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Glamour to show more naked fat women in November issue

2nd September 2009

Glamour to show more naked fat women in November issue

posted in Anorexia, Body Image, Body-Affirming, Book Reviews, Bulimia, Fashion, Fat Acceptance, Recovery |

You’ve no doubt heard of Lizzie Miller, the un-airbrushed size 12-14 model Glamour published a photo of naked save for a thong in its September issue.  Unlike SELF magazine, which received a barrage of reader backlash for openly and proudly digitally slimming Kelly Clarkson on its current issue, Glamour has received a large and effusive outpouring of reader support.  Glamour editor Cindi Lieve told Matt Lauer on the TODAY show:

You get a reaction like this and you can really see it. It’s also a sign of the times that women are really looking for a little bit more authenticity and a little bit less artifice in every part of their lives. Will it change our approach? I think it will.”

As Mo Pie points out, an unobtrusive photo on page 195 of Miller’s saggy pooch and full thighs among countless other waif-like models is hardly groundbreaking in a story purportedly on body acceptance, but Lieve wasn’t just paying lip service, either.  Glamour is now focusing its lens again on plus-size models in its November issue.  Photographer Matthias Vriens shot Miller again, along with her curvy colleagues Kate Dillon, Jennie Runk, Amy Lemons, Ashley Graham, Anansa Sims and Crystal Renn.

Reader M Jordan sent me a note this week with a link to a debate currently raging at the site Lemondrop about a few new young adult books that depict fat heroines/heroes.  The objection to the plump fiction seems to be that it somehow “encourages” people to follow an “unhealthy lifestyle” rather than hating themselves losing weight.  It doesn’t appear as if any of Glamour’s plus-size models wear larger than a U.S. size 16, but I’m sure the mag will also encounter the same vitriol.  Since the opposition is focused on health, of course, I think it’s interesting to note how the great majority of the models to be featured in Glamour have struggled with an eating disorder or at the very least, disordered eating and body image insecurities, before becoming healthy and happy plus-size models.

Renn, as you may remember, was once a wraith-thin model who was encouraged to lose more and more weight by her modeling agency despite a very serious eating disorder.  She’s now authored a book on her experiences, Hungry, which is set to hit bookstands on Sept. 8.  In an interview with The Telegraph, Renn explained how her disorder developed and persisted:

With catwalk stardom at the front of her mind she made friends with iceberg lettuce. Breakfast was some vile-sounding stuff called Fiber One and steamed vegetables. Lunch was lettuce and Diet Coke. Dinner – more lettuce. ‘I knew I had an eating disorder, but I was so focused on the job, I didn’t care’.

With a swimwear shoot looming, she forced herself to work out for nine hours, two days in a row – ‘My body literally felt like it was crumbling’ – before seeing her bookers again. ‘They looked me up and down and said, “Your legs. You need to bring your legs down.”‘

Anansa Sims is the daughter of legendary model Beverly Johnson, the first African-American model to grave the cover of Vogue.  When Sims was 18, she left for New York to become a model despite Johnson’s objections.  As Johnson explained to People, she herself suffered from anorexia and bulimia throughout her modeling career and didn’t want the same inevitable outcome to befall her daughter.  Sims went anyway and quickly discovered the wisdom of her mother’s warnings:

Before I left, I starved myself and worked out four hours a day for three months. Then once I was there, they kept telling me, “Just lose 10 more lbs.!” I made it to a size 4 and I was on my way to a 2. I ate an apple and a bowl of soup a day. Finally I said, “If this is what it takes, I don’t want it.”

Once called “Overweight Kate” as a kid, Kate Dillon developed an eating disorder at age 12 after watching a TV movie with an anorectic character (that the character also died seemed inconsequential to Kate, she says).  She also told People:

Five years later, in 1991, a severely underweight Kate was discovered by a photographer in her hometown of San Diego. She came in third in Elite’s Look of the Year contest, winning a $75,000 contract. The 5′11″ Dillon was soon slinking down Paris runways and appearing in Vogue and Glamour. Yet by age 19, her lifestyle, sustained by a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit, had taken its toll. “I just couldn’t keep starving myself,” she says. Dillon visited a nutritionist and quickly added 15 lbs. but lost her modeling cachet. “I was only a size 8, yet I was told I was huge and disgusting,” she says.

In an interview last week, Renn told stylelist that she portends a greater degree of body acceptance on the horizon in the fashion world:

“It starts with the sample sizes and I think designers are becoming more aware. I think there have been many positive changes. I’ve done all of the Vogue’s and Dolce & Gabbana ads. It’s just a matter of time before it’s brought back to mainstream.  Women want to see themselves in the pictures — they want to see their size, color and height. I think if that happens, it’ll make women feel more empowered and they’ll love themselves more.”

What do you think?  Will fat become the new thin any time soon?

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 11:14 am and is filed under Anorexia, Body Image, Body-Affirming, Book Reviews, Bulimia, Fashion, Fat Acceptance, Recovery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

There are currently 21 responses to “Glamour to show more naked fat women in November issue”

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  1. 1 On September 2nd, 2009, spoonfork38 said:

    I’m just hoping that catalog models will start reflecting all the sizes that plus-sized clothing stores offer, not just the smallest (and tallest) sizes.

    Maybe some people can look at a dress on a 5′11″, size 14 model and know if it’ll look good on a 5′4″ woman with 56″+ hips, but I’ve never been able to do it.

    posted on September 2nd, 2009 at 12:11 pm

  2. 2 On September 2nd, 2009, Forestroad said:

    I think it’s interesting that Anansa was a size 4 and Kate a size 8 at the low points of their struggles with anorexia, or rather, I think my reaction to reading that is interesting. I’ve heard that in the modeling world, “plus size” begins at size 8, and here is a tall woman starving herself to be even that small. When I hear about an anorexic model, I automatically think size 0 or even 00. It goes to show just how unattainable those low, low sizes are, and how big a reality check is needed for our culture.

    posted on September 2nd, 2009 at 12:41 pm

  3. 3 On September 2nd, 2009, Dori said:

    I really hope that fat doesn’t become the “new thin.” How much sense does it make to demonize thin in the wake of demonizing fat? I feel uncomfortable categorizing any body as “not in.”

    Not saying that this is what you meant, just pointing out that this is a danger with this industry.

    posted on September 2nd, 2009 at 1:02 pm

  4. 4 On September 2nd, 2009, Twistie said:

    I think we need to encourage the trend by all going out and buying that issue of Glamour and writing to thank the powers that be for showing us something closer to us in their pages.

    It’s really a huge step that they’re featuring even women who wear up to a size 16 in a magazine that has rejected size 6 models as too big in the past.

    posted on September 2nd, 2009 at 1:02 pm

  5. 5 On September 2nd, 2009, Rachel said:

    I really hope that fat doesn’t become the “new thin.” How much sense does it make to demonize thin in the wake of demonizing fat? I feel uncomfortable categorizing any body as “not in.”

    I agree and that’s why I’ve always maintained that media outlets should exhibit a range of body types and sizes. But given the fashion industry’s long reluctance (and in some cases, outright refusal) to show bodies that represent the great majority of women, I don’t think that we’re in any danger of elbowing out thin women in favor of fat women by encouraging these kinds of advances.

    posted on September 2nd, 2009 at 1:17 pm

  6. 6 On September 2nd, 2009, Misty said:

    The idea that thin is going to be demonized just because there’s a tiny modicum of tolerance for curvy models is utterly ludicrous. So plus-size models are going to get a few pages in ONE single issue of Glamour, whereas the magazine racks are covered in literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of monthly magazines that are all skinny and nothing but skinny. Give me a break.

    That’s like someone complaining, when Ebony debuted, that there was no a danger that there would be no white women in fashion.

    posted on September 2nd, 2009 at 1:37 pm

  7. 7 On September 2nd, 2009, Veronica said:

    I agree with Twistie. While it may not be the answer, at least this is moving towards where it needs to be. It may show that consumer vioces are being listened to. Even tho I’m long past the age of even considering reading Glamour, I will buy it when they feature more authentic bodies. Also, take the time to tell them that is what is making me purchase, lest they not understand…

    posted on September 2nd, 2009 at 2:25 pm

  8. 8 On September 2nd, 2009, Sarah said:

    The vitriolic toward Lizzie Miller by the fashion industry is totally uncalled for – I’ve heard people call her a consequence of a country that eats too many Big Macs! How ridiculous. And then I ran into another snot at a fashion board who plainly explained that Lizzie cannot possible be healthy, based on her physical appearance. This is what you get from an industry that touts shallowness and warped representations of beauty as virtues.

    I could also get into an argument about the undignified way the fashion industry treats women in order to manifest their sick fantasies, but that is another story!

    posted on September 2nd, 2009 at 3:07 pm

  9. 9 On September 2nd, 2009, Bree said:

    Unfortunately, the ranting and raving over fat women promoting an unhealthy lifestyle just by judging them on their appearance alone will stop most mainstream fashion magazines from showcasing women who are even larger (size 20 & up) on covers, much less one page, unless it’s to illustrate the obesity epidemic. While Beth Ditto has been a cover girl, it hasn’t been for magazines that target the general female population, and even then people get up in arms about her body.

    It’s a step in the right direction, but for this to truly be celebrated, magazines need to stop giving out mixed messages—especially when they show a cake on the cover but feature weight loss tips next to it.

    posted on September 2nd, 2009 at 3:57 pm

  10. 10 On September 2nd, 2009, Rachel said:

    While Beth Ditto has been a cover girl, it hasn’t been for magazines that target the general female population, and even then people get up in arms about her body.

    It’s interesting to point out that even when Beth Ditto has appeared in magazines to ostensibly plug her singing career, the focus always reverts back to her weight. This is typical for any female performer, but especially so for Ditto.

    posted on September 2nd, 2009 at 4:53 pm

  11. 11 On September 3rd, 2009, Audrey (aka Auð) said:

    I stopped buying magazines in my teens. They just regurgitate the same things over and over again. I was surprised that they even had any type of solid readership. I tried to imagine the mental/self esteem state of the poor soul that would actually CHOOSE to read such drivel.
    Magazines insult my intelligence.

    posted on September 3rd, 2009 at 7:07 am

  12. 12 On September 3rd, 2009, Meryt Bast said:

    I wish Glamour would choose some fuller-figured models, too. Their photo of Kailee O’Sullivan in 2007 was unapologetically sexy, unapologetically showing her full, soft tummy. And the photo of Lizzie Miller was undercut by the “flat belly” copy on the cover.

    posted on September 3rd, 2009 at 11:25 am

  13. 13 On September 3rd, 2009, Shinobu said:

    There’s a small article on Crystal Renn in October’s Teen Vogue where she talks about her eating disorder and accepting her body.

    posted on September 3rd, 2009 at 2:39 pm

  14. 14 On September 3rd, 2009, Crimson Wife said:

    I’d like to see a wider range of body types represented among models too- from petite women like me to voluptuous Amazons and everything in between. But I suppose if magazines made a serious effort to do that, they’d sell a lot fewer ads to companies trying to capitalize on our insecurities…

    posted on September 3rd, 2009 at 4:16 pm

  15. 15 On September 3rd, 2009, Emerald said:

    The vitriolic toward Lizzie Miller by the fashion industry is totally uncalled for – I’ve heard people call her a consequence of a country that eats too many Big Macs! How ridiculous. And then I ran into another snot at a fashion board who plainly explained that Lizzie cannot possible be healthy, based on her physical appearance.

    Sarah, it’s not the fashion world’s attitude to her that worries me so much (after all, this is how they usually treat any woman who’s not very thin indeed) as the way some ordinary people are now talking.

    This has been featured in the Daily Mail and the Guardian over here. Both are, indeed, getting some very positive comments, mostly from women who have normal non-model bodies, and married men saying can their wives please now accept that they’re gorgeous and stop hating themselves? But, there’s also plenty of vitriol. The scary thing is what some of the men are saying: the sheer number of guys who now seem to think that the airbrushed, pixilated female ‘bodies’ they’ve become used to are what real women look like and that anything more natural is ‘gross’. (And who think, of course, that the measure of ‘healthy’ is now ‘would I sleep with her or not?’.)

    I personally think those shots are absolutely beautiful – how often, apart from anything else, do you see a model of any size looking comfortable and smiling? – and I’d love to see a very much wider range of sizes in magazines. But, if this is people’s reaction to a woman who’s really not that big at all, the brainwashing obviously runs pretty deep.

    posted on September 3rd, 2009 at 5:10 pm

  16. 16 On September 3rd, 2009, PlusSizedFeminist said:

    Will fat become the new thin? If the comments given toward that poor woman Lizzie were any indication, HELL NO. We are too busy worshipping the goddesses Anorexia and Bulemia to even THINK about seeing fat women in a positive light. If women like her get such terrible comments, if Chloe Marshall, the runner up for a UK beauty pageant was harolded as “the poster child for obesity” and the like, what chance do any woman who is not under size 4 have? On ANTM, size 8 is seen as fat? So size 18 must be a whale…

    Fat men get a pass, for they have been seen in the media as STILL being able to get the hot chick, despite their paunch. But when is the last time on television where the fat chick gets the job, the house, the car AND the smoking hot guy without having her lose a tremendous amount of weight???? *crickets* I’ll tell you the answer to that: NEVER. I will not hold my breath for it either, because I know it won’t happen unless it’s a sign of the Apocalypse. Skinny has become, and will be for quite some time, the epitome of health, in the media, and now in the medical profession. And if you are not skinny, you are not healthy. PERIOD. It is an exasperating thing to have to hear over and over again. But as Hitler has said:

    “If you tell a lie long enough, often enough, and loud enough, people will soon believe it. “

    posted on September 3rd, 2009 at 6:34 pm

  17. 17 On September 4th, 2009, Rachel2 said:

    I seriously hope so. This “skinny” bullshit is killing us, and it was damn refreshing to see the article with a NORMAL-sized woman! Even if it was about body-acceptance, it was clearly more than just a minor little token on the subject, as this woman was in nothing but a thong.

    I think that real, curvy women are sexy. If I saw more of that, I would be a happier individual. I get tired of averting my eyes every time I’m in a checkout lane because I know that the images are crap, and that the agents and whatnot have asked these poor women to starve themselves to death (literally), and it’s just gross. A bag of bones is NOT attractive. I think [HOPE] that the magazines get the message and start portraying some real fucking women in them. The skinny bullshit has been going on long enough.

    posted on September 4th, 2009 at 2:16 pm

  18. 18 On September 6th, 2009, Suzanne said:

    Rachel2,

    That’s hateful and unnecessary. I’m naturally thin and am certainly a “real woman”, whatever the hell that means. Hell, even women who starve themselves into “bags of bones” are still real women–real women who are sick with a real disease.

    posted on September 6th, 2009 at 8:43 pm

  19. 19 On September 9th, 2009, Is there a greater body acceptance horizon looming on the fashion runway? » The-F-Word.org said:

    [...] Forever 21 offering a line of plus-size clothes to Glamour featuring nearly-naked fat women in multiple issues, I do see the market slightly cracking while still yet resistant to change. But [...]

    posted on September 9th, 2009 at 10:48 am

  20. 20 On October 1st, 2009, Yaamon said:

    Your title is a little offensive. These women are not FAT. They are all quite beautifull. Who said you have to be skinny to be beautifull?

    posted on October 1st, 2009 at 9:02 am

  21. 21 On October 1st, 2009, Rachel said:

    @Yaamon: Are “fat” and “beautiful” mutually exclusive terms? The women are fat (by Hollywood standards) and yes, they’re also beautiful.

    posted on October 1st, 2009 at 9:11 am

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