Glamour magazine’s online daily health and fitness blog Vitamin G had the following to say about all the hooplah:
“It's a photo that measures all of three by three inches in our September issue, but the letters about it started to flood my inbox literally the day Glamour hit newsstands. (As editor-in-chief, I pay attention to this stuff!) "I am gasping with delight...I love the woman on p 194!" said one...then another, and another, andanotherandanotherandanother. So...who is she? And what on earth is so special about her? Here's the deal: The picture wasn't o
f a celebrity. It wasn't of a supermodel. It was of a woman sitting in her underwear with a smile on her face and a belly that looks...wait for it...normal.”
Glamour magazine seemed to waste no time getting in on the excitement many re
aders apparently expressed over the photograph. The editor-in-chief of the magazine made the following statement, as printed in Vitamin G:
“…let's start off this week with something we can all get behind: a toast to the woman on p. 194, and to the spectacular sexiness of owning who you are. Trust me, Glamour's listening, and this only strengthens our commitment to celebrating all kinds of beauty."
On one hand, in seems almost heroic for a leading women’s magazine to make an effort to reach beyond the typical “double zero” models we seem to have become immersed in as a society. Logic has silently died weeping as America climbs in per capita obesity rates and yet issue after issue of fashion magazines boast women with every decreasing waist lines. Not to mention that in the span of these two extremes, women generally considered to be “normal” in size, by and large, go unrepresented. But hark! Glamour has stepped up their game by appealing to t
he “normal” women in our society by feautering a “normal” sized model.
Due to the general hysteria over such a gracious act on Glamour’s part, the other side of it all is almost completely veiled. On that other hand, a variety of subtle decisions on the magazines part leads me to question their motives. Has Glamour truly committed to celebrating all kinds of beauty? Or has Glamour committed to celebrating their vision of beauty, and in the process thrown a bone to those women who just don’t fit their standard?
Amidst the excitement as women of all sizes flocked to the stands to purchase this magazine was lost a painfully obvious misnomer: Lizzie Miller, the 20-year-old plus size model (at the size of 12) is known to the fashion world and Glamour readers alike as “the Woman on p. 194.”
Just what is contained in those first 193 pages, we seem to have failed to ask, out of a 296 page magazine? The cover of this September’s issue feautres Jessica Simpson, not too long ago criticized for her weight gain and yet looking skinny and sleek for Glamour. Around Miss Simpson are feautred such advertisements as “3 Flat Belly Secrets,” and “331 Sexy Looks you can afford!” Both corresponding articles appear in the issue well before the half-way point, which is already well before Miss Miller’s photo towards the very end.
(Image detail: check out this link for a larger view of the cover. You'll be able to see the featured articles concerning flat bellies and Jessica's weight loss)
For a magazine dedicated to celebrating all kinds of beauty, Glamour’s efforts seem to fall pathetically short when they include a model such as Miss Miller in their spread, only to stuff her well past their true ideas of what is beautiful, sexy, and glamorous: women with flat bellies and the perfect size jeans.
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