Check these images out: one model’s, well, model size (a US size 2). The other, Crystal Renn, is a size 16 (US size 12).
It’s a grand gesture that appears in the upcoming issue of V Magazine. To my knowledge, it’s never been done before. That is, putting women of different sizes side by side in the same spread. We can all see the point of it…to show us it can, in fact, be done. One fashion blogger describes it as “Renn taking on a typically slim model”, as though it’s a battle. He describes the onslaught as “revolutionary”.
Sure. But does it makes us feel any better? Salon.com’s Mary Elizabeth Williams’ 9-year-old daughter Lucy (have you followed that?), put it nicely: “That makes the fashion part of my mind hurt.”
I don’t think it makes women feel better. It makes us compare. The two images. And us to them. Which is “the body image debate” boiled down to it’s root problem: looking externally for validation and cues as to what size we should be. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Eating disorders (whether it’s a niggling sad feeling about our bodies, or anorexia) occur because we’re not at ease with ourselves. We remove ourselves from ourselves. And this disconnect is where the pain sits. Hmmm, will write more on this soon.
I was going to post further comparathon pictures on this blog. But I’ve decided not to. Instead, I’m off to eat cheese.
