Cheers to size...HEALTHY!

I just read an article on Entertainment Weekly (my source for pop culture goodness) about a Tyra Banks apology regarding America's Next Top Model (ANTM), Cycle 15. My first thought was "This could be interesting. Is she apologizing for the fact that this show is still on?" I know that sounds mean but I honestly haven't enjoyed ANTM since Cycle 8 (Jaslene Gonzalez was the winner) with my favorite cycles being 2 (Mercedes rocked!), 3 (Eva the diva was fierce), and 6 (Sweet Danielle and hilarious Jade were great). I couldn't tell you anything about the last few seasons except that of the seasons I watched it has gotten progressively worse. But my disdain is another blog post.


Anyway, it turns out that a promo spot (commercial, if you will) was released showing Tyra Banks appearing to praise a model's very small waist. If you've ever seen the show or know anything about Tyra since her modeling days, than you know that she is all about curves, embracing your body, all the "beauty comes in all shapes and sizes" mantras you can think of. Now of course I agree with those ideas, just as beauty is not only found in one skin tone, hair color, or eye color, beauty is not only one body type.


What was interesting in the comments section was that a debate brewed between the reactions between very thin and overweight. There definitely is more of an overall campaign by the media to celebrate "regular-sized" and "full/plus-sized" women. I applaud the media for this since for so many decades, there was the "one size fits all" mentality that you needed to be the golden size 6 (or smaller) to wear the best fashions, be a model/actress, etc. Embrace your curves and even the extra pounds you have--a confident and positive self-image is what it's all about.


But while celebrating the larger than size 6 body, are we doing so at the cost of the naturally thin women? As sure as "fat" jokes are generally discouraged, how many times have we heard "she looks anorexic!" or "go eat something". Maybe these ladies are eating something and have a naturally fast metabolism or it's their genetic structure or they have a good balance of healthy eating and exercise. I believe we should celebrate ALL body types as long as they are healthy! High blood pressure, cholesterol, etc do not discriminate between a size 0 and a size 20. The key is healthy lifestyle! That will most certainly give way to a beautiful person, no matter what their size is.

Entertainment Weekly's article (and comments): http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/08/16/tyra-banks-top-model-apology/