Franca Cuneo poses on Capri. In real life, the 28-year-old is a restaurateur in Hamburg.
Brigitte, a German fashion magazine, has announced that it will no longer employ professional models for its fashion shoots.
But something about the photos looks different. A prominent tummy here and noticeable wrinkles there reveal that these are not size-zero Amazons straight from the catwalk, but real women. As of the January issue, which hit the newsstands Saturday, Brigitte will use only amateur models in its fashion shoots.
The public response has been overwhelmingly favorable, including thousands of applications from potential models. The German press has been more skeptical, noting that the models chosen to date may be amateurs, but they still "correspond to the conventional ideas of beauty," suggesting that the entire enterprise is a publicity stunt.
Link, photo credit.
people always side with the obese cry babies in our society. of course, some models take things too far but i feel like everybody forgets that being obese is extremely unhealthy itself. there is a huge push to tell fat people "it's ok, be happy with who you are" but seriously people, you should not be over 250 pounds, that is ridiculous, dangerous, and irresponsible.
the normal girls in our society who whine about not being skinny enough need to just get over it. i have dated a bunch of model girls and a bunch of normal girls and it's not a big deal. there is a difference obviously but not a preference. no guys care, why do all girls care?? i understand that girls form unrealistic expectations as kids, playing with barbies and what not, but i played with a stretch armstrong, and while i do wish my limbs could elongate lackadaisically, i understand rationally that nobody is going to expect this of me.
that being said, i think this is a nice step in the right direction. people keep talking about how it isn't enough, or they're not doing enough, etc, but i mean, baaaby steps. this is one step towards a better future.
"Real" models are repulsive in their thinness, and all the hype surrounding them about their various exploits is distracting.
Same thing with male models in men's ads. Do we really need to see some hyper buff perfectly formed guy selling a product? We can all relate more to regular people trying to sell us stuff.
THat being said, that model above with the breast hanging out I would be more willing to date than some anorexic heavily made up she-model in the magazine.
It is kind of a stunt. Fashion magazines are all about obsessing over physical appearance.Now they are going to show great looking amateurs as if that's different somehow.
To be fair though, people buy these magazines want to see conventionally attractive women. If images of women with average body-mass indexes sold better, I'm sure they put them in the magazine.
I love to see a variaty of betuys. Short and skinny, tall and muscular, classic timeglass...
No need for plain girls just because you pick different looks.
nobody ever realizes that the model are people too, and when people call them "repulsive" it's even more degrading than the meer exposition of thin bodies.
i used to work in a clothing store and helping people in the fitting rooms it always surprised me how offensive customers would act towards me because i'm really thin. over weight customers who couldn't fit into the clothes would litterally say things like "I hate you for being so thin"
i understand what they were saying was meant to be an expression of envy (or something along those lines, sarcasm maybe) but at the same time i can't help being skinny anymore than *some* people can help being fat and it's not fun to have it thrown in my face. a lot of models have unhealthy diets but a lot of them are also just naturally svelte.
and no i don't think it's expecting too much for people to get over it. i feel like this is all fairly juvenile, really, there is a lot more to life than ones physical form. also, for a lot of people it's not that hard to lose weight. there are some things in life which are hard, playing the violin for example, but unless your genes are highly prone or you have some sort of disorder losing weight is not one of them.
modelling isn't all about bodies. professional models are better at what they do. this is their job and they need to eat despite what most people think.
Professionel high class models might know what they are doing on the catwalk, but that doesn't change the fact that they're way too thin. It's not about looks there. They literally don't eat enough to fit into the clothing that is taylored in kid's sizes.
This is not about making fat people feel better or promoting a healthy body image. It's a publicity stunt that helps the Brigitte save money and sell some more magazines.
It's fine if this magazine wants a broader range of looks and sizes, but you don't fight body images issues by treating a huge group of women as somehow inferior to another. For any reason.
It may also surprise people, but not all professional models are size zero.
Take your glib, poorly researched, body fascism and stick it where the sun don't shine.
Lostfiniel, that's why I made a point of saying that not all models are thin. The flip side being that not all thin models are starved. Though the corpses on the runway can attest, to those still invested in the idea that all models are naturally petite, that this isn't universally true. I'm pretty much just opposed to language and attitudes that dehumanise women or trivialise their experiences, whoever those women happen to be. Fat, thin, average like myself. Women aren't the enemy here. A society that only prizes an impossible ideal and then makes such images unavoidable is the enemy. A lifetime of exposure to the constant message that you will never be good enough is not healthy. For anyone.
You don't have to be fat to feel inadequate in this world.
They're still not going to put "average" women in the magazines.
And really Bekka, are we still trying to blame "The Media" for our own feelings of inadequacy? It's the Media blasting into our subconscious... just put your tinfoil back hat on, and everything will be fine.
The problem isn't a matter of being 'skinny' or not, but when the ONLY models we see are so thin and alike, then it does send the wrong message.
And that's the ugly truth.
"Cola
January 10th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
c0ldfish, “fat women get upset when they see thin models”
Take your glib, poorly researched, body fascism and stick it where the sun don’t shine."
Right on!
If the magazine wants to use "ordinary" models, whatever. It does come off as a stunt to me, but hey, whatever they have to do to sell their magazine.
And of course it's also a publicity stunt. When it isn't public, it doesn't make people think. Only one magazine doing this isn't going to do anything. But if people see clothing can be presented by normal women, maybe even professional models won't have to be unrealistic anymore.
I just don't get how this can be perceived as wrong or insult "against professional models" (There are plenty other jobs for them).
As far as I understood the campaign it is just made to show DIFFERENT body types (professional models TEND to have similar body types). So why chose the "ugly" examples of different body types and not someone maybe short but very pretty?
Go on a diet of eating nothing but fruits and veggies. Nothing else. Eat as much of them as you want. You simply can not be fat eating fruits and veggies. When you've lost enough weight, add lean meat (fish, chicken) and never eat high fat/carb processed foods again.
I've talked with many fat people about their weight problems, and despite what they often say at first, they never eat healthy. There is always some kind of bad snack habit, at least.
The reason why men's magazines have more advertisements for motorcycles is because men are more likely to buy it.
This magazine has decided the consumer wants something else, and is filling that niche.
So it's not really a fair point to just say "don't blame the media for our senses of inadequacy." Although some pressure exists for men to look young and in shape, an older guy with a gut can still be considered the sexiest man alive. It's a totally different ballgame. And the existence of the sheer volume and everpresence of a narrow beauty ideal for women makes it an operative force in women's senses of themselves. It's just not as easy as "quit blaming others."
I get some snark and some grief for being naturally thin, but I wouldn't compare my experience to that of fat women, because there's no way I get the same level of hate. It would be an absurd contention. And if you as a man contend that your experience with regard to societal pressure to look a certain way is on par with that of a woman, and that your solution, to ignore it and cowboy up, should be good enough for anyone, that's equally absurd.
At the end of the day, nobody can make us feel adequate but ourselves, but there's also nothing wrong with inquiring and challenging other factors in play.
I like the idea of more relatable images of women in magazines, because it's good to be reminded that beauty is idiosyncratic and diverse. I even think it's a better ploy for selling clothes, because I think sometimes when we see an impossibly tall, thin 16 year old wearing an outfit, we may dismiss out of hand the notion of wearing it ourselves, because it doesn't seem to be made for us. When we see someone who could be our neighbor or our self modeling the same thing, we might be more likely to make the connection with wearing it.
I always think high fashion models are like interesting creatures, like a slightly different species. I don't mean to dehumanize them, but they exist within a highly specific framework of standards, and I don't so much envy them as tilt my head and inspect them as I would a piece of coral. Women that fall more toward the average range of the spectrum are interesting in another way--they aren't as rare and unexpected, so they are more familiar-seeming and perhaps comforting to the viewer.
@ cola: I don't even know what you are trying to say...
do you disagree that fat women get upset when they see thin models? do you think they're totally cool with it? i thought that is what this whole thing was about...
???
you seem to take things personally, which would be why you posted a picture of yourself in a discussion about magazine models, rather than focusing on the models or something else that matters.
@ fat girl: you seem to have a well rounded perspective on this whole thing, especially since you've been both fat and thin. i also wouldn't advocate a one body type exclusivity in magazines, but i would hope that any sort of larger models would be integrated into the industry based on their personal aptitude as models or based on the genuine desires of a consumer base, rather than as a scheme to seem progressive or to save money.
i'm a fan of reality like that.
I am and I'd love to date a beautiful woman like you.
Ok, we'd have to meet first and this wasn't serious at all. Just saying you're attractive.. :)
If you can see ribs.. just.. *shudders*
Something about "read Fat Girl's post, because men have it way easier than women".
That's a copout. That's assuming that young women are too stupid to think for themselves. That's assuming that young women absolutely NEED the media to tell them how to look, how to feel, how to act.
If you're "bombarded with images" that don't appeal to you, then don't buy that magazine/product. Do something else. Feel good about yourself.
And men do have the same pressures. The (stereotypical) difference? Men are shallow enough to care just about looks. Women are shallow enough to care just about money.
If you want to respond honestly, yeah, you do actually have to read my post. If you don't want to, you can't really respond to it, by definition.
Some argue that this is due to media telling us we should be no bigger than a crack head otherwise don't leave your front door. People need to shop for what is functional for them and look at advertisements as entertainment.