In this whole fat acceptance thing, we've kind of backlashed at women who are thin and fit. The whole point of accepting all body types and sizes and stopping fat discrimination was just that, not to demonize the beautiful and thin people in the world.
Who are real women?
Here are some real women. Recognize the first one? She's 39 years old now. The first photo was her in her early modeling career. Second photo is her in 2013 and last is her out and about with her child about 5 years ago. She is a real woman. She is also a curvy woman. Her measurements are 36(C)-27-37.
Let's go a little bit older. Someone older than me (I'm 43). This model is 48. Recognize this woman/model? She's a real woman too. In her peak modeling career she was Sports Illustrated top bikini model. But in 2012 when she was 47, she still looks great in a swimming suite (last of three photos). She is a real woman. Maybe she doesn't look as curvy (as she's very thin at 6'1" tall), but curvy she is. Her measurements are 36(C)-25-35.
Here are some more real women and curvy women. They are a bipartisan group of US Congresswomen:
All the women I posted about yesterday - thin and fat. Young and old. They are real women and from what I can tell, they are curvy women.
If we have female chromosomes, we are a real woman. If we have had plastic surgery, we are still a real woman. We breathe. We eat. We pee and poop. We die. That makes us real.
This whole real woman thing came about because most of the images we see of women in the media are the Heidi Klums and the Elle Macphersons of the world. We see them because they are seen as beautiful by most people. Yes they are real, but that is not what most of us look like. People started doing ordinary women photo shoots to make us all realize that we don't need to be Heidi Klum to be beautiful.
Now, not only white people are beautiful. Let me be clean about that.
Naomi Campbell (42) is beautiful.
Tyra Banks (39) is beautiful.
Ming Xi (23) is beautiful.
We like to see beautiful people. That's how we are programmed. Beauty means healthy. Healthy means fertile. Fertile means she can reproduce and have lots of babies. That is what beauty is about - babies. Did you know that?
But, these women above (save the Congresswomen) are models for a reason. They hold exceptional beauty. So much so that they get paid lots and lots of money just to show off clothes, shoes, cars, makeup, food, anything and everything.
Sure, the photos get touched up, but anyone who met any of these women on the street could not deny that they are beautiful women. And real women.
Most of us though are not paid to pose in photos. We go about our lives. Yet many women are beautiful. I see beautiful women every day. They just may not be model material. Salma Hayek (46) is gorgeous. No one would dispute that, but at 5'2" tall, she's not runway model material.
But this image of beauty is what our children grow up with seeing (besides their parents' bodies). They see gorgeous bodies. Real, yes. But probably not something we all can have. They rarely see other women's bodies and how most of us look.
That's why I love these "real" photo shoots where they take ordinary women in ordinary settings and take professional photos. Some people diss them saying that they are saying that real means flawed. I don't think they are saying that at all. They are saying, "Hey folks, some of us are gorgeous. Some of us have scars. Some of us have wrinkles. Some of us are old. Some of us have saggy boobs and some of us have no boobs. We are all real." And I think sharing those images and realizing the realness of how we as a people really look is important. No one should have to be running to get plastic surgery to try to have a model perfect body. Having flaws is OK. We all have them.
Other people don't like the nudity - thinking it should be private. Again, I think the nudity is important as otherwise all our young (and older) see are porno photos, centerfold photos and near nakedness in things like the Victoria Secret catalog/fashion shows and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue where they see perfection. Why not let them see how they probably will look when they grow up too?
So, here are some real photos (and I'm sure there are more such photo shoots) of every day women - in the nude. This is your warning. There is nudity. Please click through.
Please select the galleries for the link below - there are 6 galleries:
I love this following project of breast cancer survivors:
My post yesterday was about how we scar and damage our bodies with life and with neglect. That is life, however. We still should celebrate who we are and not hate ourselves for those journeys. We are real.
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