Curves

Okay, I'll admit it, I occasionally watch America's Next Top Model. There! I said it. I haven't really admitted to watching the show because of how depressing it is. Watching beautiful, healthy young women starving themselves all for the sake being on the cover of a magazine is not really entertainment for me. There were some girls on the show this season who were particularly anorexic looking, all skin and bones. Definitely not the image I want Violet growing up with and using as a standard of what beauty is. But, I watch in the hopes that this season will be different. That the judges, and America, will recognize that not everyone is a size zero and that it's okay to have curves.

I was pleasantly surprised when an average sized young woman made it all the way to the finals of the show. A first in America's Next Top Model. In the past, if a girl was a size 6 she was considered fat and never made it past the first few cuts. This year though a real sized woman actually won the show. I am shocked! Finally, someone who you can't compare to a stick is going to be on the cover of a magazine. I am proud of Whitney, this season's winner. She stuck through the competition and showed America what a real woman looks like. There's hope for the future, for girls everywhere, to see that beauty is not being emaciated to the point of nothingness. You can have a normal body type and still be considered beautiful. And, it's okay to have curves.

Btw, I've read somewhere (sorry, I don't have a link for you) that the average sized woman wears a size 14 to 16 dress, is 5'4" and weighs around 130 pounds. Models on the other hand wear a size 0 to 2, are 5'9" (or taller) and weigh around 102 pounds or less. There is something terribly wrong with how fashion is portraying women when they don't even represent an average sized woman. That is why I'm so happy about this season's winner of America's Next Top Model.