I am a girl with curves and I am proud of that. Three years ago though, I was sporting big bulky black sweaters, oversized shirts and hid behind a forest of hair everyday to become as invisible as possible.
I never saw proud curvy women on television, in movies or even on posters. The role models that were thrust into the lime-light were perfectly fit, photoshopped women who never had a hair out of place or meat on their hips. If you were plushie, you ended up in gossip magazines not People.
But thankfully, things are different now and my confidence has grown because of this change.
A couple of years ago the only body types that were used in advertising were stick-thin, tall models. I am not over exaggerating when I say stick-thin either.
Reports have been rolling in for years of how a majority of models have suffered from or even died from anorexia, a disorder that kept many models painfully employed with the fashion industry.
Do you remember any high fashion models smiling in their pictures ever? My guess is the misery described in these reports was even further projected from the lack of teeth showing in their pictures. Then the Dove campaign started.
Dove released pictures of real women showing skin, smiling and talking about loving yourself no matter what size or shape you were.
Every poster shows women of different races in their underwear posing for the camera or even laughing.
Since the campaign launched there has been a slow increase in the number of plus-sized models that have been seen on billboards and in commercials.
Victoria’s Secret seemed to want to copy Dove’s success with their “Love your Body” campaign but the message fell short and didn’t communicate well. Instead of focusing on the new bras, the model’s bodies were focused on. All of the models shared almost the same exact measurements.
Nice try, Victoria, but I think the message fell flat.
Now, I am proud to say, society has taken another step forward in self acceptance.
Actresses Rebel Wilson and Melissa McCarthy are both female comedians that have recently been seen on the big screen strutting nothing but confidence with the hilarious roles they play.
Wilson and McCarthy both took on a role in “Bridesmaids” and had the audience laughing with their quirky personalities and one-liners.
Now, Wilson is starring in “Pitch Perfect” and McCarthy will be coming out in “Identity Thief” and can be seen in the television show “Mike & Molly.”
Even before them, America Ferrera faced criticism for being curvy from paparazzi and gossip rags. Instead of cowering away, she shrugged it off and stayed all smiles.
She even ignored further criticism when she started working out regularly. People tried to say she was insecure and trying to get skinnier, but again she brushed it off saying she just wanted to get healthier. Oh and for the critic, she is still curvy and beautiful.
All three of these women are curvy and still have taken amazing leaps in their careers without letting popular opinion of beauty tear them apart.
For the rest of the population, the people that are obsessed with fitting into that size 0 like the 12-year-olds they were made for, I give you the wisdom of RuPaul, “If you can’t love yourself, how the hell are you gonna love somebody else?”
Love yourself, curvy or not, and everything else will fall into place.
Christina Collins Burton, a senior journalism major, is editor in chief of the Campus Times. She can be reached by email at christina.burton@laverne.edu.
