Body Positive or Promoting an unhealthy lifestyle
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I think you should be happy in your skin no matter what size you are. When I was fat, I had sex, dressed nicely, went to events/etc. I mean, life wasnt over just because I was overweight. Now I am thin, and I still do all those things. I think its unhealthy to wait to live your life until your body meets a certain standard.
I had different priorities when I was big, and I figure other large people similarly have other aspects of their lives they are focusing on, and arent bothered by their weight.0 -
I agree that most plus size models aren't truly plus size. I actually believed they were, for years, and therefore thought the smallest I'd ever be was size 12-14. I am now in size 10 and M/L (juniors & misses sizing) and I'm still bulkier looking through the torso and rear than half of the plus size models. Clearly though, market research has shown that women who wear size 20, 24, etc, prefer to see women who are smaller representing them. It's hard to look at someone who is so drastically different from the norms we see represented and think "Oh that's me", even if that does involve some degree of denial.
But at the end of the day I think models like the one in OP's link are a good thing, why not show a different body type. I think for every 1 teen it encourages to say "eff a healthy lifestyle I'll just eat all of the things" it will help 50+ other teens/women to feel "see, I'm not unworthy & horrible for being larger and looking different" and to me that's the bottom line.0 -
like I know a girl who wont wear shorts or swimwear, even in a humid midwestern summer, because she is fat. So she just sweats and suffers all summer long. That is no way to live! A little self esteem would go a long way in her case.0
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I bought my first pair of shorts in years last year, and only because I was going on vacation. I live in Houston, TX, and I usually just suffer through life in jeans because I hated my legs. I'm down 60lbs (100 from my highest), and I still hate my legs. But at least I don't think shorts are horrible any more.melimomTARDIS wrote: »like I know a girl who wont wear shorts or swimwear, even in a humid midwestern summer, because she is fat. So she just sweats and suffers all summer long. That is no way to live! A little self esteem would go a long way in her case.
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melimomTARDIS wrote: »like I know a girl who wont wear shorts or swimwear, even in a humid midwestern summer, because she is fat. So she just sweats and suffers all summer long. That is no way to live! A little self esteem would go a long way in her case.
What I find sad about it is that jeans don't hide much more than shorts would... I mean, you don't have to wear super shot shorts if you don't like your thighs, but in my experience everyone can tell if you have bigger legs, whether you wear shorts or not... Although I guess I don't typically wear my weight in my legs so I admit I have no clue what I'm talking about.0 -
honkytonks85 wrote: »What always gets me is the assumption that being big = unhealthy lifestyle and being slim = healthy lifestyle. Not really the case. It is possible to be overweight and still be healthy. It is possible to be slim and be unhealthy.
Absolutely!0 -
With so many now overweight, it should prove to be a profitable market - which is sort of the point of fashion (making money). :-)0
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honkytonks85 wrote: »What always gets me is the assumption that being big = unhealthy lifestyle and being slim = healthy lifestyle. Not really the case. It is possible to be overweight and still be healthy. It is possible to be slim and be unhealthy.
Exactly. The main focus for anyone should be to be healthy. And healthy looks different for everybody
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she's beautiful and happy in her skin. Good on her!0
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I could care less. If that's what she wants to do , then good for her. I personally prefer being a smaller size, but don't care what size other people are.0
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I just don't see how anyone can be "happy" or "ok" with that much extra weight. I had almost exactly that same body at one point (I'm a little taller) and I wasn't happy at all. Not because I necessarily hated myself, but because that much weight is so uncomfortable. NO clothing is comfortable at that size....it's either bunching up under rolls, digging into fat or clinging in a weird way. Not to mention getting winded when doing ANYTHING, the sweating, the chaffing, not being able to literally fit in chairs or seats or back seats of cars...god I could go on and on.....it's just not fun. I guess she really doesn't know how inconvenient and ridiculous is to deal with all of that and that life can be so different, because she said she's been this way her whole life. I feel bad for her for that. To each their own I guess....0
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I am 5'6" and at my heaviest weight I was a size 24. She can do what she wants with her body. I won't rally behind her because I have been there and the extra weight on the joints and fat around the organs is not healthy. I have seen too many people hide behind body positivity because of their own denial. Body positivity and fat acceptance are slippery slopes imo.0
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lemurcat12 wrote: »Once I made peace with myself I started to see my body differently. I loved the curves I had that made me feminine. Then my weight loss took off. I loved my body and because of that I wanted to treat it well. I wanted to make sure it was nourished and wanted to make it strong. As I started losing weight, I started to see even more of a feminine shape (thinner waistline, more prominent curves) and I started to love my body even more and my body confidence started to grow even more...but I would have never had any confidence if I didn't have love coming from within.
We need more people to love themselves enough to think they are worth taking care of.
Agreed.
I really don't buy into this notion that if there are some people out there happy with how they look at larger sizes that somehow it's going to encourage others to be unhealthy. People have their own reasons for caring about their size. (Similarly, I've never bought into the notion that people get obsessed with being thinner because of actresses or models.)
On the other hand, I do think shame and self-hatred prevent lots of people from being able to do what they need to be healthy--it certainly was easier for me when I stopped feeling like I was a worthless person who didn't deserve to be happy (although that was about a lot more than weight and probably related to me gaining weight in the first place back in the day). So having someone who claims to be fit and looks happy at a larger size is, if anything, positive, although the actual difference it makes to anyone else is probably slight at most.
Have to disagree with the bolded. Any time people see a behavior or condition that was previously viewed as a negative becoming more mainstream, more accepted, it lowers the incentive for people who do that behavior or have that condition to change (which can be good or bad, depending).
If you hold that condition or behavior up as some type of desirable thing (which is not what is happening with the plus-sized model, but is what happened with underweight models), then you end up with some people trying to achieve that behavior or condition. Then you get situations like teenagers trying to diet themselves down to the same bodies as the models they see in magazines because they are held up as standards of beauty.0 -
Wow, that article was definitely a piece of writing on the internet.0
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I feel like your use of the word "article" was overstated.Burt_Huttz wrote: »Wow, that article was definitely a piece of writing on the internet.
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Here's my two cents...
There are many overweight people in this world, and those people need clothes.
Whether those people like being where they are, or whether they are trying to lose weight, or in some cases gain - doesn't matter. They still need clothes.
Overweight people need clothes.
Underweight people need clothes.
Tall people need clothes.
Short people need clothes.
And as far as I'm concerned - there should be models for ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE.
Because this "article" is pointed at plus-size, I'll use that example, but really - substitute any outlier body type...
Big people need underwear. Big people need bras.
Big people like to swim - they deserve to have a bathing suit that works for them.
Big people need to go to work and look professional. Big people like to relax too.
Big people like to exercise.
Big people shouldn't be relegated to wearing tarps because the current market doesn't "like" the way they look!
As such... yes to plus size models! Make clothes that fit them, that flatter them, that help them feel good about themselves at their current state.
Because as far as I am concerned... many of our issues with food come from using it to medicate our emotional scars. And being dressed in a tarp because noone wants to design for it, is emotionally scarring.0 -
The modeling industry isn't exactly spot on when it comes to showcasing women of healthy proportions....normally the models are anorexic. This is the same thing. I am not body shaming obese people nor anorexics.0
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I don't have any problem with her being a model. If someone thinks she will help sell their product, then they will hire her. I personally find her very unattractive (not just the weight) and probably wouldn't be drawn to a product she is advertising, but there are many people who disagree and she would be very effective with them.
I don't believe in fat shaming. People deserve to be treated with respect regardless of what they look like. However, I also don't believe in pretending that morbid obesity is a good thing ...if you are as obese as she is it will almost certainly cause health problems eventually. Nobody should be "happy" to stay at that weight. I'm not saying she should hate herself, or not dress however she likes, or be subject to scorn. But I do think people need to acknowledge that there are major health risks to being that overweight and not pretend that it is as good a lifestyle choice as any other.0 -
MireyGal76 wrote: »
Big people shouldn't be relegated to wearing tarps because the current market doesn't "like" the way they look!
Or America could follow other country leads and make it hard to find clothes above a size 14 or 16. That way, people might be a bit more motivated to lose weight, if they actually had to wear tarps because they are too big.
I don't think it's ok to give the message that you can be morbidly obese like that woman and that it's ok. It's just not ok. And no, I don't like skinny models either, but at least they are 20-30 pounds from a normal weight... not 200+.0 -
Well at least she's actually plus size. I keep seeing women smaller than me (I'm size 6) as models for size 14+ stores and it pisses me off.
Personally? I'd go shop at that store.
That being said, I think there's a very fine line between being 'happy with your body no matter what' and denial.
This!
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