Thank you Trya, for putting your foot down and not letting the media continue with degrading the self image of women. As many of have seen in the last few days a “not-so-flattering” photo of Tyra Banks in a one piece swim suite stating the former runway model was fat with the big head lines of “America Next Top Waddle”.
Though I am sure there are parts of the public that finds some hidden pleasure of more then a few extra pounds on a woman who was/is part of an industry and has been accused of display false expectation of what the average woman should look like. I am not one of those people. I think if you are healthy and happy at 128 or 168 good for you. Now I said “healthy” AND “happy”. Not sure if many of us are both at the same time, but it does happen.
I will admit I pre-judged Ms. Banks. I wrote her off as just another high maintenance, overly self observed and absolutely gorgeous woman. OK so I got the gorgeous right. What changed my mind about her? Well its been a work in progress, the “swim suit” incident is just the icing.
One very rainy afternoon I had two very bored daughters trying to find something to watch on TV. Bravo had its “America Next Top Model” Marathon for the first season. I reluctantly allowed them to stay on the channel. Since all three of my daughters have expressed interests in the acting and modeling industry they really wanted to watch it. Now mind you my girls were already part of an Agency when they started to watch the show so they had a idea of what models really do.
I was concerned that my daughters would start getting negative self images and so forth. Watching size 2 young women walk up and down the catwalk and being told they needed to loose 10 pounds just was not appealing to me. I am glad the show was nothing as I had expected. Though I can only say I dislike one of the judges ( as do my girls). Janis Dickenson. I know I know she is a fashion icon. But even by looking at Janis’s show you can tell she is from the “twiggy” modeling days when showing your ribs bent you had a great body.
Tyra is not like that at all. It shows that she genuinely cares about the success of the young women she has on the show. She even is starting to show more curvaceous contestants, which is a relief to see, it’s a step in the write direction. Granted you can not change the fashion industry over night but there is an obvious push in another direction. More and more curvy women are being used as models again. These are real woman, showing realistic expectations of beauty.
I have also become a fan of the Tyra Banks show. Granted sometimes her enthusiasm reminds me of the popular cheerleader who decided to join the chess club. But I love it. She is so full of energy but she is genuine, the fact she is over enthusiastic just show how much of a spirited woman she is.
The fact she was brave enough to reveal her actually weight demonstrates her true strength. When I was 18 I weighed 158 lbs and was told I was over weight by “fashion standards” yet I look back at the body I had and I want it back! I looked good as a size 9/10. Right now I would be happy at a 13/14 because I do know that at a 22/24 it’s going to start effecting my health. It’s sad that it took me over a decade to realize that it was ok to be 158 lbs.
I fear for my daughters running in the trap of thinking the need to weight less to be pretty. My oldest is fourteen years old, nearly six feet tall and around 165lbs. My middle daughter is twelve years old and is already five foot eight and weighs 145 lbs. Yes they are gorgeous young women and thankfully with role models like Tyra Banks hopefully they wont be placing any false expectations upon themselves.
So again I say:
Thank You Tyra for being a real woman and the best type of model, a role model.
Though I am sure there are parts of the public that finds some hidden pleasure of more then a few extra pounds on a woman who was/is part of an industry and has been accused of display false expectation of what the average woman should look like. I am not one of those people. I think if you are healthy and happy at 128 or 168 good for you. Now I said “healthy” AND “happy”. Not sure if many of us are both at the same time, but it does happen.
I will admit I pre-judged Ms. Banks. I wrote her off as just another high maintenance, overly self observed and absolutely gorgeous woman. OK so I got the gorgeous right. What changed my mind about her? Well its been a work in progress, the “swim suit” incident is just the icing.
One very rainy afternoon I had two very bored daughters trying to find something to watch on TV. Bravo had its “America Next Top Model” Marathon for the first season. I reluctantly allowed them to stay on the channel. Since all three of my daughters have expressed interests in the acting and modeling industry they really wanted to watch it. Now mind you my girls were already part of an Agency when they started to watch the show so they had a idea of what models really do.
I was concerned that my daughters would start getting negative self images and so forth. Watching size 2 young women walk up and down the catwalk and being told they needed to loose 10 pounds just was not appealing to me. I am glad the show was nothing as I had expected. Though I can only say I dislike one of the judges ( as do my girls). Janis Dickenson. I know I know she is a fashion icon. But even by looking at Janis’s show you can tell she is from the “twiggy” modeling days when showing your ribs bent you had a great body.
Tyra is not like that at all. It shows that she genuinely cares about the success of the young women she has on the show. She even is starting to show more curvaceous contestants, which is a relief to see, it’s a step in the write direction. Granted you can not change the fashion industry over night but there is an obvious push in another direction. More and more curvy women are being used as models again. These are real woman, showing realistic expectations of beauty.
I have also become a fan of the Tyra Banks show. Granted sometimes her enthusiasm reminds me of the popular cheerleader who decided to join the chess club. But I love it. She is so full of energy but she is genuine, the fact she is over enthusiastic just show how much of a spirited woman she is.
The fact she was brave enough to reveal her actually weight demonstrates her true strength. When I was 18 I weighed 158 lbs and was told I was over weight by “fashion standards” yet I look back at the body I had and I want it back! I looked good as a size 9/10. Right now I would be happy at a 13/14 because I do know that at a 22/24 it’s going to start effecting my health. It’s sad that it took me over a decade to realize that it was ok to be 158 lbs.
I fear for my daughters running in the trap of thinking the need to weight less to be pretty. My oldest is fourteen years old, nearly six feet tall and around 165lbs. My middle daughter is twelve years old and is already five foot eight and weighs 145 lbs. Yes they are gorgeous young women and thankfully with role models like Tyra Banks hopefully they wont be placing any false expectations upon themselves.
So again I say:
Thank You Tyra for being a real woman and the best type of model, a role model.
1 comment:
Interesting to know.
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