An online post for Cosmopolitan went viral on Facebook early in January. However, it wasn’t for the reasons many people may think. Robyn Lawley, 24-year-old Australian supermodel, was posing in a tight swimsuit, but the photo didn’t cause the uproar. The caption under the it did.
“Plus-size supermodel Robyn Lawley is BEYOND in this sexy swim shoot for Cosmo Australia,” it reads. The photo shown is from the same photo shoot. Really? She’s plus-sized?
Comments on the post from men and women are all along the same lines. One husband even said the magazine’s distorted view of women was the reason his wife doesn’t feel sexy. Body shaming has become relentless in the media. Perhaps if they had just simply called Lawley a model then no one would have said anything.
Does size matter? In the past year this question has been thrown around in the news, in social media and in our minds. According to the National Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 91 percent of college women have attempted to maintain their weight by dieting. Photoshop can be the devil in disguise, and magazines like Sports Illustrated are the worst offenders.
Marilyn Monroe was the beauty of her day. She was on the cover of the first issue of Playboy and many speculate she was a larger woman. But this is actually a myth. The voluptuous beauty’s dressmaker recorded her measurements as 36-24-37, according to the Examiner.
Dress sizes in the early 1950s and 1960s were sized larger than they are today. So although rumors say Monroe was a size 12, the measurements are equivalent to a size 8 today.
The most publicized star to speak out on the issue of size is Jennifer Lawrence. Although some may say it is overkill at times, her witty comebacks about her weight are a breath of fresh air. Personally she’s my new celebrity crush. I. Adore. Her.
“I’m never going to starve myself for a part. I don’t want little girls to be like, ‘Oh, I want to look like Katniss, so I’m going to skip dinner,” said Lawrence in an interview with Elle magazine. The “Hunger Games” actress is rumored to be a size 6, but she has not confirmed it.
Christina Hendricks has also come under fire in recent years for weight gain. Known for her role in “Mad Men,” the star has denied interviews because they called her “full-figured,” said E! online. Other women in Hollywood often judged by their weight include Jennifer Love Hewitt, Christina Aguilera and Scarlett Johansson.
The American Eagle lingerie line, Aerie, launched a new campaign for spring that is being greeted with open arms. On Aerie.com the homepage boasts, “Time to get real. Time to think real. No supermodels. No retouching. Because the real you is sexy.”
Not only are they women of every size, shape and ethnicity, but they are purely beautiful. Blemishes, tattoos and all are no longer left to the imagination.
It seems as though a size six is the new 10, and the only “accepted” sizes are a four or smaller. Of course there are women who are naturally smaller because of genetics or their fitness level. I’m not here to say “bigger is better” or that anyone who smaller is unhealthy. My only goal is to shed a little light on a weighted subject. No pun intended.
