Comments on: Is It REALLY Body Diversity?

By: Michelle Cantrell

Michelle Cantrell — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:56:29 +0000

Thank YOU for being so forthcoming with your thoughts. It’s our goal at VenusVision to represent a variety of view points. That being said, I completely agree with what you are saying.

By: Trish

Trish — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:42:23 +0000

Thank you for clearing that up, Michelle. I appreciate you taking the time to address my comments. You’re right, I did misunderstand. I was under the impression that you and others were not happy with what V-magazine was doing because although it was a positive step, it wasn’t the step you wanted. As long as we keep supporting the people in the industry who are making these changes then I think the diversity everyone is looking for will come — maybe not as soon as everyone would like, but eventually.

By: Michelle Cantrell

Michelle Cantrell — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:32:16 +0000

Trish, I appreciate your comment, but I really think you misunderstood my post. I am THRILLED THRILLED THRILLED to see these images. And I hope there will be many more. I encourage the industry to continue in this direction, and I’ve posted about my enthusiasm before. (For one such example you can read the post Could the Tide be Turning? http://venusvision.com/could-the-tide-be-turning/) Perhaps I need to be more clear when I make statements like the one above about how much personal joy it brings to me to see these amazingly beautiful larger women on the pages of mainstream magazines. The first time I saw the picture of Lizzie Miller sitting naked in Glamour, I nearly cried as a wave emotions overcame me.

I just feel like the fashion and modeling industries are only going to give us what we ask for. And so, while I am immensely pleased with the direction they are going in, I am not going to stop at seeing just one more type of body represented.

By: Trish

Trish — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:09:04 +0000

After looking back at how fashion magazines affected me as a pre-teen and teenager who was and still is a plus-size, it could literally bring me to tears (of joy) to see what V Magazine is doing. Between the circumstances of my own life and what the media was feeding me during that impressionable age, my self-esteem was destroyed up until I graduated college (a mere 1 1/2 years ago). I get what everyone is saying about diversity — how it’s not really diverse yet. But for someone like me, who cried when reading fashion magazines during high school about how I would never look like those girls and that I would NEVER be considered beautiful, V Magazine’s “Size Issue” means A LOT to me. This is why I disagree with this post. From my perspective, this is a MAJOR step in the right direction. YES, I want to see more diversity. YES, these are the same beautiful women as before just size 14s instead of 4s. Forgive me if I seem closed-minded, but this makes me HAPPY. I can’t sit here and say, “Sorry V Mag, nice try but it’s just not cutting it”. It’s been a struggle just to get to THIS point, and if we want it to go further we should support and appreciate what is being done and encourage movement ahead, not COMPLAIN about the fashion industry not creating diversity overnight. If you want to see more diversity, push the industry forward by being ecstatic about what is being done now, then challenge the industry to go further once this step is complete (in other words, that this plus-size showing isn’t just a trend but an actual CHANGE).

By: Marcie

Marcie — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:14:40 +0000

I’ve always been a fan of fuller-figured models. There’s a great site with many images of Crystal and other plus-size models here:

http://www.judgmentofparis.com/

They’re all gorgeous.

The site’s forum also has thought-provoking discussions about body image and the media.

By: 6 footer

6 footer — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:01:14 +0000

It sure is… IS… a start

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:18:43 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by venusvision: Body diversity in the media: Is it real? What do you think? http://bit.ly/6F1dG2…

By: Michelle Cantrell

Michelle Cantrell — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:42:34 +0000

Pippa, Thank you for your wonderful insight. I agree with your comment about there being too much at stake. I wrote an article a while back about Why Your Magazine Wants You to Fail (http://venusvision.com/why-your-magazine-wants-you-to-fail/) on that very point.

I am definitely impressed with what we are saying. It’s an important step that that larger women are being recognized as equally beautiful. I guess I am just getting greedy and want more.

By: Pippa

Pippa — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:58:23 +0000

I don’t think that the media is going to embrace variations of the ‘model’ figure just yet. Frankly, I am amazed that there is a black model in the shoot! It could have gone further and used an Asian as well, but nobody asked me about it LOL. As you asked, the heights of the models shown are (respectively, L-R as above, US dress size / height)

16/5′9″, 12-14/5′11″, 12-14/5′10.5″, 16/5′11″ (and the blonde girl not in the shot is 12-14/5′10″)

Using a larger sized model is a HUGE step for these people. As the standard excuse used for not featuring models over a size 6 in fashion mags is always “we can’t find good clothes for them”, any shoot where the models are not naked is impressive to me. Through this shoot and the one previously released with Crystal Renn, V Magazine has proven that it can treat larger models with sincerity and respect and halle-freakin-lujah for that! NO MARINA RINALDI IN SIGHT!!!

The point that someone will make if I don’t, is that high fashion models are always going to be aspirational fantasy creatures. They will never be representative of the majority of the population, because that dilutes their cache. The place you are most likely to find true diversity of age and size and shape in the short term will be in the pages of Brigitte magazine and lifestyle magazines targetted at ladies of a certain age, such as Prima UK, More, Redbook, etc.

I don’t see change in that regard happening in the foreseeable future – say 2 years. There is simply too much industry resistance, and too much money riding on keeping things the way they are. Put it this way – if we all become so happy with our bodies that we no longer subscribe to the brainwashing of cosmetics, pharma and diet industries, they will not have enough funds to advertise and therefore magazines will lose vital revenue needed to stay in print. ‘Tis a very vicious circle!!

Body diversity does exist in one special place on the web: http://runwayrevolution.com, featuring only models over a size 10, and from all over the world.

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:44:27 +0000

No – you are not being overly sensitive at all! While the inclusion of these ‘plus’ sized models in a mag like V is absolutely wonderful – I hope it is only just the beginning of very soon seeing alot more diverse shapes and sizes in fashion spreads. It would be wonderful to see some shorties (I am one!) as well as women with physical disabilities as well.

Bring it on!