other women.

It is appalling that a woman's body can be considered dangerous to look at, and weaponizes and grossly over-simplifies anorexia in order to banish women with imperfect bodies. They would never dream of banning women with a BMI over 25, even though constant exposure to the appearance of overweight people is distorting what is perceived as normal and healthy.

Maybe some people think this is beauty.
I just see someone who is killing themselves with food. I see a morbidly obese young woman who will age rapidly and will struggle to make it beyond 65 without being in constant pain.
I see a massive drain on the NHS as people emulate this trend and don’t take any responsibility for their health

50 years ago smoking was considered sexy and attractive. I have witnessed too many friends live with the consequences of smoking. Spending years not realising how much smoking restricted their lives and then dying relatively young

Greed is now the sexy and attractive trend and like smoking people will spend years of their life being a prisoner to their greed and then they will die at a young age.

As a health care professional I’m quite uncomfortable about the body positive ‘sexy & beautiful at any size’ message promoted at the moment!

It’s a health time bomb just waiting to go off. So many of my patients have weight related issues and you might be fine to carry 4 or 5 extra stones in your 20s-30s but eventually by the time your in mid 40s probably, you will have mobility issues, joint pain etc. And that’s before we mention the more serious aspects of CHD, diabetes, cancer etc. Obviously those of a normal weight suffer these too but being very over weight vast increases your risk . We all know this but I feel young people are being given the wrong messages about body image !

While it’s good that there are plus size models as we do come in many shapes and sizes, we need to be very careful about sending out the wrong messages! We are an over weight population and as we continue to get bigger out NHS will struggle more and more to deal with the consequences!

Th fashion industry exists to sell crap overpriced clothes and other sundries to women, they will use any low down cheap and dishonest means to do that =feminist issue.
most women, more than 50% of women in the western world are overweight, either by a few lbs like myself or morbidly, it makes sense to advertise to the people you’re selling to.
Personally I don’t agree with glamourising obesity, it’s bad for individuals health and society as a whole.
I think it’s worrying these images are being more normalised and as most modelling pics are not based in reality, these girls have probably had surgeries or are wearing fat pads in the right places.
At least the heroin chic anorexic look was really how starving women look and if you did aspire to that it was achievable if you put the work in, I know because I did it, I was Ill and miserable and I’m not advocating for it but It was more honest and could be achieved without going under the knife.
I could eat myself to a plus size, I’m tiny frame, I’ve got a pretty face but my weight does not go on in the proportions you see in these pictures and I very rarely see overweight women who look like this.
We have no concept of what is normal weight and size now, the average person is bigger than is good for the health, I’m 1 stone over weight and I still look small to most people and get mocked if I say I’m fasting or trying to lose weight.

Most plus size models have lipo on certain areas, it’s all a scam. Agencies like them to have: Chin lipo - no double chins allowed. Waist lipo, upper arm lipo and often lipo round the knee area.
Its just as unrealistic and contrived as size zero models.

Maybe just stop judging women on the appearance / weight like its the pinnacle of their life's achievement 🙄🙄🙄