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Loading...The Woman on Page 194: Plus-Size Model Bares All for Glamour
By now you’ve probably seen or heard of the woman on page 194.
If not let me introduce you.
Meet Lizzi Miller. She’s a 20-year-old model who recently graced the glossy pages of Glamour magazine in nothing but a thong – all 180 pounds of her.
Miller’s bare-it-all image appears alongside an article on women’s body confidence in Glamour’s September issue. The picture, which highlight’s more than Miller’s beautiful smile, has stirred quite a buzz. As a size 12-14 Miller represents today’s “average” woman and these women are grateful. Glamour editor Cindi Leive reports that she has been inundated with positive responses from readers ever since the magazine hit newsstands:
“The most amazing photograph I’ve ever seen in any women’s magazine.”
“This beautiful woman has a real stomach and did I even see a few stretch marks?…This photo made me want to shout from the rooftops.”
“Get this hot momma off of page 194 and put her on the cover!”
“Thank you for showing a picture of a BEAUTIFUL woman who has a stomach and thighs that look like mine! I have NEVER seen that in a magazine before.”
“This woman rocks and we need more women like her to make a mark on what the real woman looks like.”
Tired of seeing the same stick-thin models splashed across the covers of magazines and billboards and staring on TV and in the movies, Miller’s picture is refreshing, albeit a little shocking. Unlike the models on the first 193 pages of the magazine, Miller is in a natural pose, displaying a belly bulge that hangs over her underwear – not a flat trim tummy – and she is smiling, happy, confident.
Image that, a confident woman with a less than perfect figure? Radical, I know.
Miller and Leive appeared on the Today Show to talk about the picture’s buzz and what this means for the future of the magazine.
“You get a reaction like this and you can really see it. It’s also a sign of the times that women are really looking for a little bit more authenticity and a little bit less artifice in every part of their lives so yea, will it change our approach? I think it will,” said Leive.
On Leive’s blog on glamour.com she calls on readers to tell her what kinds of image they would like to see more of in Glamour and assures readers that Glamour’s listening and is committed to “celebrating all kinds of beauty.”
Maybe there is hope for the future of Glamour after all, but first a little perspective: out of the entire magzine Miller’s picture measures all but a three-by-three inch square; on the cover is a svelte looking Jessica Simpson who months ago (and time and time again) was ridiculed by the media for her fluctuating weight; and the kicker, in the upper left hand corner of the cover there is a teaser – 3 Flat Belly Secrets – for an article inside on how to trim your waistline.
This is not cohesive messaging by any means. The article that accompanies Miller’s picture encourages women to be confident in their skin – no matter what size – but you don’t have to search long before you find another article instructing you on how you can get that flat belly that you’ve always wanted (without working out!) or another model with a “perfect” pouchless body.
So, we have a ways to go before Glamour, or any magazine for that matters,starts celebrating “all kinds of beauty” but at least this is a positive step in the right direction. It is my hope that Miller’s picture isn’t forgotten in the coming months and that the memory of the women’s ecstatic reactions from around the country aren’t forgotten either.
I’m skeptical, but I hope Glamour (or any magazine) proves me wrong.
Read more: belly bulge lizzi miller, body image, glamour, plus-size model, womens rights
Image originally posted on Newsweek - http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thehumancondition/archive/2009/08/21/the-girl-on-page-194-why-everyone-is-talking-about-glamour-s-plus-sized-model.aspx
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+ add your ownexcellent!
Maybe the mags will start to display pics of more normal sized women now instead of the wafer-thin models who no doubt starve themselves to stay that way.
I see that this thread has just celebrated its 1st birthday!
Congratulations!
My opinion remains the same. Plus size, average size, regular size, call it what you like, Lizzie is beautiful and gets my vote anytime!
I think that the only thing that is still sad about these articles is that they are calling these women "plus sized", when in actuality, this is the average size of women in the U.S.. But it is wonderful that people are starting to realize that there are beautiful women out there that are not a size 2.
Celebrities Nude
Not surprisingly many of the comments here are from women so here's a view from one male!
I've no doubt women will continue to feature in advertising because of their looks and fashion and glamour magazines will always flourish. What a breath of fresh air to see a regular, healthy, happy-looking woman on the glossy page. I don't read these but I'm exposed to all the same advertising and media publicity as anyone and of course a pretty face and a nice figure turns an appreciative eye. Beauty is subjective and I quite object to being told by 'the industry' what I should consider attactive and what not. So three cheers to Lizzie and others like her who want the world to know that 'regular' women are beautiful too. She sure gets my vote and my admiration too.
While we're at it, what about the male 'hunk' image? I hasten to add that that's not me! People are attractive for who they are, not just what they look like. Remember 'Howard' from the UK advert for Halifax?
Small beginnings.....but I agree, when the magazines put models on the cover who represent the broad range of womanhood - size, shape, age - then I'll really shout about it.
I found this really wonderful! Woman's body is changed in the last decades, and the sizes imposed by fashion's "elite" are impossible! They are responsible for so many teen who are sick of anorexia, or dieing because of hard diets to be skinny, because this means "beautiful"!
We should be educated to accept any person, no matter how she looks! We should learn from all these stupid TV shows that the clothes don't "fix" only on skinny women, otherwise you look "ridiculous", but a person is beautiful no matter how she looks, if she's confident, aware and optimistic!
Go Lizzie, go!! Spread the message!
Change the "rules"!!
THANK YOU!!
Woohoo! You go girl.
read
Hey wanted to say my pervious comment. OOPS i mistyped it. i mean that people should not be mean to people who is overweight. What can we do some people are born big size like frame it can be tough on these people. we people need to learn to handle eating better and less. that what i think and excerise more that all . But i believe that is Discrimination to these people who is overweight. can be reasons from any health problems whatever.
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