Model Gemma Ward has no plans to return to modeling any time soon after being criticized for her recent weight gain. Ward took a break from the fashion industry after the death of Heath Ledger, who she was romantically linked to, and recently reemerged with a fuller figure. When images of her new body showed up on the internet, many joked about her weight and called her fat. Fashion blogger Bryanboy posted photos and captioned them by saying, “She's a very beautiful woman and I think she could make a name for herself in the plus-size niche.” The problem is Ward doesn’t even look plus-sized. Compared to her former super skinny and boney look, she just looks healthy. But apparently anything over stick thin is seen as fat by the modeling industry.
This is a major problem of the media. When a woman gains a little bit of weight she’s immediately branded with terms like fat or plus-sized. The reality of the situation is that she just looks like someone who is at their normal weight. If other normal sized girls/women see the fashion industry tearing her down like this and calling her fat, what would they think about themselves if they looked the same way? It’s not fair that the fashion industry does this and they should be more accepting of people of all sizes.
Why should anyone have to feel bad about looking normal?
Actually, I wish Gemma WOULD become a plus-size model! I've always been a fan of fuller-figured models! There's a great site with many images of plus-size models here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.judgmentofparis.com/
They're all gorgeous.
The site's forum also has thought-provoking discussions about body image and the media.
BryanBoy wasn't being an as*s, he knows who Crystal Renn is, and he figured Gemma would do well at the same kind of work. He is right of course, but only if Gemma chooses to accept her body and the sort of work that will result. No more Valentino campaigns, unfortunately!
ReplyDeleteIt's not the death of a modelling career to gain weight! RunwayRevolution.com shows clearly that models over a size 10 can create beautiful images when they are given the opportunity, and just how much high-quality work exists outside of the narrow view of the celebrity-obsessed US media. There's whole campaigns, runway and music videos and interviews showing a wide variety of sizes and shapes.
If you know of someone who just needs to see to believe - then send them there. They'll thank you for it!