Is This Woman Plus Size?
Imagine being criticized as being too fat, despite winning a supermodel show.
Jen Hunter (5' 11", 154 lbs) won the "Make Me a Supermodel" show - despite being criticized for being too fat.
Many people applauded her win. Last year a magazine writer asked:
Although [Hunter] triumphantly overcame the judges remarks and abuse, can she really break into the fashion world?
Answer: No.
Jen Hunter
Jen Hunter recently quit the agency and joined plus-size agency Excel Models.
"[...] when I went into castings I saw very few size 12 models and came up against the same old prejudice. I just didn't feel comfortable so I decided to change to Excel Models." (source)
It seems that Hunter (a UK size 12) was not acceptable for the catwalk.
It's fairly obvious that despite all the noise about fashion models being too skinny - little has changed. Only certain body shapes are acceptable for fashion modeling.
An attention-grabbing comparison I know, but below is a picture of Marianne Berglund, another finalist in the above-mentioned reality show.
Marianne Berglund
Both women have a right to be the size and shape they wish to be. The issue here is what is acceptable for the modeling industry and how it impacts body image perception as a whole.
If Jen Hunter is plus-size then the bar of "appropriate body size" has been raised so high as to be insurmountable.
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96 Comments
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Created / Updated: January 12, 2012
Jen looks pretty , sexy and desireable,
ReplyBergland looks like an escapee from a german prison camp.
Women who buy into that look are just stupid.. its just to a way to sell overpriced clothes to ignorant women without actually putting them on a hanger! they walk the clothes down the catwalk on a human hanger..all invented by bitchy gay men and their fag hag counterparts..Wake up girls!
omg I so totally agree with mimi!
I mean it's true that a women can b super skinny or watever weight she is comfortable with IF SHE WANTS
but honestly chicas who these days is exactly size 6/8 or below without depriving themself of the gift of yummy chocolate icecreams and cheesy pizzas??
common ppl! getchyo head inn the game ;)
I'm size 14 and alot of my friends and 12-ish I think I'm slightly over wieght around my hips cuz im a pear buh excpt that I dont mind being wat I am I adore iit
CUZ LADIES!! skinny or fat, short or tall WORSHIP that body cuz its the only one u got
See that smile and perfection on hunters face?? that came from shopping with her friends, treating herself like any normal person to a krispy kreme or sundaes :)
We come in all diffrent shapes && sizes
luvit
~tooba xx
ReplyI'm a size 4 and don't starve myself at all. I work hard, make smart food choices and treat myself in moderation. It's about making good food choices and exercise. Take care of your body and it will take care of you.
ReplyPeople often miss the fact that not everyone is a natural size 4 if they just "take care of themselves." I'm 5'7 and of German descent. I can't be a size 4 because the shirts literally won't fit over my shoulders - my bones are simply too wide too. Or rather, they aren't "too wide" but a size 4 is too small. I would literally have to starve myself to get below 120 pounds (a weight I have no desire to reach) and get tired of people saying that anyone can be a size 4 if they will just "take care of themselves." Bone structure, ancestry, and height all impact weight. It will be a great day when 5'1 women who run 5-10 miles a day stop telling women of average height (5'4") that they can be any size they want if they will just "take care of themselves."
ReplyTo say that _anyone_ can be a healthy size 4 is as wrong as to claim that _anyone_ wearing size 6/8 or smaller is depriving themselves from food.
Replythat was awesome!! "human hangers". exactly.
ReplyThank you.
I would just like to say that its hard for me because its either bbw or ultra thin I am 5'10 and a size 12 lol so.. I see this alot.. I am the size that in between and its like come on what about us sized girls who dont' fit iin to any of those areas what about us..we are beautiful too not just the ultra thin or the bbw's just had to throw that out there..
ReplyI have had eating disorders to be really thin almost died but at the same time I am not going to risk my healt the other way either and gain tons of wieght..Wheres the balance people
She looks like a sick person the skinny one. The "plus" size model is actually the normal size for her height. She looks curvaceous and desirable.
ReplyI weep for humanity when a size 12 is considered plus size!!! In the photos above, Jen looks healthy and well proportioned. Marianne looks like a walking skeleton.
ReplyPoor Jen; I hope she won't get all freaked out like the latest American Idol did and run off and lose 40 pounds to be considered acceptable.
It's not just that she's only a size 10, but she's a size 10 at 5'11"! Just when I was feeling pretty good about being an 8-10 at 5'8"... :-P I think Jen Hunter looks gorgeous.
ReplyI may be jumped on for saying this, but... I think both women are beautiful. I believe the fashion industry needs to embrace all body types and that means all ends of the spectrum from the very skinny to the overweight. All those swimsuit pictures are evidence of is a swimsuit that was designed for someone who has an hourglass figure.
Just because Marianne looks thin and granted her ribs look like they're poking out, does not mean she has any kind of health issues, so I'm going to refrain from passing judgment.
The greatest designer is one whose designs work in the real world and not just on paper.
ReplyThanks Nic,
Good to see that someone is able to step back and realise that you don't have to choose the "skinny side" or the "fat side"...
It frustrates me that people are so quick to judge anyone for being too large or too slim...
If you're "too slim", you're not a "real woman", and if you're "too large", you're considered fat... And in reality, all that matters is that you're healthy and happy, not whether you are big or small :)
We are all beautiful :)
xx
Replyi agree with everyone, especially nic. i do have to say though, that both models should be able to walk the catwalk on the same night in the same show. if diversity of ethinicity and gender is so big in businesses, why not in the business of fashion? and why can't the diversity include body shape and size?
ReplySeriously.... if a 325 lb, spandex wearing, 5'4" woman came down the catwalk, I'd say she was too fat and to get the heck out. But this? She's NOT FAT.
The sad thing is, I have a friend who is considered too skinny by her doctor. Her BMI is very low, and everyone who has met her first notices how skinny she is. Yet she doesn't look bony like many of the fashion models - because she isn't starving herself to be at the weight she is. And, she would be considered "too fat" by the fashion model industry.
The real problem is twofold:
1) The fashion model "industry" is at a complete disconnect from real society. A bunch of old coots who made their money selling unrealistic expectations to women with the money for the plastic surgery to reach them, decide what is beautiful.
2) Retouching of photos gets cheaper and cheaper each day. They can hang their clothes on a skeleton however they want, and just edit out the jutting bones during retouching. Ever notice how you see these ultra-bony pictures of a model, but the PUBLISHED pictures never look this way?
ReplyIf there is a beter looking pair of legs than Jan Hunter's, I'd like to see them. In fact, the rest of her is quite beautiful as well. Love those plus sized women.
ReplyYes she does. 5'11" is quite tall.
ReplyAs a gal who has lived with the societal pressures all her fricken life, I gotta say I'll take Jen's body any day over Marianne's. In fact, I like Jen's body better than most models I see in Vogue.
I do not want to have bones poking outta my torso!!!!
My husband lost 35 pounds over the last year plus, and while he's hardly a skinny-winny, I can feel bones when I hug him now, when I coudln't before. Not the nicest feeling. I don't want him embracing me and feeling ribs and hip bones poking. No. I like a bit of flesh on my fella and on me. Though, granted, there is WAY too much flesh on me.
The fact that that gorgeous Jen is considered not thin enough is a scary, scary, scary thing.
I think she's stunning. And I don't consider her plus-sized. She just happens to be TALL, above average height for women. Way above average. So, of course, she can carry more weight and look fabulous.
The Princess
ReplyJen is gorgeous! The swimsuit looks terrific on her, but I don't think it looks good AT ALL on Marianne. Is it just me, or do her hip bones and ribs sort of make the suit look bizarre? I wish there were more diversity in the modeling industry...not just more "plus sized" models, but more petite models and more models that aren't white. Sure I think the models in most magazines are fine looking, but they never look like me or anyone I know. How are you supposed to buy clothes that will flatter you if you don't see them on someone that looks like you? That's why I LOVE IT when magazines do features with real women that are modeling clothes. It lets you see what the clothes will actually look like on a real person.
ReplyJen looks fantastic. Classic A-frame body, great legs, probably got a nice ass too.
A little lacking up top, though. I'd have her hit the gym and put on 10-20 pounds. Build a well-rounded hourglass figure.
Oh, and program her to love me. Perfection!
ReplyOk first off the plus size model IS NOT 154LB. I see bodies all day and she is much closer to 175-180 ish. so lets first be honest about her weight.
ReplySean, you are forgetting that how someone looks vs what they weigh can very greatly depending on a number of factors including bone density, muscle tone etc.... I've often seen women roughly the same height and weight (yes, I have weighed them as I work at a clinic) who look drastically different from one and other. Also, what does it matter if she is 170 pounds as she is obvioulsy beautiful?
ReplyOh Sean, thank god there are people like you who can determine a persons weight from one small, posed, single angle photograph.
Quickly, write a book, you must share your gift with the world!
ReplyYou know, seems to me you might be right on that. Hard to say for sure, but now that you mention it, to have a decent amount of flesh on your bones at her height, seems you'd need to weigh more than 154 lbs.
ReplyI agree with Nic too, but why can't there be an in between? That'd be the perfect model, because honestly no one likes fat or deep hollows under eyes and bones poking out.
Reply