Fatima Siad, America's Next Top Model's skinniest contestant, says that Whitney Thompson's victory sends the wrong message to women...but not for the reasons you might think.
"To be quite honest, Whitney doesn't look like a plus-sized model to me. I feel like she doesn't look like a plus-size model, and therefore it's sending the wrong message because there are women who are actually full-figured and they see her and say, 'Wow, if she's a plus-size model than what am I?'" Siad told Reality TV World.On the show, Whitney said she wears a size 8 or 10. My first reaction was that she was definitely not a size 8. When public figures, or anyone for that matter, lie about their weight they send the message that a bigger size is something to be ashamed of. Maybe more expensive brands size differently, but when I could fit my 5'8" body into size 8 Banana Republic pants I was super skinny! Whitney is 5'10" and she looks to be more of a 12. Some people might say, who cares what her size is? Well...I care. I care about Whitney sending the message that you should lie about your size because the smaller, the better.
After a little bit of online research, I found the following plus size model factoids:
- Plus size models must be between 5'9" and 6'0"
- Plus Size models must be between size 12 and size 16
- The shorter the model, the smaller the required size (i.e. 5'9" should wear a 12, not a 16)
7 comments:
Mmm...I dunno. She looks about my size (maybe a bit rounder) in that picture, and I'm a 7-9 (and 5'9") in Canadian measures, and usually a 6-8 in US measures.
I definitely think Whitney is a smaller size than me, and I'm a size 12 at 5'8". But I don't think it's the point.
I think having a model who falls between the industry standards ("regular" model: 0-2; "plus sized" model: 12+) is an excellent thing. Why shouldn't size 6, 8, 10 women be represented on the runway and in magazines?
Calling her plus-sized when she isn't doesn't help, though – I agree with Fatima on that. Can't she just be a model?
I completely agree. She shouldn't be called a plus-sized model. She's nowhere NEAR plus-sized. I also agree that she does look like a size 8 to me. I'll go further and say that she shouldn't have to be called a plus-sized model just because she's over a size 2. Why can't the modelling industry just have models and plus-sized models? Or better yet, why not have models of ALL shapes and sizes and throw this arbitrary garbage out the friggin' window!
I can't believe that I'm the first to say this... YAY for Fatima!
But Whitney herself has pointed out that same thing -- she's a size 10 (and I think that's pretty accurate; my sister is 5'10" and wears an 8 or 10 depending on where she shops and other than being a bit less busty than Whitney she looks about the same) and that's nowhere near plus-sized. It's only in the world of fashion that she's considered abnormal or too big.
I knew there was a reason I loved Fatima!
If she's considered plus size, society is truly sick. I'm lousy at guessing sizes just by looking at people so can't comment on what size she might actually wear, but I doubt she's hitting the "Plus" size racks at Target.
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