The Woman on Page 194: Plus-Size Model Bares All for Glamour
posted by: Ximena R. 88 days ago
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: womens rights, glamour, plus-size model, belly bulge lizzi miller, body image
comments
We've already seen the influence of the "bigger, beautiful woman" in stores and catalogs. Overall size parameters have changed for us all. "Small" used to be 4-6, "Medium" 8-10. Medium sizes are now 10-12. 180 lbs. should righteously be in a size 16, not 12 to 14.
I turn 58 on Saturday and still believe it's wrong to let ourselves go for any reason, at any age. Quit screwing with my sizes and quit trying to sell me mascara in TV ads where the model is wearing false eyelashes! Women aren't stupid, Madison Avenue.
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Wonderful! It is refreshing to see women who most women can relate to. For too long, we have been inundated with the image of sickly looking models who are supposed to be " beautiful". Her body tells a truthful story (not covered up by tummy tucks, lips suction, etc); a body of love and acceptance; a story that most womens bodies have lived.
The truth shall set you FREE!!!
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CollieGirl, you seem to be confused. This model is not obese and this conversation is not about obesity. The samples provided for models by designers are sized for emaciated, UNDERWEIGHT women - because nothing looks fattening in a size 2.
Have you ever seen these women in person? Sometimes their heads actually look too large for their little stick bodies. Gross and NOT healthy. Can you say eating disorder?
The solution is simple: stop purchasing from designers unless they start providing samples in realistic sizes. Maybe even support an indie designer instead. (Anyone else catch the photo of Dolce & Gabbana's entirely-gold-lined bedroom in Glamour two years ago? Puh-lease!) There are lots on sites like Etsy.com and ArtFire.com and you're more likely to be supporting a working artist than an overgrown club-hopping child.
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There is nothing attractive or healthy about obesity. Seems the fatter you are - the more you are applauding it. Very sad.
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Its been great reading all the comments left about this article! All it boils down to is that as long as you are healthy - then size doesn't matter! As for "obese" people being a drain on the health system, - what about smokers; drinkers; car drivers; you can pick on any group of people!!! The fact remains that we are all individual and unique! As the saying goes "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"
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This is great! Now we need to get to work on the age/gender stereotypes in which an aging man can look "distinguished," an aging women simply "old or unattractive or invisible."
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The question of being a healthy weight is like a tree with plenty of contributing roots... For example, what happens when we no longer have the luxury of only paying attention to ourselves -- we have babies, families, jobs, long commutes, problems we never imagined having in our teens or twenties... Our rush-rush culture, supermom expectations... It's oversimplification to attribute everything to "lack of self-control" -- the old battering ram of the diet world.
We're whole human beings, with a need to wear comfortable shoes that won't damage our backs and enjoy our lives. Also, when young, we don't stop to consider whether we want to attract all the men out there. Many are not what we want in a long-term relationship, so do we want to attract everyone?
I want my preoccupations to be larger than my looks, my calorie intake, my exercise requirements. I want them to be about family relationships, what I learn, my favorite activites, how I relax, what simplifies my life.
This weight focus has created a huge profit industry, and interestingly enough, our country just seems to be getting bigger. So what's really going on? Too much ready-made food of bad quality, not enough time or energy to "do it all?"
Each of us has to examine our lives and figure out what keeps us from taking care of ourselves, from a health point of view, not from a "who's looking at me" point of view.
Off my soapbox, sorry...
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I am really surprised by the young girls comments below about "disgusting." Why don't you come back and talk to us when you are over the age of 25, after having kids, etc...you have a rude wake up call coming...I feel bad for you. Someone really did not teach you the truth about a womans body chemistry and how it changes. You can work out sometimes and still it doesn't come off, stretch marks won't go away, etc. Seems you are vain...but most of the kids under my generation are. I'm only 29 so its sad to say...anyway..I am PROUD of Glamour for bringing this issue to the forefront. Way to go! And Way to Have Courage! Times are indeed changing!
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Woah, woah, woah, Lynn F.!
Cool your jets!
First of all, your commment is very offensive, both to that model, and t the audience you are addressing. The fact of the matter is, most women actually LOOK like this model, and it's ruining thousands of young children's minds and health by having them only see "perfect," "thin" bodies when it is not reality nor even achievable to possess such things.
I'm pretty proud of Glamour, even though I basically boycott those magazines. At least it's a step int he right direction.
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It would be a real good thing for them to do. I am not an anerexic woman , I have meat on my bones and it's about time the magazines start catering to women of all shapes and sizes.
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