March 23, 2010
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Bigger Models Make You Feel Like Crap Too
Apparently even large models make women feel crappy about themselves.
Researchers found that larger women feel better only if no models are used. Medium sized women “actually have lower self-esteem after looking at ads with plus-sized models rather than uber-skinny ones.” Skinny people just want them to use skinny models.
According to the article, the only thing bigger models were helpful for were in weight loss ads. Using bigger women in weight loss ads made women feel fat and want to go on a diet. The article asked “Do ads with bigger models make you feel better or worse about your body?” Here is the link: Link
Do ads with bigger models make you feel worse about your body?
Comments (116)
I like the larger models better than the skinny ones. They are more normal size.
no, never. i feel great, thanks. the mannequins are always a little taller than i am, but oh well.
I’m concerned more about the actual product than the model. Perhaps I’m alone in that.
I don’t need anyone to make me feel bad about my body. That’s what I’m for.
hmm im not sure. I like to think I’m okay with my body.
not about my body but maybe about myself haha. they’re bigger and still have more confidence GAHHH. its so frustrating.
dont care
The girls have fashion, boyfriends, and the lot, and the men have punk rock or glam rock. That’s the way of the world, I guess.
these “larger” models in the picture here look more “normal” to me…
No models make me feel bad about my body. They’re gorgeous and all, but dammit, I have quirky charm!
The “plus-size” models aren’t that big, I could see women feeling crappy about how this normal sized women (the same size as they might be) is called “plus size.”
Personally, I could care less.
I haven’t really noticed . . .
I don’t care..
They don’t make me feel much of anything. I pretty much ignore the models in general no matter the size. Though, some of those girls in that picture don’t fit into my mental understanding of ‘bigger’. Whatev.
Models never make me feel bad about my body.
Anyone who looks to someone else for how they “should be” is always going to feel like crap. It’s not the model, it’s the person.
don’t care about those models
Models suck, they don’t make me feel bad about myself, I can handle my own self esteem
hmm, how about we just use stick figures? will people be happy then? sheesh.
Now this? People just need to get some serious self control and look beyond these ads.. no wonder no one is/ever will be happy. Proves that no matter how big or how tiny a model is people will still find a reason to blame them for their low self-esteem.
Other people are not going to affect me in such a way. They’re all (or most) photoshopped anyway.
I like when they advocate women of all sizes, rather than only one. We’re all different. There should be a variety.
@emily_shannon - Nope, you’re not alone. I agree 100%. I could care less about the model.
Plus, my body is in between those extremes.
Honestly, it doesn’t matter what direction you go in because you’re always going to be offending somebody!
If I really think about it, yeah, I guess bigger models make me feel bad,
because I think to myself, “wow, she weighs like 200 pounds, I weigh
117 and she still looks better than me?”
Skinny models make me
forget that every girl’s body is different and I think to myself, “
yeah, I’m skinny, but damn! why can’t I be that skinny?”
And then other days, I couldn’t care less.
I’m digressing.
Its a lose-lose situation.
Nah, i think my body is pretty rad most of the time. Haha.
I blame it on El Nino.
In the fashion world, “plus sized” is what a majority of women are. The models in that pic above are being made to seem like they’re 300 pounds or something.
obviously those people have low self-esteem. why else would you be comparing yourself to a photoshopped image?
Yeah, I’d agree with this. Because you look at them and go “well, that one kind of looks like me” and then you see that they are “plus-sized” leaving you feeling crappier than ever.
Psh. No. Nothing could possibly make me feel any worse about my body than I already feel. Except maybe a picture of my body.
the larger models in that photo dont have faces that i really care for so they dont bother me. photos dont make me feel bad about myself. I make me feel bad about myself.
No one is happy, ever…
ugh, nobody ever wins. skinny models, plus sized models. people need to stop comparing themselves to models.
not all of us are born model quality physically, but true beauty comes from within. you would never call a bitch a beautiful person.
It’s one thing to be a plus sized model and to just be a “normal” woman. Plus sized models are proud of their bodies and work very hard to maintain them it’s not like we just pick the prettiest of all fat chicks to commercialize. No plus sized models have extremely strict diets and exercise routines to keep their bodies healthy while being thick. But to answer the question, the reason women feel worse about themselves after watching an ad with a plus sized model is because it strips away all hope for us! It’s like ok well now I can’t even be fat and good looking because she’s fat and gorgeous!
eh, I have a nicer body than the Dove ladies, and I know it.
I prefer more natural looking models. And if they have a similar body type to mine, I like that. Except I’m not so much self-conscious about being too big. I’m more self-conscious about my lack of curves. When I was 24, I finally had some curves, but I still felt too skinny, and like my chest was too flat. I went on a trip to the Netherlands and saw paintings from the 1600s in a museum. I had always thought women in these painting would have big hips and large breasts, but when I looked at them, they were proportioned almost exactly the same way I was, and I thought, “well, if a lot of these women in the paintings have similar bodies to mine, and back then people thought that was beautiful, I can’t be that bad-looking!”
I don’t like seeing super skinny models, not because I feel I need to be that way, but because I just don’t think the clothes look that good on them once they’ve gotten to the point of being human clothes-hangers. I think most clothes look best on a woman who is between sizes 6 and 10, 12-14 in more flowing, drape-y styles. But most of the models are sizes 0-4, so I think a lot of the clothes just don’t look right on them.
Actually what this shows is that it’s not the fault of the “evil skinny models” that women have shitty self esteem. After all we skinny ladies suffer from it just like everyone else does. It’s all in how you see yourself and what’s going on in your own mind. Instead of campaigning for “real beauty” in the media (a quixotic campaign if ever there was one – what does “real beauty” even mean?), maybe the campaign should be waged within the mind to be as healthy as one can be and then find confidence in that body. Whatever shape it is.
It doesn’t bother me either way. I never really take the time to look at ads. I like how I look, and if I feel I’ve gained too much weight, then I do something about it instead of whine about my self image. I don’t need a big model or a skinny model to tell me how to feel about myself or to tell me how I should look. I don’t know why people (women in particular) let themselves feel like they have to live up to the media’s standards. I personally don’t look at models and say “Wow I wish I looked like that.” or “I wish I was that skinny.” I know a lot of women do, and to me it’s sad that their idea of beauty is skewed by airbrushed images of models covered in makeup and bronzer from head to toe.
But hey, to each their own.
I appreciate the friend request but I have to decline.
I’m just not really interested in the material I see on your blog.
Fat chicks need to lose and get tiny. Thin is in, bitches.
I don’t really care. If I feel bad about my body it isn’t going to be because of a picture of a bunch of models.
@ElliottStrange - Hi there! You’re cute! You should be nice to Dan. He gets things done!
Thats because even plus size models don’t have the pockets of fat that torment us all. Princeton released some research today that proved well enough to me that high fructose corn syrup causes obesity when used in even smaller amounts than sugar. Its the chemical makeup of the molecules. When your body breaks it down, high fructose corn syrup is broken down and turned immediately into fat. Sucrose (sugar) into carbohydrates to be used as energy first, then fat if its not used.
So plus sized models make women feel awful then I would suggest understanding why women feel awful in the first place.
American diet is responsible for American obesity. It is very hard to avoid the food that cause this particular kind of obesity we know well. You have to make everything yourself and read ingredients and avoid things that are unhealthy.
Its awesome actually.
There is more aesthetics to an angular skinny than an indistinct plushy fat.
@breaking_expectations - couldn’t care less*
None of these look fat to me except the one on the far right.
@ElliottStrange - <– attention whore.
To be honest, there’s a cringe there. Kind of like, “Man, she’s about the same size as me except she still looks amazing. FAIL for me.”
~V
Dan, remind me never to be courteous and thoughtful on your blog ever again. Jesus H. people are messed up.
Worse. Sure, they’re “normal” sized. But they’re also very toned.
@totalsoccermom - I was under the impression that nothing I said was particularly disrespectful. Being disinterested in the general subject matter of a persons writing is not an insult, it’s just a matter of preference. Nothing I said reflects on the quality of his posts; merely my reaction to them.
Don’t read so much into things.
@TheSmokeMonster - What? No, scratch that. I was going to wait for you to rationalize but I don’t have the energy to argue with trolls tonight. I have too much on my plate mentally to juggle the inadequacies of the internet.
Having an opinion is not license for you to be a dick to complete strangers. Go sit in a corner and think about what you’ve done.
Yes, they do, actually. I like the skinny ones.
Makes my vag feel worse. Male models would make that feel better.
LOL women are so dumb. bawwing is all they’re good for. send them back to the kitchen, i say!
(….lulz)
haha. It’s probably because “plus-sized models” are normal sized people… with “perfect” curves. o_O
i like skinny, beautiful people. call me superficial but hey, my judgement of aesthetics have been well conditioned over the years
It seems advertisements in general make people feel like crap. They should just not advertise ANYTHING.
it doesn’t matter what models are used. if you hate your body nothing outside of yourself can make you feel better… though personally i hate fat models. they make me think i’m fatter than i am.
No. I weigh less than them.
I like seeing the “normal” sized women models. After all, look around you at the real world. Most of us aren’t sticks. Most of us have “some meat on our bones.” It’s more realistic to see these models, and no, it doesn’t depress me a bit.
Uh no. I don’t give a crap what type of model is selling me underwear or jeans. And I don’t base my self worth on what’s on the television. But hey, yay for bigger models getting work – that’s a plus!
I’d rather look at a toned body. Some of those women in that picture are overweight. I guess I’m pretty specific. I don’t like looking at waifish models either but then again half of them are photoshopped.
models have no bearings on my self-perception. people need to stop being pansies.
nope
Whichever kind of model it is, photoshop still makes their damn bodies look better than mine >=
No. Ads with skinny models don’t, either. But that’s just me.
I think the problem is not the size here. It’s the fact that she’s a model. “She’s beautiful enough to be on TV, why can’t I be?” That would explain why they only like the ones in weight loss ads because they’re portrayed as being fat and ugly.
Women really need to man up and get some self esteem. ♥
The problem is society calls these women “plus size models” when in fact this is what average women look like. Nobody wants to know that her body size is preceded by the words “plus size.”
I like the larger models, too. They represent the average woman in a much more realistic way. I think women will feel bad about their bodies no matter what sort of model is used. It doesn’t matter to me. When I’m in a down mood and don’t like my body, nothing can make me feel better about it.
yup. its unfortunate that when I see a larger model and she’s pretty I automatically relate her to me, and if she’s that big I must be too right?!
plus sized models should stick to weight loss ads, they’d be really effective
no, they make me feel better about my body.
but so do really skinny models, because I don’t think they look very good.
They’re still virtually hairless with perfect skin. And great hair. And great teeth. So yeah, even though I’m happy with my body, I could see why they still make people feel bad. They look a lot better than skinny models!!!
Depends on how much their body looks like mine, and then I just feel… @_@
Bigger cans = better.
Who comes up with these polls? I would rather see an average or plus size model over a skinny model any day. Not that there is anything wrong with being skinny either. That’s just my preference. Everyone should love themselves for who they are. As far as dieting,you can be a size 2 and still feel like crap. Skinny doesn’t always equal healthy.
Yes. They make me worry about what I have to settle for looking like.
Yea I don’t get it. My mom was a size 12 in college, and she was asked to be a model for a plus size clothing magazine. the typical model is smaller than a size 4, usually a 2 or a 0. I just don’t see where that is healthy.
I am a plus-sized woman, and nothing makes me feel bad about my body other than the mirror. I feel bad for the size 0 models with their bones sticking out of their skin, but tha’ts about it.
Not hardly.
@squeakysoul - I agree with (squeakysoul). This just goes to show that you can’t blame the self-esteem of women and young girls on the media. It comes from within. People who feel bad about themselves after looking at pictures of other people have issues. I mean you don’t look like a model (fat, skinny, obese, normal, emaciated etc) that is put in perfect lighting, shot at angles to make her look her best with lenses that do the same, and then airbrushed and/or photoshopped. That’s just pathetic. Women have self-esteem issues because they have them. They will continue to have them as long they continue to look to the media and other people to make them feel beautiful. Beauty is something you have to learn to feel for yourself.
As far as ads go, I care more about the product than the model.
to me these women are normal sized not large and they are beautiful and they make me feel pretty too
I would really like to see an “average” looking model. I’m a size seven. I either see a model that is a size 0 or a size 14. Where are the “average” looking models?
I can understand that, because if those are considered “bigger models” most women are screwed.
I don’t care about any models and their looks I’m too worries about my own fat ass!
Why should they? It is what it is…
Adds don’t affect me in general.
i hate my body and bigger models really do make me feel horrible. soz
It must be because they have real curves.
I like seeing those commercials with so-called plus size models. They seem more realistic in a relative sense.
nope.
No.
I’m happy with myself. I don’t really look at magazines anymore, so I don’t care much.
@TheBigShowAtUD - Hahaha well put!
super-skinny models and plus-sized models don’t make me feel anything because I don’t want to look like that. it’s a little depressing when there’s models that are about my same size but just have better tone and bigger boobs. ’cause I guess I could work on my tone but I can’t make my boobs grow unless I cheat. :p
You know what probably does it..? The fact that the models are called “plus sized” and “bigger” and they look like most of us. Most of us probably wouldn’t consider ourselves plus sized before introduced to this terminology.
These models are not ‘plus sized’. they are size 10 – 12. plus sizes start at size 14.
either way, they don’t make me feel bad.
I am very bad for this. I like any size model as long as they’re a good model. But I prefer ‘plus-size’ (normal size…) models, because I think they’re more beautiful body-wise. Although, if the clothes, or whatever they’re modeling, are beautiful, I will like them no matter who they’re on.
Nope. I think they’re trying to tell impressionable (stupid) girls that it’s ok to have meat on their bones.
I think they should do weight-loss ads with skinny chicks in the before and even skinnier in the after. That way people will be like, “wow if that’s her fat I’m ueber fat *gag*” and thus less fat people. The End. Happiness everywhere.
Better. It’s nice to see people who look more like me. (Although I certainly wouldn’t call those women pictured BIG)
My build and size are very much like the blond model on the far left. I’m guilty of wishing I was thinner in the past, but right now I’m feeling good about myself. I’m nice mix of bone definition and chub yet I’m still slender. I have cellulite, but I’ve come to accept the fact that this is because I don’t exercise enough. I’m not against exercise, but I’m in a good headspace when it comes to self esteem if I start working out I think I will lose that headspace. I’d rather get exercise subtly by walking in the park or something like that. At the end of the day, I don’t care about the numbers. I like the way my clothing fits and size doesn’t matter because all my clothes are different sizes to fit the way I want them to. My boyfriend thinks I’m hot and so do strangers.
If anything, I hate skinny models because of what they represent. They’re an idealistic joke.
Models don’t influence how I feel about my body. I basically feel like I’m hotter than 90% of them, at least in terms of body.
But for aesthetic reasons, I prefer curvy models (at any size), which usually doesn’t happen. Even the “plus size” models are usually ruler-shaped.
Society is so fucked up and backwards
50 Years ago we were FIGHTING THE HOLOCOST
Now we celebrate that look with MODELS and TELEVISION
Why is that?
We are nearing famine in some parts of the world, as obesity in other parts of the world rise. This paradox only brings more confusion to the masses. Find jesus while there is still time.
Only if I feel worse about my body when I have a comically large erection. Which I do. I was raised in church and sometimes I have to flagellate the little sinner into submission.
As a male I must say I like looking at thin and plus size models. Actually I like looking at beautiful women period. Within a certain range weight is not an issue for me.
They’re all exhibitionists for hire- regardless of size! Better than streetwalkers, I guess. Some of them.
Those women are NORMAL not plus sized…remember this “plus sized” model from last August? She’s only a size 12/14 and she’s called plus sized. I feel reminded when I see these “plus sized” models that you don’t have to be a size 2 to look good.
They make me feel just as bad as the skinny ones. Why? Cuz I’m fat, but “plus size models” are like a 10 or 12 and I’m way bigger than that.
um, how about normal healthy sized models??
it’s either the skinniest ones or the overweight ones. only when women see average sized models will they learn to accept their body without being underweight or overweight.
i never look at the models… that’s just weird. i always look at the product, actual ad’s message/theme, or the model’s face. never their body. i always wonder why people look at models in pictures and feel worse about themselves, or try to look exactly like the model. never happened to me.
They shouldnt even be considered plus sized
Eh, no. Other peoples’ appearances don’t typically affect my self-esteem. I focus on myself and MY ideal.
I have to say these plus size models look friendlier and warming. I mean, how many warm smiles do you see on anorexic models?
They haven’t eaten, that’s the problem.
not at all!
Big models = regular sized women.
Lets face it, skin draped over bones is not sexy. Eat a cheeseburger bitches.
What?
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I think there is nothing wrong about women feeling crappy about themselves. The same thing tend to happen to men, if we think about people of the same gender as we are so we will always feel crappy unless we are gays or so. I just know that I feel well and vigorous when I have my pill of Viagra Online.
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