Plus Size’ Model Wins America’s Next Top Model

The latest buzz all over the internet is of course the fact that ‘plus size’ Whitney Thompson won the TV reality show America’s Next Top Model. Since this show is not aired in India and since I anyway don’t like watching reality shows much, I only know as much about it as I read on the internet.

So I thought to myself how wonderful that societal mores and the pressure to be thin and waif life are probably easing up now, that perhaps we are looking at a paradigm shift in world of fashion and modeling as well!

However, when I read more, it turned out that when they said ‘plus size’ they are actually talking about a size 10! Not so great after all, if they are calling a size 10 plus size. However it is still a departure from the norm that a usual stick insect body type was not picked as a winner.

In an industry that reveres the size 0 concept and in a sense encourages people to be an unrealistic size thereby spurring an improbable and unhealthy pursuit to be thin, the fashion industry unwittingly encourages eating disorders and related health issues.

However, this does seem to be the beginning of a trend where a healthier and more realistic ideal of beauty is coming to the fore. The fact that the winner of this contest actually has curves and a realistic, womanly body that does not resemble a clothes hanger is very heartening.

So what if they are calling a size 10 a ‘plus size’, the winner is still a beautiful woman who has the feminine appearance of a real woman rather than the almost androgynous look that a lot of fashion models sport. This is sending out a positive message that women are supposed to look like women, with curves and soft lines rather than be angular and bony.

This win sends out the positive message that Healthy is Sexy, Healthy is Beautiful!