Fat Fear

The prolific issue of women’s body image has been linked to the ubiquitous presence of thin female bodies within the public sphere. Traditionally, feminine beauty is linked to being thin, and one need not look far to see evidence of the ‘thin is in’ mantra being perpetuated. Most women in the public eye are fastidious about dieting and exercise and go to great lengths to make sure they maintain a slender physique. Images of these thin women flood the media, and there has been ongoing concern about the impact those images have on the ways women understand their own bodies. Our cultural obsession with being thin has led to a skewed understanding of what an average, healthy female body looks like: the women we see every day on television and in magazines generally go to great lengths to stay slim, and as such images of ‘normal’ size women are relatively larger and labeled as such.

However, a recent trend has emerged that seems to celebrate larger, curvier women, including increased visibility of normal female bodies in the media. In particular, some people hope that by including ‘plus-sized’ models in advertising, this stigma against women who break the ultra-thin beauty mold and the body issues that accompany an obsession with thinness might be alleviated. However, according to this study conducted by researchers at Arizona State University, the University of Cologne in Germany and Erasmus University in the Netherlands, advertisements that include only thin models generally do not have a more detrimental impact to women’s self esteem than advertisements that include normal-sized models. Women with a low BMI reported feeling a boost in self-esteem when looking at both pictures of thin models and plus-size models, while women with a high BMI reported a drop in body confidence in either case. However, women with a normal BMI experienced a range of reactions. They reported feeling generally good about themselves after viewing a moderately thin model, with whom they felt similar in size, but were disheartened by images of moderately larger models because they feared they were the same size and also overweight.

While this may seem like evidence against the positive effects of different sized women in the media, I think the study grossly oversimplifies the ways in which women interact with images of other women. Namely, it glosses over how representations of women in the media at large are impacting how women perceive images of plus-sized models.

First and foremost, it is important to consider that images of plus-sized women are created and read in a culture that is still infatuated with thin female bodies. In this atmosphere, placing larger models in advertisements serves as the exception that proves the rule. Plus-sized models are often set off from the regular, ‘normal-sized’ models (whose bodies are arguably less ‘normal’ that those of their larger peers), which denotes them as a kind of body ‘other.’ Consider, for instance, that when larger models are used in magazines, it is often in special issues and almost never among thinner models. The subtext of this practice suggests that, while plus-sized models are beautiful, they are beautiful only when segregated from the ‘normal’ thin models, with whom they cannot fairly be compared. When most of the images of larger models appear in special ‘body confidence’ issues or advertisements aimed at depicting ‘real’ women (as opposed to gorgeous, glamorous fantasy models), they become segregated to a kind of cultural ghetto and are stigmatized despite increased visibility. Simply put, plus-sized becomes a qualifier: the models are beautiful for a larger woman, but could not compete against thin models. Until larger models enjoy the same integrated exposure their smaller peers do, larger bodies will always be seen as attractive only within their own niche.

This attitude only enforces the need for more integrated use of normal-sized women in the media. As Levy argues, the standard of ideal beauty has become endlessly reiterated to the point that deviations from that standard are seen as a less desirable other. In some ways, this phenomena mirrors the struggle of ethnic models to gain legitimacy in the mainstream. In America, the prevailing shorthand for sexiness is generally both thin and white, although that standard is certainly starting to chance. However, non-white models are often including in mainstream media in much the same way that plus-sized models are—as a nod to a niche demographic, rather than an integrated part of the diverse spectrum of women that exist in the real world. For example, Vogue has recently produced both a ‘Body Issue’ focusing on women of different sizes and a ‘Black Issue’ focused on black models. This practice makes apparent that the main way a ‘deviant’ body image gains visibility is through segregated media.

This continued segregation of larger bodies is especially problematic because the plus-sized models we see in print are not particularly plus sized. They are singled out as being large women, when in reality their bodies probably more closely mirror the average women’s than a 'normal' model’s does. Consider, for instance, these images of ‘plus-sized’ models Crystal Renn and Lizzi Miller . Compared to the average woman, there is nothing ‘plus’ about them. In fact, the relative normalcy of their bodies invites the average woman to identify with them. However, their stigmatized place in the media makes this identification unwelcome.

Furthermore, while it is easy to dismiss excessively thin models as the product of extreme photo retouching and unhealthy weight loss habits, larger models seem more accessible and realistic. They seem, when compared to the ridiculous images of the female body we see every day, like an attainable beauty standard. It is easy to forget that they are models who were hired for their beautiful bodies and that the images we see of them have been shot in the most flattering light and likely underwent a litany of retouches. As such, when a woman looks at an image of a plus-sized model and feels her own body falls short of that fantasy, it is a double blow as she is falling short of an image that is already stigmatized as less attractive than that of the mainstream ideal.

However, I think it is important to make a distinction between plus-sized models damaging women’s body image because they are plus-sized models and understanding those body image issues in a larger context. At first glance, it seems difficult to believe that by embracing different body types as beautiful the media could promote bad self-esteem. Yet the context of those images, as stigmatized within the media as well as society, can make identifying with them unwanted. That this trend is tied into a culture that still sees a lithe body as the ultimate shorthand for attractiveness is apparent even within the study itself. Thin women responded positively no matter what sized model they looked at, while larger women always responded negatively.

Body diversity should be integrated into the mainstream, rather than relegated to marginalized ‘special issues’ or qualified as ‘plus-sized.’ I think the negative reactions to plus-sized models are based on the fear of identifying with an image that has been labeled as larger—and therefore less than—the ideal beauty. It is the context of a society that shames women who are not thin that inspires women to feel bad about their bodies, not the actual representation of larger, beautiful women.