“Babe, you have to come in here and watch this,” my husband yelled to me as I cooked dinner while he relaxed in the living room one night last week.
He then proceeded to rewind the Sports Illustrated behind-the-scenes show he was watching where they talked about one of the models, Robyn Lawley, being a “plus- sized” model who represents the average woman in America:
Both his and my reaction were the same in thinking that Robyn – whose absolutely gorgeous – didn’t look like a plus-sized woman on the show. I do realize that in the modeling world, Robyn is indeed considered plus-sized, I just think it’s kind of crazy. I can’t help but feel that the modeling industry is totally warped and out of touch with what the vast majority of real women look like for Robyn to be categorized as plus-sized. I do think that the modeling world is moving in the right direction though, because Robyn takes the prize as the first plus-sized model to be in a Sports Illustrated issue.
Another “curvy” girl to be pictured in S.I. is Ashley Graham, who proudly shows off her size 16 body for a paid advertisement in the magazine. I watched this interview of hers, and I kind of love her. She’s fit, she’s healthy, but she’s not a small girl and she’s okay with that. In the interview they talk about this “curvy” girl revolution happening, and the topic has been on my mind since I saw it.
Ashley Graham
Like all women, I have so many thoughts and personal experiences with weight and body image. It’s almost hard to put those thoughts to words in a concise manner, but I’m going to try.
I grew up in a family that was loving, supportive… and fat-ophobic. Physical appearance was something that came up a whole lot, which could be both good and bad. It was negative because I was always athletic, but I was never a super tiny girl, and sometimes I felt insecure about that. But it was positive in that it taught me some healthy habits and gave me a good groundwork for caring about my body and wanting to treat it right. In adulthood, I’ve sort of transitioned that focus into being more about feeling strong and healthy, and a bit
less about what size I am. Don’t get me wrong, I care about the aesthetics and I work hard to be physically fit, but I think that putting the emphasis on health is empowering and sort of freeing, rather than putting all this energy into solely the physical appearance aspect of it. It’s the difference between thinking, I want to look good, and I want to look good, feel good, and be happy and healthy from the inside out.
Sometimes on social media – specifically Instagram – I see these accounts of these fragile, tiny little girls posting pictures of their frail bodies, with self-loathing captions like, “Ate a sandwich today and I feel like a pig” or “When I go to bed hungry, I go to bed happy.” My heart hurts for them. There’s body dysmorphia, there’s obsession, there’s probably a lot of malnourishment, and there’s also a little insecure girl calling out for attention to strangers looking at her on their iPhones. It saddens me, and I wish I could just reach out and try to help them alter their self-perception and help them get healthy.
There’s a lot going on in society when it comes to women’s appearances. There’s the media and every troll behind a computer screen judging people scrupulously. There’s the lack of self-love and pride of our bodies taught within homes. We’ve also created a society where men sometimes feel entitled and justified in openly scrutinizing woman’s appearance, whether warranted or not – particularly because they’re used to seeing Photoshopped pictures of “perfect” models, celebrities and porn stars every day. The criticism doesn’t seem to happen to men often, but it happens to women every second of every day. And then we wonder why women, especially impressionable girls and young women, tend to be insecure? Or worse, develop an eating disorder or spend their whole lives wishing to be someone or something else?
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And so in a nutshell, what do I think about this “curvy” girl revolution? I am absolutely LOVING that self-love is a current beauty trend. It’s about damn time that women in modern society proudly cultivated an attitude of gratitude to our bodies and all that they do for us – strengths, flaws and all. My hope is that this healthy curvy girl confidence in the media transcends over into helping the “average” girl whose always felt like she wasn’t enough to embrace herself.
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I really believe that the key to women having self-confidence is to place the focus on health – on treating ourselves right by exercising daily, nourishing our bodies with lots of whole foods, enjoying some not so clean foods and drinks in moderation without guilt, appreciating ourselves, surrounding ourselves with positivity, only allowing people to take space in our lives that deserve to be there. It’s about being healthy in all senses of the word – physical health, emotional health, spiritual health. When you focus on living healthily, the other things – like being more physically fit – naturally come along with it. I believe that strong and healthy is beautiful, no matter if it comes in a size 0 or a size 10.
Thoughts? Would love to hear your opinions on the confident curvy girl trend!
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PS – Did you know that I do health coaching to help women to start living their healthiest, most confident life? Check out my coaching page or email me @ nicole[at]foodielovefitness.com for more info!
I love this post and your message of self love! I agree with you that the S.I. plus sized model looks pretty small to be called plus sized, but you’re right in saying that modeling industry standards are not normal people standards. Most people don’t have the body type to ever get to be anywhere near as skinny as regular models even if they tried their hardest, which wouldn’t be healthy. Skinny on the outside does not necessarily mean healthy!
It makes me sad that she’s considered plus size. It also makes me sad that so much emphasis is put on what our bodies look like. I’m a victim of it myself – I think we all are. I love what you said about it being more than just how you look – but how you feel as well. I’ve fluctuated weight my whole life and it’s exhausting .. but at the end of the day I think having a healthy mindset can come before having a truly healthy body & lifestyle. I’m stilll working on it myself!
I think there is too much emphasis on curvy/thin…..I agree with you – strong and healthy is the way to go and leave off the other labels!!!
Oh I am so in love with the curvy girl revolution . While i don’t believe there is any “ideal” or “perfect” body type for anyone, it’s impossible for everyone to be stick thin, nor should we want to be if it’s from unhealthy eating. I think if we as women started supporting each other and talking positively about ourselves, regardless of the imperfections, more of the younger generation would realize that those expectations of beauty are false and often unobtainable.
Exactly! I hate that women tend to be really critical of other women… Like you said, I wish that women would be more supportive towards each other. Fostering body acceptance would give women the confidence to be proud of themselves, instead of ashamed of their “flaws” or size. If you’re eating healthy and leading an active lifestyle, that’s something to be proud of – no matter what size you are!
Loving yourself is the most beautiful thing in the world!
Wow, that girl is not plus size. That’s ridiculous! The modeling world is completely insane.
I’m a tall skinny girl and always have been but there are times when I wish I had more curves. I think they’re beautiful and feminine. So I guess we’ve all wanted what we don’t have at some point, right?
But I’m all for self-love and have tried my best to find happiness with what I have. When I feel healthy is when I feel my most sexy and that means eating plenty of carbs and staying moderately active.
Oh, and I love that Aerie doesn’t retouch their photos. Have you seen that? I think every company/magazine should do that. I’m sure that would work wonders for women and girl’s self esteem!
That is so true, the grass is always greener on the other side.
No I haven’t heard that about Aerie – interesting!
I think it’s great to love yourself especially if you’re healthy and still eating healthy food and exercising no matter what size you are -> not every girl is going to naturally be a size 0 nor a size 0 even with a ton of work. Gotta embrace what your body is going to do as long as you’re still taking care of yourself!
Yes! I seriously don’t think I could be a size 0 no matter how hard I tried. It’s just not my body type, and that is perfectly okay!
Wow I can’t believe that first model is considered plus size…Being greater than a size 0 or a 2 to make you “plus size’ is kind of absurd. For my inspiration I look to professional female athletes. Some are larger than others, but all are beautiful and healthy and fit. They take care of their bodies to perform at their best, and I think that’s incredible.
I couldn’t agree more! Athletic female bodies are always inspiring to me.
Beautifully written!!
Thanks, Miss Dez! I’m glad you read this since I know that you were giving yourself a hard time about losing the baby weight last year… You look great and I hope that you’re proud of your post-baby body! You created a beautiful little boy (that I get to call my nephew!).
Beautifully written! At the end of the day, it’s diversity, right? And that’s never bad. It’s the labels that cause the most stir.
Thanks, Lauren! Totally, different shapes and sizes are what make our bodies beautiful and interesting. How boring would it be if we were all the exact same?
Oh man, I can’t believe that girl is considered plus size….give me a break! I think an athletic body type is way more inspiring than a skinny size zero model!
I agree, I always aspire to be toned and athletic looking rather than skinny!
Ok that is not plus size to me!!!
It’s funny because I used to be so concerned with how thin I was pre-baby and now I look at photos and think “gosh, I was so skinny!” My body has changed a lot from having Cooper and I’m trying to embrace it rather than fall into a self-loathing spiral!
See and that’s so funny, because every time I see photos of you since the baby, I’m like, “Wow she looks awesome!” We always tend to be our worst critic ya know? Your body probably has changed, but most of that is probably stuff that only you notice. You are a healthy and fit mama, lady!
Completely agree! I think it’s disgusting that 1. the one girl is considered plus-sized; and 2. this is what the rest of the world is comparing themselves to. I was never tiny and super skinny either, but I’ve been athletic and strong and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to be ok with that. I’m healthy, not sick, and i’m fit. So whatever number is on the scale, I could care less. I don’t even know what it is right now. Sure, I’d like to lose some fat in a couple places, but i’m not obsessed with it. And I don’t feel bad about myself – for the most part. lol I mean, we all have our days…being healthy and fit is more important to me than the number on a scale or the number in my jeans.
100% agreed! And yes, we all have those “fat” days when we aren’t feel great about our bodies, but at the end of the day, health is everything, so if we have that, we’re in good shape!
I love this post. The only thing I would disagree with is that its a trend–I actually think its here to stay! I am one of those curvy girls and I absolutely love it! I think for a long time all we saw was one type of woman and I am so happy to see diversity of size all over the place!
Amen to that, Nellie! I hope that we continue to cultivate an environment that promotes healthiness and confidence, not a specific size or body type. I agree, I love seeing different sizes and types of healthy women – not just one cookie cutter version of what a beautiful woman should look like.