Curvy or fat ?
77The Dove campaign
When does a curvy woman become a fat woman?
I grew up in Peru, thinking that real women have curves. Real women have breasts and hips, and round bottoms. And if you do not have them, you do anything from exercises to plastic surgery to have some curves. This is specially true in Brasil where every year hundreds of women decide to go for the Brasilian' butt treatment.
In Latin America curves are not fat. It's not natural to have models who resemble hangers just to please untalented designers who seem to forget that hangers don't buy clothes, but women do. And I say untalented because I believe it is easier to design for shapeless sticks than for real curvy women. Women would like to see how clothes would look on real women and not just hanging onto breastbones.
Before this week I had never heard of Tyra Banks but it caught my attention that in this week's cover story of PEOPLE magazine she was defending herself against her critics about her recent-weight gain. Weight that has been seen by some as disgusting for a former model. Tyra was the first African-american model on the cover of Sports Illustrated. At the time she thought that she was looking bigger but when the pictures came out she liked them and felt insane at thinking that she had too much boobs or butt. So what is the limit? When do we stop being curvy and become fat?. New photos of Tyra show her new figure in a one-piece bathing suit in Sydney. The headlines are abusive. But is she really fat now? At 161 lbs. today, Banks is 30 lbs. heavier than when she was modelling, but she says it's important to her to tell girls that this photo "is not ugly." She is not a model anymore, she is a real woman with a real body. Is that bad?
Another screen star who is risking her career by refusing to lose weight is Liv Tyler. The 26-year-old has been told by movie bosses that she risks missing out on top film roles unless she reduces the size of her shapely figure. Liv at 5ft 10ins and 9st - insists that she is happy with her weight and doesn't want to diet.
Also, going against Holywood trends Salma Hayek gained weight for one of her latest movies. Unlike 99% of all actresses, Hayek gained weight for her nude scenes. She thought the character, a1930s Mexican lady, should be curvy. For this, she put on weight and she says that she has not been able to lose all of it. But she says that it is okay, she likes her new shape and she is happy with it. So, maybe this "stars" on their own way are paving the way to a new body image, where natural curves are again accepted and seen as beautiful. I hope so!!
UPDATED: Tyra addresses the unflattering bathing suit photos
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- Shopping for Curvy girls
Once upon a time fuller figures were all the rage. Think Marilyn Monroe, Jane Mansfield, Sofia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor. Those women were voluptuous and proud of it. It is said that Marilyn Monroe, was so...
- Why do we pant for a size 36 if it is so unrealistic?
The average women wears anything from a 38 to 40. So why do we punish ourselves with diets and exercises just to fit in a size 36.? It is not to please our boyfriends or husbands. They have already told us that they prefer us curvy.
Jennifer Lopez dancing with Acting Student.
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Comments
They are, Rudra... they are beautiful!
The obsession with "skinny" is very unhealthy, I think.
Sometimes I cannot help but think that it only exists because if what people were to "want" was what most people actually HAVE, then they wouldn't be able to sell as many products in service of helping people "achieve the ideal."
Yes, I'm cynical, I know...
I think it's better to be curvy than to be stick thin. I agree with everything you've said in this hub. In times before the 1960s, curvacious women were top stars, such as Marilyn Monroe. I hope America begins to lose obsession to be anorexic thin, and starts to understand that "real women have curves", as the saying goes. Great hub. :)
Also, I think the difference between "fat" and "curvy" is when a woman has no curves at all due to fat, and is unhealthy because of her weight.
Cheers to those curvy beauties who boldly keep their curves! Keep going, Princessa!
Cheers Kenny. And just for a laugh I am leaving you a quote by Dawn French: "If I had been around when Rubens was painting, I would have been revered as a fabulous model. Kate Moss? Well, she would have been the paintbrush."
I agree! As someone who has been stick thin for my most of my life due to genetics I am ecstatic to be finally putting on some weight and gaining curves. As a woman ages being underweight is not a good thing. Lacking (good) fat causes more wrinkles and usually makes you look older than what you are. People don't seem to realise this. When you are curvier and within the healthy weight range for your height you look younger and sexier!
I personally have embarked on a potato chip rich diet in order to increase my calories in the hope of achieving a more womanly figure. It's a desperate measure I know but it does seem to be working and it's definitely enjoyable! lol
Kudos to the curvy! :)
You are right RFox. a healthy weight gives you a younger look.
In France they say that eating cheese increases your bust size, (there are more than 200 varieties of cheese) and do not forget the glass of wine that goes with it to lower cholesterol!
Enjoy your new curves :-)
Women who are too thin appear unhealthy. Look at the Olsens as an example. A woman with some nice curves is alot healthier looking in my opinion.
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I always wondered to what extreme models and actresses go thru to stay thin. I would rather look at a curvey woman than a stick. I agree that once you can't see the curves anymore than you have fat. I think men like a little to hold on to.
Brilliant beautiful article, Princessa! I could not agree with you more. Thumbs Up, and you have a new fan in me.
Happy New Year
Thanks Veronica and Happy new year too!
Love the pics and Dawn French quote lol.
Happy new year:)
Dawn French is always a good laugh!
Happy new year Compu-smart
Thanks Princessa, which butt is best? The answer may surprise you...do real women feel good about their curves, reagrdless of feeling hungry and deprived?
Hi highwaystar, I am not sure about others, but I am certainly happier when I am not feeling hungry. Like my husband says: "a hungry woman is an angry woman... an angry woman is a witch" :-)
I LOVE this blog - one cannot say too much to encourage women and girls to love their bodies as they are - to embrace the sacred feminine and shine! Thanks for the lovely hub!
Erin: You are welcome and thanks for the comment. I hope I can do 'my little bit' and encourage women to love their bodies the way they are.
Hi Princessa:
Sorry for the late comment: I am just reading your hub.
Even though it happened over a year ago, the issue is still current because young girls are still killing themselves trying to look like the Olsen twins. What they don't realize is that these girls are sick! Tyra is 5'10"; weighing 161 lbs is still "slim" for that height.
If ex-models, like her, and actresses like Salma Hayek (as you mentioned in your hub), can endure the pressure of the media and keep their weight, maybe they can start influencing the fashion industry to stop making clothes for anorexic models, and start making them for "real" women, i.e. curvy women.
Great hub... You are doing a service to all the curvy women out there who think they are fat! I am planning to write a hub on Tyra Banks and I will link back to this hub.
Rusty: Thanks for the comment. I do hope that curvy women start to appreciate their curves and love their bodies the way they are rather than starving themselves to meet unrealistic shapes. Bravo for those girls like Salma, Shakira, Beyonce, J.lo and of course bravo to Dove's campaign for 'real beauty' !
Fashion should not be limited to only the unhealthily skinny, but should be an enjoyment for all. Everyone should look good! http://www.ramptostore.com
Great article
fortunecookie: absolutely right, fashion should be enjoyable for everybody regardless of their body shape.
dieta: thanks for passing by and leaving a comment.
I think they all look great too. On the other hand I find the new trend to calling women with more curves than average "real women" very unkind and thoughtless to naturally thin women.
It is also very sad and extremely unhealthy that some women now feel so desperate to be a "real women" that they have to stuff themselves with unhealthy food such as potato chips (as one poster above claims she is doing) and risk diabetes and a heart attack from such a diet. That's at least as unhealthy as someone who restricts their diet to lose weight.
Hey. Is is true that guys find curvy girls sexy?
Thanks for this hub. As a curvy girl myself, it took a long time to like my body. No matter what your body shape, one of the biggest keys to being sexy is how you percieve yourself and being confident that you look good.
Rhym O'Reyson: You are welcome :) as they say: "No matter what a woman looks like, if she is confident, she is sexy".
they're all gorgeous. i love that video with tyra. cracks me up. she's awesome. :)
Just found this one, don't know how i missed it...but great advocacy of CURVES! I have been one of the lucky ones I think....no matter what I weigh (and like Tyra I'm 30 pounds heavier than I was 20 years ago), my bust and hip measurements always match....AND...even luckier, my waist always 10-12 inches smaller than bust/hips. So I've been curvy no matter what I weigh, with my curves in the right places...no plastic surgery needed, I am one curvy woman...and happy about it! (As is my husband! LOL)
starrkissed: I liked the video too, I like someone having the guts to say all that :-)
desertblondie: You are so lucky, not only for always having the right curves regardless of your weigth, but you are lucky for accepting them, enjoying them and loving them.
i don't get that whole "real women have curves" all women have curves no matter what. i'm slender..., and it doesn't make a difference. seriously... unless u actually are annorexic and like a pencil , then ya thats unhealthy. please anyone, don't take this the wrong way ,. but it peeves my off when women use it as an excuse that there "curvy" even when there fat. its like saying "big boned". but i'm not saying it's always like that there are curvy women , but all i'm saying is there a limit between being curvy and fat.
ya i agree with sam. there is a difference between skinny like annorexic and slender, which is just a bit under average. and its true , all women have curves no matter what. slender or well.. a bit on the meatier side. Thats why there's a difference between men and women's body, men have wider shoulder, women have narrower shoulders. Women have wider hips and men have narrower hips. thats what make men men and women women. So i really don't think there's such thing as real women have curves because all women do and there is such thing as naturally slender women ya know. wats more attractive,a woman thts fit , and slender with a flat stomach or ones with belly flab hanging out.. i mean really... ok i think i made my point :]
Sam and chelsea: so what is the limit between curvy and fat? and WHO sets the standards?
A few days ago I watched a TV programme about African women doing anything to have generous curves. They eat whatever they want (no diets for them) and even use special herbal creams to increase the size of their bottoms. A big, sticky out and "meaty" bottom is a sign of beauty and sexiness over there.
I'm totally with ya there Princessa. This is a bit late for a comment (since the last comment was posted 5 months ago lol). I've always had a problem accepting myself because in this day and age, as you have mentioned in your article, being unhealthily skinny is IN. Now, I'm not saying being skinny is bad, but being curvy or on the meatier side isn't bad either, which the media makes it out to be. It's a twisted society we live in today, but articles like this keep me, and many other women who don't fit society's standards physically, motivated. So thanks for this encouraging article.
BellaB0oo: it is difficult to accept oneself when the media is all day showing us pictures of "perfect women". It takes time to learn to accept and love yourself by who you are regardless of your shape. The good thing is that once you come to terms with your shape, it is like magic and everybody else seems to find you prettier because they feel your confidence.
There is not a perfect shape, but there is confidence irradiating from your acceptance!
Haaaay... I just have to say. I'm really skinny. And I wanted to mention that the body that's portrayed as ideal is pretty much impossible to obtain for most naturally skinny girls, just as it is for most naturally heavy girls- thin, but with big boobs and a large behind. It happens, of course, but not many girls are slender AND curvy...
The ideal body image is NOT to be rail-thin, unless you want to be a runway model. But their entire purpose is completely different. Really, they're just supposed to act as hangers for the clothing they're showing.
The most important thing is health, I think.
Hausisse: Yes, I agree that the most important thing is to be healthy and to be happy with your body regardless of your shape.
Biologically women are meant to carry children, therefore the wide hips and big bossoms (to feed their babies). It is not possible -without great sacrifices- for most women to remain thin and whith teenager bodies all their lifes, so why not just be happy with the way your body evolves?
Well, I dunno if I think that's so bad- that just comes with age and stuff, I agree there. But most people if they make an effort to keep fit when they're older stay healthier into old age and feel better- I can't generalize, of course, I'm not a doctor. But that's just the way I've been raised, really- I genuinely enjoy exercising and feeling energetic and healthy.
I don't think that 40 year old women should get plastic surgery to look like 20-year-olds, though. :|
By sharing your views on what is a "real woman" you have also insulted people who are naturally slim/ slender and cannot help it. Can you not see how inconsiderate it is to use phrases such as "shapeless sticks".
A real woman is someone who maintains a healthy body weight by eating healthy and exercising regularly. So keeping to their natural shape, and I believe everyone has one.
Hausisse: Thanks for sharing your opinion.
Mandy: I DO apologize if I insulted anyone. I did not mean to insult the naturally slim women or indeed anyone. As you said I just shared MY views and yes, I am fed up of stereotypes and the media constantly forcing their views of perfectly slim bodies. There are lots of naturally slim bodies, but there are also lots of women who virtually starve themselves to have that shape because they feel that being slim is fashionable.
I do believe that a woman is a woman regardless of her shape and should be accepted as such, and she should not feel bad about herself if she does not fit into media stereotypes.
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Rudra says:
2 years ago
wow arent they beautiful..