typically atypical. Yes, really!
Written: Jul 24 '00 (Updated Jul 24 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great articles, emphasis on health, revolutionary
Cons: advice can be trite
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| tesserae's Full Review: Mode Magazine |
I am a big girl.
There I've said it. No more hiding behind the screen pretending to be slim and svelte, no more partial glimpses and orchestrated photographs; the truth is out: I am not a size 4.
I worked at a Lane Bryant store in Orange County for a year. It taught me a lot about learning to accept myself, to love my clothes and to have a desire to be as healthy as I can be - even if it doesn't conform to society's standards.
I saw a lot of people come into the store who were convinced that they were absolutely unattractive. Often it was a curvy, size 14 teenager who was reduced to tears behind the door of the dressing room by the assault of her overbearing (often very thin) mother: "stand up straight!" "that's ugly - why don't you wear something that covers your stomach?" Many times I wanted to slap those mothers around and say, "love your daughter - help her to love herself."
You see, I had the same experience in high school. I was perceived as "big as a house" by my grandmother, yet the photographs of me back then show a slightly pudgy girl (who was in shape from years of marching band, ice skating and winter colour guard) with a huge complex and a phobia of mirrors.
I wish Mode Magazine had been around for the teenager I was then ...
It isn't that they're teaching people to embrace being unhealthy or out of shape. What they want people to know are these things:
1) You don't have to be a size 4 to be beautiful (or sexy, or fashionable, or...)
It's possible to be a big girl and to turn men on, too. It's possible to have curves and still be sexy. There are a lot of men who like women with some shape to them - my husband is one (and even if there weren't, you shouldn't ever let a man tell you whether or not you're gorgeous).
2) You can love yourself no matter what you weigh
There's always room for improvement, isn't there? If it isn't our bodies, it's our behaviours: those secret nasty habits or our judgmental nature. The problem with society and with the portrayal of "you can never be too rich or too thin" as a lifestyle is that we decide that being thin is the only way to truly be happy or to be pleased with who you are.
2) Treating your body with respect and care will help you be happy
A lot of us are rough on our bodies. This isn't just a problem among the overweight, it's also a problem with the anorexic or the bulimics; the smokers and the constant dieters. Our bodies are well-organised machines that run best when given good care.
I think that if every woman in America could realise these things, we'd have a lot more confident, vivacious people around and the world would be a happier, more liberating place.
Mode celebrates healthy women of all sizes.
Though they do tend to pick really beautiful models who are only slightly overweight, they still choose women who are bigger than society's standards. True, they're not showing size 26/28's, but they're making a first step towards breaking the orphanwaifcalvinklein stereotypes.
A lot of people have complained in their letters to the editor that they're not showing morbidly obese people, and while I tend to think "a big girl's magazine should show (d'oh!) big girls!, I also see part of their strategy.
They are not embracing ill health. They are not telling you to eat whatever you want 6 times a day and never exercise. Rather, they're letting you know that even if you're a size 14 (in spite of your diet and your workout -- even if you are in good health and make conscious healthy food choices) -- you are still beautiful.
To that end, I have no problem with the models that they choose to show in their magazine. They are helping to redefine beauty as it pertains to all healthy people - and I can appreciate that.
I remember ringing up a young girl's purchases one day at the Lane Bryant store. She picked up the Mode magazine from it's holder and said, "oh mom, Look at this! Somebody just like me!"
I remember smiling and thinking that the editors and producers behind Mode would be pleased to hear that comment. There is so much in our world that promotes a false sense of beauty - perfect skin, well-placed moles, starving, orphaned models. We have become a society obsessed with liposuction, face lifts and low-carb diets in our quest for this elusive elixir of youth.
Mode Magazine teaches us that beauty is not so narrowly defined -- that we can enjoy being curvy -- that different is good. I think Mode is an excellent step in the direction of open-mindedness and liberation.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tesserae
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Reviews written: 53
Trusted by: 46 members
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