“America’s Next Top Model” and “healthy body image”? Trying to find a correlation between those two things normally gives me a headache.
But “ANTM”‘s first plus-size winner, Whitney Thompson, is trying to bring body acceptance to the masses as the face—and, duh, body—of the 5th Annual Hollywood National Organization for Women (NOW) Love Your Body Day.
Whitney had no problem stripping down for a good cause, joining Love Your Body Day founder and Hollywood NOW president Chenese Lewis in promo shots for the event. NOW launched the Love Your Body campaign in September 1998, and this year’s festivities take place October 22nd through 24th.
While Whitney will fulfill her hosting duties in Hollywood, NOW encourages women around the country to “say ‘no’ to twisted beauty standards and hazardous advertisements by holding rallies, pickets, house parties, classroom discussions and more.” Who could say no to a body-positive house party?
And though Whitney’s known for being a “Top Model,” she’s more than just a pretty face. As a 2010 ambassador for the National Eating Disorder Association, she’s been pretty vocal about the same messed up media images we get riled up over at About-Face.
Even after appearing on E! News recently to promote the NOW campaign, she wrote on her blog, “I do wish that they had female hosts who were at least size four, but they do have all the latest info and are quite informative. As a matter of fact, I think that they should hire me. LOL but I am a little biased.”
Whitney also spoke out about that whole “Top Model” teeny-tiny waist controversy we told you about. “Tyra supports women of all sizes as long as they are healthy,” she said in a press release. “I do not fault her for her reaction to seeing such a tiny waist. She had a similar reaction to seeing Toccara‘s enormous breasts. Tyra remains a leading figure in the fight for body equality in the fashion industry.”
I’m not sure whether I can agree with that, but it’s hard to disagree with her awesome attitude.
Stay tuned for future updates on this year’s Love Your Body Day.
–— Michelle Konstantinovsky is a student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and an avid admirer of shiny objects and preteen entertainment. It would be nice if you visited her website: www.michellekmedia.com. Also, she may learn to use Twitter more effectively if you follow her @michelley415.
I’m an overweight person myself, however, I’ve recently come to realize, there’s a difference between a healthy body image and being fat, and many women try to use the veil of healthy body image as an excuse to justify their obesity. I don’t make any excuses, I have a poor diet, and I know it.
To further elaborate, Whitney has a healthy body image, Chenese does not, she has a very unhealthy body image.
I see no problem with an America’s Next Top Model winner or contestant standing for the issue of body image. This is something that I believe anyone, of any size, and in any industry should feel welcome into the batttle again bad body image if they wish, as long as they have the right attitude about it. In fact, I think more people in the targetd industries (fashion models, celebs, dancers, etc) should stand up and speak their minds about it.
Yea, Whitney’s attitude is refreshing to read. I can only wish it would be industry wide. Beautiful women come in all shapes and sizes. I think it would help those that lean towards a bad body image (like me) if more shapes and sizes were represented in the media today. I like Tyra’s view point~just be healthy!
The second picture, ah yes faux lesbianism. I thought we would be past that by now, I guess not. Unless I’m unaware they are actually lesbians.