Though we do love the fact that this season's America's Next Top Model winner is a healthy-looking "plus-size" model, it leaves us wondering: Is a size 6 seriously considered PLUS size?
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Whitney, a brunette-turned-blonde from Florida was crowned season ten's America's Next Top Model. She's stunning, and we are psyched that they didn't pick another too-skinny minny. Tyra Banks told her "You are the first girl with some booty to win."
Whitney replied "I want other women in America to feel good about themselves. I want people to look at me and say, I don't have to starve. I don't have to have plastic surgery." We're torn: Of course, we want healthier role models, but if she is considered "plus," what does that say for the rest of us?
And how do we explain to our own daughters that this tiny girl is considered plus-size?
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filed under: fashion logic
Email17 comments so far | Post a comment now >>
the modeling industry is so messed up to consider this plus size. do they know the average american woman is a size 14-now, i’m not saying that is necessarily healthy but come on. A size six? That’s practically a regular size model. I WISH i could have her body.
- jackie
A true plus size is 16W-26W not a 14. Get real people.
- PlusSized&Loving It
she said she was a size 10. Still not plus size but probably true that plus size models are not plus sized. I don’t begrudge her the win. I hope some day it can really be about who was the best and we can drop the size all together.
- daniwho
Yeah - she’s not a size 6. This is NOT a negative comment about her size - I’m an 8 and she’s a couple sizes bigger than me. I think she is a GREAT model for reality. She is a healthy size, not too skinny, not unhealthily overweight (lets remember all of the health factors involved in being overweight - that’s one of the signs of an unhealthy lifestyle). As Americans (the fattest nation on the planet) we have to stop giving ourselves excuses and get our butts moving towards a healthier nation…and help out our health care system to boot!
- Lea
I wouldn’t even call her “full-figured,” let alone “plus size.” Maybe it’s time for designers to get more creative and make clothes that look good on real women instead of stick figures.
- Melissa
Whitney is not even close to being “plus-sized” or “full figured”. She’s a normal, healthy, beautiful woman. I am happy that there is now an advocate for average sized people - even if she does have to wear the mantle of “plus sized” in order to infiltrate the fashion industry. The fashion industry needs to be called out for its hypocrisy and skewed vision of beauty - and I hope that Whitney and Tyra succeed in that.
- mo
she’s smoking hot
- harrison
Sucks for me. My hubby begged me to go to the ANTM auditions when they came here but I just had a baby 9 months ago so I thought I was too fat. I’m about a 9/10. Guess I was wrong. I’m glad she won. She’s sexy. Stick thin is not sexy. It has taken me a long time to realize this b/c I used to be skinny until I my second kid.
- ashley
I watched the show actually and was thinking the same thing, there is no way she is a plus size. Then after she won, Tyra did make a point to say that the correct term is “full-figured model”, not plus size. Momlogic, you guys gotta get your facts straight before you cause all this drama.
- Anonymous
Well to respond to Mom Logic getting their facts right-You’re wrong-Whitney started out as a size 10 and then the pressure of the competition made her lose weight. There’s no way she’s bigger than an 8. Plus, maybe Tyra is calling her FULL Figured (even THAT is pushing it) but she is being touted as PLUS SIZE in all the press. it’s f’ing ridiculous. Yes it’s great we now have a more normal looking top model, but now we need to go for a healthier “NORM” in that industry so our girls don’t grow up thinking a size zero is something they have to aspire to. our country is so extreme, you’re either too skinny or too fat. Let’s get some balance people.
- jennifer
According to the CDC, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is around 66% (BMI > 25), and the rate of obesity in this country is growing. However, most models/fashion industry people are smaller than a size 0…as you know! So, i think naming a person who is a size 6 a “plus size” model, is actually quite befitting given the fact that this suggests an addition (say, 0+ 2/4/6/8/) to the generally accepted size 0 in the fashion industry. Does the “plus-size” tag imply obese or overweight? no, not at all, in this case, it is probably reflective of a healthy medium.
- maggie
I wouldn’t take it personally. In fact, I have found and been discouraged sometimes, when I am trying on clothes. I fit into an old navy size 6 jeans, but then I also fit into a fitted pant from the gap that is size 2. It’s all hows it’s been made, who set up the size chart and that’s about it. To be in model condition is out of the question. You do not have the salary or forgiving family that will allow you to reach their body goals. if you do that’s great more power to you, but everyone should go by the body size they hare happy with and feel comfortable in and forget about what is consider a plus size and what’s not.
- catherine
I have to say this ongoing debate never changes anything. These things are all symptoms in a culture that is sick. We can talk about it all we want however until we address the root we will never fix the branches. Although I did love the article…very well written!
- Lisa
Whitney was not a size 6. For those of us who watched the show she was a size 11-12 but got smaller as the show progressed. She never got b/l a size 9. And Yes I do agree where on earth is a size 9 a plus size person. That is a normal size and the average woman and young woman in our country is a size 12.
- Teri H
Well, she’s at her smallest now and her measurements per her profile on Elite are 36”-32”-43” (US). Which would make her approximately a 12/14 in upscale casual dress sizes. Which technically are considered in the plus size range *when it comes to modeling.* Personally, I couldn’t care less what size she is, it’s her attitude I have problem with. She has a graphic on her myspace page with the text underneath that states “skinny is 4 punks!” All of her rhetoric about changing sizist attitudes falls a bit flat when she’s so blatantly sizist herself. But no one ever wanted to call her out on it. I’m a real woman too. Just because I’m thinner than most doesn’t mean I have an eating disorder or that I exercise to excess or that I’m better than anyone else nor am I lesser than someone else. I’m just thinner. So was my mom, my grandmother and my daughter. Jeez. The next time someone comes up and tells me to eat something, I’m going to tell them to stop chasing twinkies. See how that makes them feel. Size judgments hurt.
- fetchfox
size 9 is plus size in asia
- judy
I love watching americas next top model but I seriously wonder when they get into the plus size subject. What size is Tyra Banks? Im sorry but a size 8 or 10 is small, I wouldnt consider anything under 14 a plus size. And I would be embarressed for someone if they thought otherwise.
- Sarah
