Small Steps for Fatkind

By now I’m guessing you’ve heard about the ad in this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue that has everyone talking. In case you haven’t, here it is:

SIad

I know I should probably be really excited about this. I mean, it’s a non-thin woman in a bathing suit – a bikini, even! – in the world’s most famous (infamous?) swimsuit-themed magazine. And in a way, I am excited. I’m glad to know the millions of people who “read” this issue will see some body diversity (because sorry, Kate Upton doesn’t count). But I also think we have to keep a few things in mind, including the fact that Swimsuits For All paid for the ad. It’s not like SI suddenly decided to jump on the plus-size bandwagon of their own accord.

Ashley_Graham

And also, Ashley Graham, the woman in the ad (and shown above), is a very atypical plus-size woman. After all, I don’t know any fat women in real life who are shaped like Ashley Graham. The fat women I know are not extremely well proportioned. They do not have small arms, smooth, flat stomachs, and hourglass figures. Hold on, though. I know that women who wear straight sizes rarely see their bodies represented by models either. What percentage of thin women are as thin, beautiful, and perfectly proportioned as models? So maybe I shouldn’t complain about plus-size models like Ashley representing such a narrow (no pun intended) range of fat women. But I will! It’s my blog.

(Side note: When I say “flat stomach,” I don’t mean thin. I mean a stomach that does not have rolls, where the belly button is visible. Because – fat fact check! – there are millions of fat women who have rolls and whose belly buttons are not visible. Those women are almost never seen in media, or even in body-positive images.)

I’m more excited to hear that Tess Munster has been picked up by a major modeling agency. You probably recognize her name from the times that Beverly has talked about her here on BFD, but here’s a refresher:

tess

Tess has a large chest, and is pretty proportionate (someday, there will be a small-chested fat woman in the public eye!). But she is also has fat arms and legs, and is in general much fatter than almost all other “plus-size” models working today. So cheers to MiLk Model Management for being open-minded and giving Tess a chance to share her beauty with the world. It will be interesting to see what clients use her, and in what capacity.

It’s absolutely great that we are seeing more body diversity in media. But here’s the thing: We can also expect more. I’m not content with baby steps. I want giant steps, stereotype-smashing steps. I want to see non-proportionate women, I want to see women with what we ridiculously call “flaws” but that we all (fat and thin) actually have, like rolls, stretch marks, and cellulite. If we saw those things on a regular basis on bodies in the media, think of how much less we’d hate them on our own bodies! So more like the bottom image, and less like the top (with thanks to Dear Kate):

dear-kate-ad

Someone told me that advertising is about fantasy, that we want to see what we aren’t, what we don’t have, so that we will spend money in order to be and have it. I don’t buy into that. I am much more willing to give my money to companies who showcase the wondrous diversity of humanity and the human body, who want to help me be more myself and less like some airbrushed, impossible version of someone who most decidedly isn’t me.

What do you think? Are you cheering for Ashely? Over the moon for Tess? Or, like me, are you ready for more?

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