The-F-Word.org

Remember America’s Next Top Model size-eight contestant Sarah Hartshorne, who at 5′8″ and 150 pounds with a BMI of 21.5 is considered to be plus-size?

Word has it she’s already started dieting. It was only inevitable, right? But the judges’ reactions aren’t what you’d expect. Liz McKeon at broadcastingcable.com writes that the show’s judges actually criticized Hartshorne for her weight loss. McKeon points out:

I don’t know that a show should be patting itself on the back for its progressive portrayal of the industry when the only girl who is criticized for losing weight is the only one who started out at an obviously healthy point. I don’t know if any of the other contestants are unhealthy. I am not going to sit and guess young women’s BMIs.

I will, however, point out that there have been some startlingly skinny girls on this show every season, and it is the fact that they have not been openly criticized by the judges for their weight that concerns me.

No doubt the judges reactions come in response to the new guidelines enacted by the Council of Fashion Designers of America aimed at the health and well-being of its clothes hangers. But like McKeon notes, why are they only targeting Hartshorne?