As you may have seen, Sports Illustrated just announced that the woman to grace the cover of their 2016 swimsuit issue is model Ashley Graham. Graham is a model who wears a size 16, making her the first plus-sized model to be on the cover of the infamous magazine issue. Other companies and brands have lately been starting to forego the "traditional" model as well: Aerie, American Eagle's underwear line, has now stopped photoshopping their models and on their photos they add a caption along the lines of "the REAL you is sexy". I believe that this movement is nothing short of wonderful.
The woman's body has been sexualized and ridiculed for years and years now, and the fact that we're starting to give attention to other sizes is great, especially for the young girls who may not have the typical model's body. However, there are also people who have started to describe these more full figured models as having "real" bodies.
According to Dictionary.com, the word "real" is defined as "actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed". Based off this definition, it appears that every model, bigger or smaller, falls under the description of having a "real" body.
They aren't holograms, they aren't drawings, and there isn't any evidence to prove that they are robots. I'd hate to be the one that shares the news, but since models have human bodies, their bodies are real.
Joking aside, this body shaming problem has been happening for too long now. For so many years, bodies that haven't fit the typical model size have been shamed and ridiculed. Now, it seems to be becoming a trend to celebrate the fuller models while ridiculing the skinnier ones.
By laying off ridiculing one body type and putting it back on another, we aren't making any headway towards body positivity. What we should really be doing is celebrating all bodies. Regardless of somebody's size, they should be reminded of how beautiful they truly are and that they have the right to feel that way. Nobody should be reprimanded for the body they have.
Personally, I've never been the skinniest person, but I am not about to go and shame somebody for being skinnier than me. We're all human beings just trying to live our lives and be the best that we can be. The sooner we start celebrating everybody for who they are, the sooner we'll realize that we're a lot less miserable.
Whether or not a model is a size 0 or a size 20, she is human and is therefore "real". The same applies to you. You're beautiful regardless of your size, and you deserve to be able to celebrate it.
