Plus-sized supermodel Tess Holliday is billed by Milk Management as “the first size-22 model.” Her career is on the rise, and she covered People last month. She wrote an essay that challenged preconceived notions of beauty. Tess detailed how countless modelling agencies rejected her, so she started posting her own photos on the internet. She posed in bathing suits “and other clothes that I liked but weren’t considered suitable for large and curvy women.” Her photos drew attention, and she started booking modelling gigs.
Several days ago, Tess spoke with The Guardian about her career. The journo observed Tess during a lingerie shoot that took place on a public street. At one point, Tess yelled, “Never seen a fat girl in her underwear before?” This piece got progressively messier:
On being called “fat”: “To me it’s just a word, but it wasn’t until I discovered the body positive community that I became OK with it. I’ve been called fat my whole life. I am fat, so it’s kind of silly to get mad about it.”
She loves to comfort eat & won’t apologize: “Everyone has their vices, but mine are visible. If I shot all day and I want a f***ing hot chocolate and a chocolate croissant I’m going to eat it. Am I going to eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner? No. Is it OK to do it? If you want. But, you know, no one is coming at celebrities for smoking two packs of cigarettes. Or people who post a photo with their drink at the end of the day. So why is it OK to do that to me? Life is sh*tty, so why would you judge somebody for dealing with it in the best way they can?”
The excerpt that raised eyebrows: We’re in a cafe, finally sitting down after a six-hour shoot that’s had Holliday traipsing blocks in oppressive heat and then a rainstorm. Throughout, she’s been a hilarious corrective to the notion of models as mute and biddable clotheshorses. At one point, an African American guy, middle-aged, said something appreciative as he walked by. “What do guys think they’ll achieve by yelling something?” She asked, shifting her weight and adjusting the cape primly. “They’re like: ‘She’ll love this, I’ll definitely get her number.'” A pause, and then she added, with some satisfaction, “I do admit that black men love me. I always forget that, and then I come to a black neighbourhood and I remember.” And no one quite knew what to say. Later, finally and effortfully manoeuvred into some lethal-looking Christian Louboutin stilettos, adding height to her 5ft 5in, she’d calmly told the photographer: “If you’re not shooting my shoes, I will f*** you up.”
[From The Guardian]
The writers at The Grio weren’t impressed by Tess’ stereotypical declarations and reacted with a series of GIFs. Associate editor Danielle Belton wrote, “Um … ‘Good for her’? I also want to add that ‘black guys like me’ too, if we’re only basing this on who hollers at you on the street.” Yeah, Tess needs to watch her words. Her personality is very abrasive, and the Guardian journo pointed out the dead silence that followed this particular statement.
Tess believes her words were misinterpreted. She took to Facebook with an apology:
“I apologise for any hurt that my flippant comment has caused. Being followed and quoted is something new for me and I am going to occasionally say or do things that make people unhappy. For that I am sorry, your opinions are important to me. The incident in question occurred when I was on the street, feeling rather exposed in my underwear for the shoot, and an older black man cat called me as I was walking behind the team. I replayed the incident to the team once we were set up for the next shot, and jokingly said some semblance of what appeared in print. It was in relation to being cat called by black men significantly more than by white, but perhaps my tone and wording didn’t convey this clearly. It was also meant to play into the idea that black men like bigger women, but the humour of that doesn’t come through. To further add context, the team included two talented black women – so it was clearly not something intended to cause offence.”
[From Tess Holliday on Facebook]
Tess claims to be misquoted, which is possible. The entire Guardian piece presents Tess as an unpleasant person, but it’s possible that the journo carved a false narrative. Or maybe Tess was upset about being catcalled, and she said things she didn’t mean. If some of the catcallers were negative, that could throw a person’s mood completely off.
Here are some photos (all of which are tagged #effyourbeautystandards) from Tess’ Instagram page. She uses the hashtag to counteract online bullying.
Photos courtesy of People & Tess Holliday on Instagram
There are plus sized women who are healthy ,but in she is not just plus sized,she is obese! She is not writing about self acceptance and the society accepting plus sized women as hot,she is writing about normalizing obesity!
Also,she seems very bitter and full of resent.Work on that ,gurl.
Yeah, she is obese. Super skinny should never be the goal, neither should accepting obesity. Health is the goal. Period.
These comments annoyed me only because of the assumed generalizing displayed. But what made me dislike her is what she said about her own mother. Her mom was shot by an ex and almost died. She is paralyzed from her injuries. She said something like her mom is an annoying sh-t and she hates dealing with her, but, eh, that’s her mom and she loves her. It was a wtf of epic proportions.
100% +1!!!
I am studying medicine and have previous science and dietetic degrees – it makes me so annoyed that her only title in the media seems to be “the size 22 model”. Unfortunately, whilst we shouldn’t be discriminating or prejudicial to people based on their size, there is significant evidence supporting greater health risk and burden on those who are under- or overweight. Currently, for women who have a waist circumference over 88cm and men over 102cm they are considered at extreme high risk of metabolic syndrome and associated co-morbidities. I wonder what her pathology and anthro are as well? Glamorizing this size – as well as the current popular super skinny model is dangerous when you need to undertake extreme dietary or exercise habits. Also this girl’s attitude seems extremely rude, can’t believe that the celebrities these days are considered ‘role models’.
@Sophie
Her attitude comes from the fact that she’s pisses all the time. And she’s pissed cause fighting with the world 24 hours a day, defending her body, shutting from the rooftops that’s it;s beautiful, answering to all the messages from haters… that’s a lot of work that can make ou angry and mentally exhausted. How mouch easier it would be to just live a healthy life and stop deluding herself?
Oh god, so many typos, I seem illiterate in my previous post but you get what I mean hopefully
No need to shout false statements, better focus on helping this body get in healthy shape. The world thankfully is not at that point yet to glamorize purposeful damage to body and health. She is loving her comfortveating so no excuse there.
I can’t stand that people are making her happen. Obesity is not beautiful; it kills. And she’s not modelling for anything relevant, so she is not a model nor is she size 22.
This times a million. If you watch videos of her she struggles to move around easily. This crass nasty personality has been talked about by others in the industry, but people rushed to defend her because boo hoo you can’t talk about fat people. She’s gross and is not a supermodel. She is a shining example of the obesity crisis that is crippling our medical system both financially and in lost work hours for medical staff injuring themselves dealing with these people. She might be a size 32, but not 22. And she doesn’t have a medical reason for being fat, she has hand to mouth disease. I’m sick of her and I’m ashamed that this woman represents anything positive. I sick of the fact that fat acceptance has become tied to feminism. I’m ready for her 15 minutes to be up.
You’re right! No way she’s size 22
I know, this trend frightens me. Obesity glamor like this is just as if not more destructive than thinsperation. Why can’t we promote healthy women with strong bodies built by sweat, dedication and healthy choices?
I have 3 (almost 4) young daughters and this terrifies me. I want my girls to be healthy and not think this is beautiful. This is someone trapped in the crushing cycle of emotional eating aND is suffering the consequences. She needs help to solve her emotional issues not a pat on the back for looking how she does.
And I’m sorry, size 22 my butt. She’s a 28 or 30 easily.
@joy
“I sick of the fact that fat acceptance has become tied to feminism.”
YES. I am a feminist and understand the need to make people realise women’s bodies are not public property and to be commented on by everyone everywhere by these tumblr/insta women are taking it WAY too far. I’ve actually seen blogs about how doctors dare to comment on obese patients weight and how they’ll only go to one who won’t mention it cause it apparently has nothing to do whatsoever with one’s health status and is just a sign your doc is fatshaming you. WHAT THE HELL.
She’s probably grouchy because she feels like crap.
Um, fat people need clothes too. Don’t concern troll.
Also curious what constitutes “modeling for anything relevant” – just high end luxury stuff? That’s not nearly as relevant as regular clothes real people can wear.
All this handwringing comes off as thinly veiled fatshaming.
Anorexia kills.
I don’t see anyone here promoting or glamorizing anorexia but your kind of comment is very typical. Whenever we dare criticise someone’s unlimited devouring of food and the consequences,both visual and internal, someone like you comes to lecture on the other extreme without having any ground for it because no one said it was ok. And just like there is all the protesting the skinny models, there should be the protesting the obesed ones!
@TrustMonThis Your comment is bullsh*t and you know it. Oh, except the part where you said “anorexia kills”.
I HAVE anorexia, I’ve had it, and battled it on an already thin body for twenty years. It’s almost killed me twice. I have first hand knowledge and experience with anorexia/eating disorders.
There were no fat shaming comments, only comments on her health, which ARE justified. Overeating is also an eating disorder, which this woman clearly suffers from.
Glorification of ANY form of body dysmorphia is harmful to all women. No one should be telling her to way a salad, just like no one should be telling me to eat a burger, but the difference is, I’m not showcasing an unhealthy life style. I’m fighting against it, and it KILLS me when my girlfriends tell me, “I just want to look the way you do”. Which is usually when I fess up. It’s awful. I would NEVER say “eff your beauty standards, accept me as I am”, because I am unhealthy. Just like this woman. The only difference is, is that I’m not in your face screaming “ACCEPT ME AND MY BAD DECISIONS/ILLNESS”, and I’m not bitter about people constantly telling me to have a cheeseburger. #RealityCheck
I’m kind of torn on this one. I’ve followed her on Instagram for quite a while, and I always thought she was a really positive person with confidence out the a$$. But upon reading this interview and some of the comments below, it seems as if she may be masking the abrasiveness that comes from insecurity as “confidence.” And I seriously hate to say this, but I’m glad you said what I think sometimes when I see her Instagram pictures, SnuSnuD. She’s beautiful, but she is overweight to the point of being extremely unhealthy. That’s no longer just her body type— she wasn’t just “built curvy” and ended up looking just like that due to the way she was made. Unless she’s on medication or has some serious thyroid issues (which I assume she doesn’t, since she promotes her body endlessly), she has the option of not being as overweight as she is. It seems like she just chooses not to put in the work, has accepted the fact that she’s extremely overweight, and wants a pat on the back for it. Slightly irritating. So I guess I’m not torn anymore.
I didn’t really start to dislike her until she started lying about her size. Between that and calling me a giant I was able to see who she really is.
Shambles, I’m torn, too. She’s not healthy. But I seriously doubt this one woman is going to create a craze where girls are aspiring to obesity. The fact is, many (most? all? am I speaking too much from experience?) obese people fall into a downward spiral where they lose all confidence and therefore have even more of a need to self-medicate with food. If she can inspire obese women and girls to feel like they are still worth wearing makeup, worth getting dolled up, worth looking at, worth speaking to–i.e., that they matter–I think it actually has the ability to help them address their weight issues.
Mixtape
People aspire to be things that are easier for them to achieve. And things that others have made a living off of or have fame.
I’ve known people to become obese for attraction, disability, and other various reasons. You would think who in their right mind would harm their body because another has done that. Their are some though. It happens.
More famously there are numerous large ladies who have been on reality tv or segments for shows that praise their weight gain that has long been unhealthy.
@FLORC
There’s also a fetish industry where women are paid to eat in front of camera, send pics of their fat rolls etc. It’s obviously a minority of onese women who go into this but it’s still a way to make money off of being fat and I’ve seen some who said they wanted to lose weight but then just went back to the business cause the money was to easy. The woman aspiring to be “the fattest woman/mother? (can’t remember atm) in the world” for example. She dumped her chef fiance, left her “job”, lost a lot of weight, did all the press rounds etc… and then went back, got another chef fiance, got even fatter, ugh.
“… it seems as if she may be masking the abrasiveness that comes from insecurity as “confidence.”
Issues of degrees of weight aside, this was exactly my first impression upon reading this article & some of her comments.
And then sometimes – as is true with many people – the chip on your shoulder can weigh more than the rest of you combined.
qwerty
That is incredible to me.
I can’t imagine a frame of mind where it’s acceptable for money. I don’t doubt it though.
She sounds defensive. Like she’s using the brash abrasiveness to cover up her insecurities, which is of course nothing new. People do it all the time. It’s just that the likely reasons for her insecurities are more visible to the casual observer.
At my heaviest I was a size 20. It was not good times and I most definitely “cared”. I was nowhere approaching healthy and all the body positive BS in the world wasn’t going to change that. I appreciate my body for what it can do (which is a lot), but at a certain level of body condition, it starts working against you. How old is she? I was in my twenties and my knees screamed at me daily.
Just throwing my 2 cents in here. I am middle aged and technically obese. My blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure are all normal. My body fought off a very aggressive cancer needing no more than surgical intervention. I walk up to 4 miles a day, out dance my normal weight 9 year old playing Wii, and can still water ski the perimeter of our 300+ acre lake. I have dieted throughout most of my adult life, wearing between a size 7 and size 24. As of today, I am 18/20ish and have come to the conclusion that my body may be big, but it is strong.
My point is not all fat chicks are unhealthy just like not all thin chicks are healthy.
@JM – please don’t try to insinuate that obese people can be healthy because it is untrue. You’re right, not all “fat chicks” are in the throes of death and incapable of moving around, but obesity is inevitably going to cause health problems, whether it is now or later. It is a fact. Just because an obese person is currently in good health does not mean they will remain that way as time goes on. Cholesterol, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain kinds of cancers are all side effects of obesity. Doctors have begun referring to Alzheimer’s as “type 3 diabetes” and it is also now being linked to obesity. Let’s not kid ourselves that obesity can be a healthy lifestyle. It is a time bomb.
I don’t understand why we need a movement in our society where lies are being told in an effort to try to argue that being obese can be healthy. It’s true that being too thin can be unhealthy as well, but generally being too thin comes with a barrage of different health complications. This is a problem because the U.S. has an obesity epidemic–our population is largely overweight and as a result, YES, unhealthy! Heart disease is the #1 killer in the U.S. and the number of people with type 2 diabetes is astounding.
Thats great but the reality is your heart has to work much much harder with the extra weight. That is just a fact there is no getting around no matter how much you work out, eat right or what your test results reveal.
The extra weight also puts added pressure on your bones, knees and can cause breathing issues later. So maybe you have no issues now but your body inside is working much harder than if you were 50 pounds less.
And you are right thin does not equal healthy but studies have shown that even being thin or height / weight proprotionate means your chances of developing other diseases as you age are less likely , and you will live longer.
I want to handle this with sensitivity as I don’t really know the struggle with obesity most have. I gained 80 pounds with my first child and it took a whole year to go from a 12 back to a 4. It took blood sweat and tears. I can’t eat fast food, fried food or soda because it makes it impossible for me to stay a size that I like if I do. I can feel my clothes not fitting great after each vacation and I measure out everything I eat when I’m pregnant because I seriously have no control. I go to the gym 5 times a week 3 of those as a family.
I also am in perfect health, but I’m not a high risk for any diseases because I work very hard to maintain my lifestyle. I’ve never dieted, I’ve never starved, I’ve often partake in both seconds and desert.
I’m not sure how I feel about the mentality of I’m overweight and healthy. After my first I was still in good health, but that 80 lbs (60 after birth) took a toll. My knees still click from just a year of carrying that extra weight. I have a hard time believing you’re as healthy as you really think you are.
Good luck to you once you get into your 60s. After watching my obese parents struggle with obesity related health issues that finally caught up to them, I’ve decided that anyone who insists “fat can be healthy” is delusional.
I used to be obese. I wasn’t unhealthy either but I had enough sense to make sure I thinned out before I got there. Obese people may not be unhealthy now, but they will be.
@jm I’m kinda blown away with how people came at you all because you had the audacity to say you are overweight and healthy, oh the horror! THE HORROR! No one knows what tomorrow brings and as long as you and your doctor are good with where you are at that is all that matters. I “love” that people assume you aren’t thinking of your future however and what did the one poster say – delusional? Wow.
@marie life is unpredictable and there is no guarantee that you will stay healthy or that you are risk free from disease (which is impossible to say for anyone ) just because you workout and eat right. Yes of course you are bettering your odds but anything can happen to anyone.
Wow why can’t yall just congratulate the lady for living a healthy lifestyle. I think maybe a better way to word things is to say “not all fat people have an unhealthy lifestyle”
She is much healthier at a size 18 than a 24. I have to bust my ass to remain just kind of fat. If I dont I get really fat
@Tifygodess
“@marie life is unpredictable and there is no guarantee that you will stay healthy or that you are risk free from disease (which is impossible to say for anyone ) just because you workout and eat right. Yes of course you are bettering your odds but anything can happen to anyone. ”
This makes no sense. Using your logic, we might as well all start smoking 5 packs a day and shoot up heroin while sitting in the middle of a street because “anything can happen to anyone. “
There have been studies that show that overweight people who exercise have far better health outcomes than thin people who don’t. Add in all the skinny Hollywood types who smoke to stay so skinny, and you really are healthier with a few extra pounds.
@JM, sorry you’re inundated with attacks. Good for you for fighting and beating cancer, and staying physically active.
JM, you sound fit and active . You can probably stand up on your own if you trip over. Tess can’t. There’s video footage of three women helping her to stand up. That proved to me that her weight is not healthy.
People like you, who are active, are doing well by your body. People like Tess, who are proud of their bodies but don’t take care of them, are not people I understand.
@marie you make size 12 sound like a land whale. Its really not that big & a person can be healthy at size 12. However, just a few sizes up, & you are headed in that ‘dangerous’ territory. The older you become the harder weight will wear on your body. I’m a nurse & have seen very unhealthy people at size 4, thin doesn’t equal healthy habits…..but IMO most if not the majority of obese have side effects from their weight. There is no such thing as healthy obese. The effects aren’t as apparent when you’re younger, they definitely will have issues when they’re older. Women should try to strive for a their personal healthy size, a weight they can maintain without entering the dieting hell loop. Its hard for some to maintain a size 4 but maybe easier to maintain a few sizes above it.
@snusnud – very very true. There is NOTHING wrong with loving yourself but there is something wrong about not loving yourself enough to care about your health. In my opinion Tess is pro-obesity. That isn’t okay.
Amen. I strongly object giving obesity a tribune and giving obesed youth an excuse. Because it is an excuse and I already hear how because this and this is a model, why wouldn’t they eat whatever and skip swimming when don’t I see how successful this and this is now. No. Just no. Obesity is unhealthy and is up there with smoking in health damage! It must be fought.
*eyebrow arch*
Oh it’s not being misquoted, she seems like one of those who doesn’t fit into the ‘white beauty standards’ group and suddenly thinks that means she’s a black man’s fantasy.
I’ve heard her type of narrative before.
I have a friend who has long red hair and is quite curvy but healthy (no where near as heavy as the woman in the article), with a naturally small waist and bigger hips/thighs and bum. She wouldn’t be the one getting the white guys flocking to her at the night clubs – but yes, black guys LOVE her. Is it racist to say so? No. It is just the truth.
Those black guys love your friend. Not all black guys will love her – just sayin’. Why generalize?
Yeah but this woman looks obese and not healthy. It’s a little condescending to assume that the type of woman that other races wouldn’t find attractive ( an unhealthy one) would be preferred by black men.
I am curvy and get hit on by black men most often. And the men usually say to me, “black guys (like me) hit on you all the time, right?” I know all black men don’t like curvy women, but I really don’t understand the backlash when black men themselves consider it common -in my experience.
Amen. She tells the truth. I had a friend in college that a group of us would sometimes go walking with who was also very obese, although not as big as this lady. I recall black men saying appreciative stuff to her along the lines of “you stay who you are and appreciate yourself!” Health issues aside, they definitely appreciated the body of a bigger girl. White guys I think are trained to like super skinny chicks from a very artificial media construct of white women that’s sold to them from birth. And no, I’m not speaking on behalf of anyone and everyone’s opinions and experiences with this post.
@Imo
Exactly. It feeds into that narrative of, “Well all black guys love a white woman, any white woman they can get.”
She’s a far extreme from curvy, furthermore as she started initially all guys catcall. Italian men have a reputation for it but apparently don’t ‘love’ her.
No, it’s not racist. Do ALL black men like “big” women? No. Do a significant number? Yes. I think it’s a cultural thing. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
I am a size 16 white woman and this is my experience with black men. I live in a city with predominantly African-American residents. I don’t say that some black guys like me as derogatory. I don’t like to be cat-called in general but I will say the black dudes who do oftentimes make me laugh. It can be a positive social interaction. I don’t want to insult anyone, but damn it’s frustrating to not be able to freely share your personal reality and experiences. Political correctness can be so stifling.
Yeah……. it happened to me a lot too. I’ve got a similar figure to your friend, and yeah, I had a lot of black guys hit on me and tell me point blank why. At the time I recall thinking “huh, black dudes really seem to like me”. Perhaps she shouldn’t have made a sweeping generalization about it, but I can’t really fault her for it because I had a very similar experience. How old is this girl? She looks young enough not to have the life experience to temper her random comments at inappropriate times.
@Eternal Side-Eye
-Um, no, it feeds into your one-sided narrative whereby all men must abandon their cultural and personal preferences insofar as they differ from that promoted by a predominantly white media culture unless they want to risk being accused of going after sloppy seconds by women like you. Should white men be judged if they prefer thinner women because *some*of those women must maintain themselves at a lower than natural weight or have disordered eating habits to keep themselves that way? SMH
I once heard a racist pos say “a black man’s dream is a white woman but they can only get the ones we (white men) don’t want….the fat ones”. This whole “black men like big women” thing does smack & (I think) supports racist beliefs. White men like skinny, curvy, big boobed, short, tall, all different women. Why shouldn’t black men be the same?!
lady Jane I had a friend like that also.She got the same reaction.
It’s not racist to say a certain culture likes a certain body type it just seems in this day and age we can’t say it out loud, its utterly ridiculous.
For example: I have 2 Asian friends who repeatedly tell me that men in their culture like the women very tiny, very thin but don’t care if they are “fit” as long as they are tiny. Skinny fat is fine as long as they are skinny. Is that racist? Its true according to them.
Different cultures like different things and that is ok. Or is it because this girl is white that this is a problem ? Maybe if she was black there would be no backlash on this.
@We Are
I’m not even sure what you’re saying. Tess is a model who freely admitted she wasn’t getting attention in the modeling world because she didn’t fit the beauty standards. This isn’t about culture, as others have said culturally men catcall at whoever they want though that doesn’t always translate to attraction or desire. This is about feeding the stereotype of “Yeah I’m not getting a lot of attention from these guys (who I’d normally get attention from) but hey this race seems to love me”.
@hadlyB – As a full Vietnamese woman, I can say that from my own personal experience, your Asian friends are pretty much spot on. I am 5’7, and wear a size 12. I am not obese, I just do not have the ‘standard’ Asian female structure. Like others have stated, I have the classic Coke bottle shape. I wear a size 12, not because my waist is huge, but because my thighs and butt are larger than average. I am an oddity within my family, as everyone else is quite petite and wear a standard 2/4. Growing up, being taller and larger in body structure, I was perpetually made fun of by my other Asian peers. Even my own family has said some pretty messed up things to me. My grandmother would point blank call me fat, and would shame me by taking away food from me in front of the whole family during holidays. It was pretty bad. My mom, still to this day, because I am not her size 2 is always commenting about how I need to lose weight. I just love myself enough to not care anymore. But this is the standard with most Asians in our culture. Anything above a size 4, can be viewed as fat. My cousin, when she was a size 4, was called fat by my grandmother as well. It’s an older generation standard of beauty.
My personal experience, having my body shape, I do get cat-called more often than not by Black men. But I also feel as if this is because they are more gregarious in nature. I have Caucasian men and Latinos that want to date me as well, that enjoy a more curvy woman. They just seem to be less bold in the way they approach me. Most Asian males that are non-Pacific Islander, don’t really approach me what-so-ever. Having said that, I will repeat that yes, Black men seem to approach me and cat-call me the most. Call it racist, or non-PC, but this is my personal experience. This is what I have been privy too in my life.
Smh at y’all making excuses for her because you or your friend experienced the same thing. The handful of black guys hitting on you does not a significant amount make nor is it a staple of “black culture”. Her comment, while not racist, reek of ignorance and white girl privilege which she doubles down on in her piss poor apology, and then throws in the “I have black coworkers so it’s ok ” for good measure. If you can’t even pretended to understand the negative stereotypes and racial hangover in her comment and why it has some people upset/annoyed, then good luck to you.
Yeah it seems to be a trend. I had a plus sized roommate who strictly dated black guys because of the attention they gave her. But it’s the same with nerdy white guys and Asian girls or black British girls with white guys. Certain subgroups tend to attract each other (stereotypically speaking) *shrugs* to each their own?
Speaking from personal experience here. I am full Vietnamese, yet not the atypical body type. I wear a size 12, and do not call myself obese. For some reason, I have a very classic coke bottle shape. Bigger thighs, butt, and boobs with a small waist. Do not ask me how this occurred with my family’s small structure. I stand about 5 inches taller than any other female in my family as well. Most of them wear a size 2 or 4. Growing up, I was made fun of by my Asian peers I was surrounded by in TX. The majority of Asian males prefer what the other user described. Most want a slim build in a female counterpart. Anything over the size of 6, and even 6 itself can be seen as overweight. I can’t tell you the number of times my own family has called me fat. That’s the reality of what I have seen and endured. I can tell you now also, that the majority of the men that verbally cat-call me are African American. But I also believe it is because they are more gregarious in nature and have no qualms about doing so. I have just as many Caucasian men want to date me as much as black, men but in my experience, they tend to be more low-key when approaching me. Call me racist or whatever you deem fit, but that’s my experience as a curvy woman.
We had a white full-figured flatmate who got lot of attention from black men, she too used to boast the black men loved her. She was seen as an easier mark because she had black friends. And they did love her, until they got the sex they wanted and dumped her the next day. I had to throw one um, gentleman out. The guys she attracted were mainly ne.’er do wells. Black guys at our university ignored her completely.
Thing is she was such a bright, intelligent gorgeous young woman but her low self-esteem just made her easier to exploit and in the end endangered us all because she let anyone into our house. She accused us of jealousy but we trying to protect her from guys that even we wouldn’t touch with a bargepole.
I’ve experienced similar when I’m propositioned and catcalled by white men who think I’m going to turn their lives into one long Anaconda video. It’s not flattering to anyone when you see it for what it is.
“who think I’m going to turn their lives into one long Anaconda video”
That is freaking hilarious!
The bit I don’t get is how her face stays so slim! The body is big, the face is skinny. I just had a baby and put on over 25 kg, and let me tell you, there were at least 12 chins fighting for supremacy he he
When I was overweight the weight was everywhere apart from my face. And boobs.
I know! I’m like that, when I gain weight, it goes everywhere, face included. It’s not cute because my cheekbones and jawline pretty much disappear. But on the plus side, when I lose it, I lose it on my face and belly first so it’s noticeable immediately. 🙂
A few people have commented on plus-sized vs. obese. Since I’ve always been on the curvy and slightly chubby side and have, at one point during uni, verged on obese, I’m of two minds about this. One, the body positive movement is not necessarily about making it acceptable to be clinically obese. That’s never healthy in the long term. But the shaming of it should stop. That’s my take on it. You don’t help anyone who’s obese by making rude comments. People know. Trust me. Being a tad overweight but fit is not unhealthy at all and I think that’s what this movement is about, mostly. Except a lot of people treat a bit of chub like the worst thing ever. Ridiculous.
Maybe this girl is abrasive, maybe it’s the article’s narrative. But trust me, being subjected to rude comments about your weight can make you defensive.
I like the body-positive movement, but agree with other posters that attempting to normalize obesity is cray. When I saw her pics and her “eff your beauty standards” statement, I honestly thought to myself “I guess I need more time to get over the “beauty standards” because she just looks obese to me.”
Thank you @littlemissnaughty for the comment.
Never been obese myself but almost there and you do tend to get defensive for being called nasty names.
I don’t know anything about this girl but calling anyone who is overweight “gross” is not the best way to get your point across
Well said @littlemissnaughty
I’m all for the body positive, anti fat-shaming movement. Is obesity healthy? No. Does an entire society shaming and mocking people struggling with weight issues help? No.
If the body positive movement helps anyone get through their day, makes them feel less sh*t about facing derogatory looks and comments from friends, family members and randoms on the street and internet, I’m all for it. Obesity is something that is routinely derided in our society and it doesn’t do a damn thing to actually help health outcomes.
@ PhenomenalWoman: I have to agree, she is obese and when I was close to it I didn’t think “I have to accept myself”. I thought “Girl, your health is the most important thing. It’s your best retirement plan and some things can’t be reversed. Lose the chub.” And I did but my God, was that hard. I’m not slim by anyone’s standard but I’m healthy and fit so NOW I can work on the rest.
And obesity is a serious health issue like any other ED. Yes, I do believe it falls into that category. So shaming is not the way to go.
Amen, Naughty! No one is trying to say anyone else has to like it, you just need to accept we’re here, too, sick of being less than, and deserve the same opportunities, whether a size two or thirty two. We all have to live together, so why not accept, instead of belittle? Why is simply being nice so f#cking difficult for the majority?!
Em, sorry but when obesity and its consequences are paid by my taxes and currently stand at number one cause for sickness and death in some countries and even put smoking behind, I have every right to ineist and lobby against any acceptance of anyone’s obesed physique which is at this state due to laziness or choice! And if smokers and drinkers are taxed for their increased health expenses, then the same should go for obesed by choice and not a disease.
Everyone carries weight differently. My fattest, at almost 200 pounds, I never ever gained weight in my face, neck, or hands, which I think helped in how I was perceived. Even now 50 pounds lighter, people think I weigh much less than I am because of how my weight is distributed. It just goes straight to my ass or thighs, never in the places that make someone look fatter like someone’s face or belly. Something tells me if this “model” had a huge face, she wouldn’t be getting as much attention as she has.
@MaryAlice, do you think obese people don’t pay taxes? Is THAT what you believe gives you the right to comment or as you say lobby against another’s weight? You are ridiculous. Obesity is not the number one killer of anyone. It hasn’t been “epidemic” long enough to have reached that point. That’s why we don’t see a bunch of elderly obese people (although they certainly do exist.) Fat seems to be the new gay. And much like whether another is gay or not, the health habits or lack thereof are none of your damn business, unless they live under your roof.
She’s young. I used to never gain weight in my face until +35.
I don’t like her. What she said about her mother, in that Guardian article, really turned me off.
She is a mean person. She called me a giant. I was the model for a makeup class she was was doing. It was something I did for free and drove an hour for. I had admired her before that day. A little bit after she made the comment I said something to let her know it bothered me and she LAUGHED!!! As someone who was bullied because of her size she should know better than to say something about mine. I guess it was ok to do because I’m not as fat as she is?? She also made a few other small remarks regarding my appearance that day. She is definitely not a 22. I know sizes look different on different people but I worked in plus size retail for several years and I know what I’m talking about. I was so disappointed at who she really was. I think she is beautiful in her pictures and if it weren’t for her I probably wouldn’t own a bikini. She definitely isn’t who a lot of these young women thinks she is. She’s just getting rich off fat girls.
Obesity is not healthy. Period. While someone who is significantly overweight may not have health issues at the time, they are a ticking time bomb. We know now that fat is far from inert. It plays a significant part in your metabolism and secretes hormones – some of which greatly increase one’s risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
I’m really sorry to hear that, EasyPeasy. I’m sure you’re simply lovely. Your story made me really sad to read, because I used to think she was pretty inspirational as well. Thanks for sharing the truth about who she really is.
Uhhh… no, hon, everything you implied was crystal clear already. It was the generalization and lack of perspective that made it offensive. And if I didn’t think so already, the “but there were two black women there!! CLEARLY not offensive” justification would’ve sealed the deal.
News flash: white women making generalizations about black men based on racist stereotypes and one individual in front of black female employees = personification of privilege. I wanted to like her, but she’s CLEARLY an idiot, and she’s old enough to know better.
Well I do find her abrasive And I’m not super impressed with her as a model. But the “there were black people there with me” thing, to me, implies mainly the intent and mood of the comments made. Yes she put her foot in her mouth but it wasn’t like she thought it was cool because her and a bunch of white people were together being racist. She just wrongly thought her comments were socially acceptable even to black people, probably because she’s not a deep thinker?
The team includes two black women = I can’t be racist, I have a black friend. Always good for the laughs.
Tess is a messy person. I can appreciate how she’s opening up doors but she’s still messy and always has been. I hope her popularity, though, will lead to more average size models. Because I resemble neither Gigi Hadid or Tess, and fall somewhere in between.
Exactly. The quest for body acceptance in the media has, in fact, left us with few options.
I can’t with this girl but…..I was in Aerie (American Eagle ‘s lingerie and loungewear store) the other day and noticed every model shown in various pictures in the store was refreshingly normal and healthy looking. The other thing that was awesome was on all the pictures it stated that none of the models had been retouched in any way. All the pictures of the girls modeling bras told what cup size the model was and ranged from A – D cups. I really really hope this becomes a trend. If you guys have an Aerie around, stop in and check it out! They probably have it online too.
Well that’s very refreshing to hear! They do go after a younger market though so I guess they’re trying to position themselves as the anti-American Apparel/Abercrombie/whomevers of the young apparel market? I will page on over and have a look!
Yes! I was pretty happy about it 🙂 Found the campaign in case you are curious: http://www.fastcocreate.com/3025443/this-is-who-we-are-now-why-aerie-stopped-retouching-the-models-in-its-ads
Calvin Klein used a model who was a size 10 for last fall’s lingerie campaign. She looks healthy and is probably closer to what more American women are shaped like than Kendall Jenner.
http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/11/calvin-kleins-plus-size-model-is-a-size-10.html
Honey, let’s get real. You stopped being fat a couple of sizes ago.
I think she’s beautiful, and body acceptance is great and something society as a whole definitely needs to work on. But that being said, empirically she should try to lose weight for her health. Her waist is over 35″, which alone puts her at risk for all kinds of diseases, and I don’t see that amount of overweight as something we should be promoting either. It’s a tricky balance to strike.
I think the balance is strength. Women in media should look strong and healthy. A median and achievable look. You can tell they work out and make healthy choices, but you can see that they’re happy and not starved. I think if you want to be a model you shouldn’t be allowed to be overweight or underweight. I want equality on both sides of the spectrum. I want to see short models and models with thin hair, I want mixed races with big arms and tiny boobs, i want asian models who arent in the background holding a book, i want real preportioned people. I want my girls to see reality and health.
“You can tell they work out and make healthy choices, but you can see that they’re happy and not starved”
But you can’t tell by simply looking at a picture of a seemingly thin woman whether she’s “happy and not starved” or not, that’s (part of) the problem. Some very thin women are naturally built small-boned and slender. I have friend who is TINY and will always be tiny and eats twice as much as I do. She looks “very thin” but she works out and is happy AND healthy.
Saying women should look “strong and healthy” is still enforcing a body-type ideal–and this is coming from a strong and healthy-looking woman who is a fitness fanatic.
I just wish as a society we would stop acting like women’s bodies are any of our damn business. That’s how we change things. Men and women stop trying to dictate what they subjectively see as “the optimal female body type” whether it be thin women, strong women, or overweight women. That’s how we change the standard of beauty—we stop acting like other women’s bodies are ours to criticize.
Focus on women as people, as human beings first and foremost, and leave the aesthetics out of it. Admittedly this is idealistic thinking, but I truly believe that’s the only way things will change. Until that happens, the focal point will always be on women’s appearance, and we’ll constantly be fighting the societal body acceptance battle and women will forever be arguing with each other about our bodies. We’ll be dieting and over-exercising trying to fit an ideal or we’ll be depressed and overeating because we don’t fit that ideal. Or we’ll be fighting with each other about which body type is healthiest or most attractive. It’s a vicious cycle that does nothing good for women.
This sh*t holds women DOWN FFS.
I agree Kitten, women in media *should* look how all women look, there is no one ideal that society/media should be pushing onto its members. Having representations of women of all shapes and sizes doesn’t “normalise” obesity (as a commenter further up thread noted), it normalises the diversity of humanity.
On another tangent, all of this pearl clutching over health strikes me as disingenuous. If someone finds obesity unattractive, fair enough, but it’s not their place to concern-troll. I support the body positivity movement in so far as makes the world a more bearable place for many women, but ultimately I would like to drive for a ‘My appearance is none of your f*cking business, it’s the least interesting thing about me’, and ‘unsolicited comments about size, shape, fitness are off the table’ movement.
Exactly kitten!
I disagree. I think you’re creating a false equivalency here by equating fat and skinny. Of course skinny people can be unhealthy. How many ultra-skinny models are using cocaine and/or heroin to achieve those figures? Plenty.
However, skinny CAN be unhealthy, but is not always. I will even argue that mild to moderate overweightness is in a gray area, since the jury is still out. However, science is pretty clear on obesity – NOT healthy in the overwhelming majority of cases. Tess is obese. She’s done interviews in the past where she talks about her inability to chase her kid around and stuff like that. Is that a decent lifestyle? Most of us would say no.
The way I’m reading it, your whole argument is boiling down to “pointing out that obesity is unhealthy makes people/women feel bad, so shut up about it.” But why is that decent advice? We can compare it to consumption of soft drinks – something I do every day. I see all the ads and PSAs telling me how terrible these things are for me and I know they’re bad for me and I have cut back some, but I still love them (and truthfully I probably do have some degree of physical dependence on them now). But am I trying to argue that people should stop telling me how bad they are because I don’t want to be bothered and I’ll keep drinking them anyway? NO! Telling people about the health risks of soft drinks is a noble public health goal. Same thing with obesity. The fact that hearing about how bad it is will make some people upset or unhappy is not an adequate reasons to stop talking about how bad it is.
And yes, before you bring the argument out, I know there is a minority of overweight/obese people who have legit medical concerns that preclude weight loss. Those people should be sympathized with – but they should still be encourages to try to maintain their weight as much as they can and work towards good health. But they are, like I said, a minority. Whitney Thore has a legit medical condition that made her obese – but you’ll notice on her show that she still works towards weight loss and being healthy.
And while I think you have a point about trying to figure out which body type of best (it’s a stupid pursuit), the argument is not “well we can’t all look the same way, so yay, let’s embrace every possible body composition out there!” Not everybody needs to be fit, or muscular, or tones, or even skinny. It’s not about being a certain way, it’s about NOT being obese – which, again, is a deeply unhealthy state for most people.
I just don’t get why we’ve reached the point of “pointing out that obesity is unhealthy holds me back/depresses me/hurts my feelings.” Imagine if smokers had reacted this way a couple decades ago. It would have been a laughingstock.
While I agree that this whole “women should look X way” is detrimental and holds women back………
SHE’S A MODEL. Her whole point is how she looks. That’s it. What else are we supposed to evaluate her on? This is her chosen platform of valuation.
The fact is she has chosen to put herself out there for visual appraisal. She hasn’t demonstrated any other skills, talent or knowledge that I know of. She has made her appearance the focus and put it out there specifically for public consumption.
@Sam
Regarding your comment that “pointing out that obesity is unhealthy makes people/women feel bad, so shut up about it.” There is a point where genuine health concerns crosses the line into bullying, and when it comes to obesity that line gets crossed A LOT.
My great aunt died of health complications brought on by obesity, so I take the health implications very seriously. However I was also with her when she would go out and about, the disapproving looks and stares she would get were heartbreaking, there were “tsks” and whispers under the breath of random strangers and the observation of her when she was out grocery shopping was grotesque. People loved looking at her shopping trolley and judging every item that she was purchasing. It got so bad that she eventually became a shut-in because she couldn’t take public reactions anymore. That of course worsened her health, she became clinically depressed and eventually got to the point where she could no longer walk and was bed bound.
I’m not trying to say that the responsibility lies solely with society and not the choices she made, but if people had behaved supportively rather than derisively she may have felt empowered to make serious changes about her health, as it was she felt ugly and worthless. And people who feel worthless aren’t going to make positive changes for themselves.
So yes, there are serious health risks surrounding obesity, but that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t employ sensitivity when discussing it and maybe be a bit more discerning about if/when it is acceptable to discuss it at any given time.
Gretchen, what you are talking about, I think, it what “fat acceptance” should really be. Fat people should be able to walk down the street unaccosted (and so should anybody else). There is a huge difference between not harassing somebody and approving of their choices. I walk past plenty of smokers each day and somehow manage to not lambast them.
To me, that is real fat acceptance. To basically treat people as humans with basic amounts of compassion. The problem now is that fat acceptance has run headlong into scientific denialism, orthodoxy and other negative stuff. I can’t support that. Unfortunately, Tess seems to be of that variety.
@Wren-I understand your point about her being a model.
FTR, my statement wasn’t intended to be about her specifically but about women in general. This isn’t the first 200 comment thread about a high-profile woman who is overweight. This particular woman happens to be a model, but I’ve seen the same when it was an overweight actress or an overweight female athlete (Taylor Townsend anyone?) or an overweight female ______. No matter how talented, how intelligent, how athletic, or how successful a woman is, it inevitably comes down to our appearance. Threads like these only seem to exist when a woman is the subject at hand. There is no male equivalent, because men aren’t invested in the aesthetic of other men.
I’m not trying to shame people for talking about her body because it’s obviously a huge part of her identity and she’s putting it out there, being a plus-sized model and all. I’m simply saying that as women, we have the power to steer the narrative in a different direction. I’ll talk about her comments which I thought smacked of racism but I’m not going to discuss her body because I don’t want to engage in that. I don’t want to reduce a woman down to just a body to be critiqued and picked apart. I don’t mean to sound sanctimonious, I’m just expressing my POV.
I don’t think people are being disingenuous or “concern-trolling” when they say obesity carries serious health risks. I have a close relative who is paying the price for lifelong obesity. She has diabetes, has had two hip replacements, was hospitalized with a near-fatal heart attack. She’s always been happy and confident about her looks and successful in many ways. She seemed healthy and enjoyed an active life but as soon as she turned 60, she has had major, major health problems and all her travel and other adventures are over. She can’t even go anywhere with stairs, which rules a lot of places out. The last decade has been really hard on her and her husband, who is also battling chronic health issues.
Esmom, you’re describing some relatives of mine. They lived a pretty measured and frugal life financially, in order to save for the golden days, for travel and adventures, and now they’re spending exorbitantly on treatments due to their morbid obesity. It’s sad and unfair. But also their denial is shocking. They’re convinced that it was not their weight that caused their innumerable health problems, but that the doctors are out to get them!
@ Sam, I completely agree with your ideal vision of fat acceptance, and I also agree the denial of health risks is not the way to go.
@esmom , objectively no, it isn’t disingenuous to be concerned about the health risks of obesity. Like I said though, there is a line that frequently gets crossed between concern and shaming in discussions of obesity. There are some comments on this thread that demonstrate this, and sadly people I know in real life who use those risks as a gateway/justification for being incredibly cruel about obesity. As I said in my second comment, I’ve personally seen both sides, I’ve lost someone to obesity and seen the humiliation she had to face in public. Had I the guts then to confront some of those people tormenting my great aunt I’m sure many would have said they were concerned about her health…which would have been disingenuous, they looked at her like a circus freak and found entertainment in watching her.
People may justify their judgement as concern but very often words like ‘gross’, ‘disgusting’ and a slew of other derogatory words slip in. I don’t think that concern over obesity is by nature concern-trolling, but often enough people dress up their disgust or distaste for obesity as such.
I didn’t see Gabourey Sibide get the same love…
It’s wonderful that Tess feels no pressure to lose weight only because society seems to be obsessed with skinny or to tailor to certain standards, but why does it have to be so heavily promoted? Oh I know, to help those like her, to boost a woman’s self-esteem, to help online bullying, all very noble (and necessary) causes, but her strategy simply turns me off. I always get uncomfortable when someone gets too loud, too shrilly about something especially if I’m supposed to consume it somehow or maybe in this instance it’s because I find Tess unpleasant albeit very beautiful with a body that has amazing proportions.
Gabbi got love but she too has a nasty little attitude.
Really? But she seems so great in interviews.
If so, it’s probably the same defensiveness lashing out.
She had a horrible horrible life. I understand why she’s so defensive. I read a Buzzfeed article on her and the journalist loved her and painted her as a really nice person.
What she said was wrong, but she could have been misquoted.
“a horrible life” – so what? manners cost nothing. being rude and ignorant won’t fix her past.
I meant that I get why she comes of as abrasive.
There are a lot of people with horrible lives who don’t turn into a-holes.
Thank you!
Yeah this is is a major crock. There are people who have had much worse lives who don’t act the way she does. This woman has an inferiority complex and it shows every time she is interviewed.
As Chris Rock says, there are certain things we can say which are never OK if you say them. This applies in all situations no matter context.
She needs to learn that lesson.
So true.
LAK, do you remember a few years back (I think Jonathan Ross was still on the BBC, so it is a while) and Ross was interviewing Ian Wright, the ex-England footballer? Wright was doing some show to combat youth obesity. Later in the interview, Ross asked him who was his ideal woman, and he said Dawn French. Then there was some cringe-making joshing by Ross along this same awful meme: all black men are “chubby chasers” and how dare he fancy French and campaign against obesity at the same time. Big backlash afterwards and rightly so. French is gorgeous. But black men aren’t a bloody homogenous whole. Some things just shouldn’t be said.
So true but then it’s just so much easier, so much more comfortable to put everybody into a neat little box where you don’t have to think about them too much isn’t it? I always think of the ‘isms (racism, sexism et all) as a combination of bad manners and intellectual sloth in need of dynamite (or at the very least Sixers Broad Beans)
Broad beans are the food of the gods. Broad bean and pea risotto for my tea tonight!
I think, despite intersectionality, the isms need solidarity more than anything else. But courtesy would come a close second.
Solidarity would be good, I think that’s where the interweb can come into it’s own because the media major players ( still predominately white men) are clever, they know ‘divide and rule’ works. I’m hopeful that as the traditional media breaks down and disappears into the ether it will become harder to prevent the ‘isms’ from coming together. Well, that’s the cunning plan anyway. Broad beans are indeed the food of the Gods, I like to cook em, peel em and saute them in butter and garlic plus crusty bread and you’re away….
I agree on all points. It is true that the oppressed can also be the oppressor. But solidarity with the oppressed is the way to enlighten.
Agree with you Sixer on your last statement.
I once had a long talk about cat calling amongst other races, I mentioned that I have only ever been cat called by black guys but maybe that is because I am black and they feel they have a bigger ‘right’. But all races cat call
Yes. I’ve lived in a lot of racially diverse areas of the U.S. and the comments are never exclusive to just one group of people. Well, only men I suppose. “gross, slimy, never gonna get it” kind of men….shudder.
But she never said only black men cat call. She said why do GUYS cat call? Then went on to talk about race in a related topic.
When I lived in a predominantly black neighborhood, black men cat-called me all the time, when I lived in a predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood, Puerto Rican men cat-called me all the time, and when I lived in a predominantly white neighborhood, white dudes cat-called me all the time. And I am a thin white chick.
Conclusion: men of all ethnicities and races cat-call women.
Yes because all men of all ethnicities and and races can be bloody annoying.
the more offensive part is her complete lack of awareness on being unhealthy. It’s fine to be ‘not the norm’ as far as body standards but to me, it’s not okay to be unhealthy. She’s not just ‘fat’ she’s morbidly obese. It’s the number one killer in the country isn’t it?
I agree. I find the entertainment industry to be full of extremes. Either people are workout obsessed and thin in unhealthy excess or they are morbidly obese and screaming about fat shaming. As a “celebrity” you have more power than you know, or even deserve, to hold sway over what “normal” people think is good or okay. Normalizing any kind of body extreme is dangerous.
Actually Heart disease is the number one killer in America (CDC), and heart disease isn’t just caused by being fat. There are multiple reasons why people have heart disease. Heart disease is an umbrella term used for multiple conditions- for example I was born with a heart condition and I fall under this umbrella yet I’m not overweight and my condition Is hereditary. Same with a good friend of mine on the transplant list. Do people get heart disease from being overweight- of course, but it’s not the only reason. So that would mean no obesity isn’t the number one killer. It’s easy to attack heavier people because it’s accepted. Are they unhealthy? Sure they could be but I’m also not their doctor.
What I don’t understand is why people are so worried and offended by someone else’s size? Is it personally impacting you she’s large or morbidly obese ? Why is it offensive to you that she may not care or understand her health? Do you think people will see this cover and decide they will join the “overweight group” too? “Oh better go grab some cheeseburgers and fries! Want to be just like Tess holiday” No, of course not. But it’s ok for people who are overweight or morbidly obese to feel ok about themselves and decide what’s best for THEM. It’s ok for her to want people to stop treating heavier people like cr*p.
TIFYGODDESS you rock! Fat people are not necessarily any more unhealthy than skinny people with health disorders (I am sorry about yours), or skinny people who drink / smoke / do drugs. You cannot look at a skinnier person and a fatter person and claim that the fat person is sicker. The fat one may exercise, have perfect cholesterol, and eat much the same diet (although Tess doesn’t pretend to be a poster girl for healthy eating), while the skinny one may be living on adderrall, Diet Coke, and cigarettes. Being fat does not automatically equal health problems. Also sometimes the health problems come first and CAUSE the weight gain, not the other way around.
http://ideas.time.com/2013/06/24/if-obesity-is-a-disease-why-are-so-many-obese-people-healthy/
I think people who use public transportation or take flights would beg to differ that someone else’s size doesn’t affect them. Those are only two frivolous examples. There are broader repercussions for the growing rate of obesity.
I take your point – it’s mostly no one else’s business and being rude to someone due to their size is awful. But I think it’s also not fair to pretend that someone else’s size and state of health doesn’t effect others. Obesity is a huge problem in the U.S. and everyone is and will share in dealing with that problem.
@LB have you ever sat next to a person who hasn’t bathed in a few days,or doesn’t favor deodorant on a flight or train? Yup that offends me too and impacts my day. And happens more often than I would like. Really I could think of a million things that people of ALL sizes do that affect me. So really we could go back and forth about how others regardless of size impact us and change the narrative in society. But the point isn’t lost on the fact we do notice more often when a heavier person does something but not as likely when someone outside that “group” does. We also are down right nastier to heavier people when they do something to us or to offend us than when a thinner counterpart does. Society has allowed this behavior to go on and flourish . That’s what I’m trying to say.
You know what’s sad , I am thankful everyday Im on the thinner side for the Main reason that I don’t have to deal with ignor*nt/judgemental people deciding whether I’m worthy of life and respect just based on my size but not my person. (And that comment wasn’t aimed at you LB just in general )
Point taken. I have in fact sat next to a person who hasn’t bathed and it sucks. I think we don’t disagree on some level. I do think bigger people are targeted more because it’s more overt than a smelly person, until you get close enough. I am a bigger person so I understand that. But I also think they’re targeted more because obesity is a growing problem that does impact everybody and size is unfortunately one way to to reflect the level of ones health (not always the case, I know but at Tess’s size and what she has said about herself in the past – lack of exercise, poor diet, I think it’s fairly obvious she isn’t healthy).
I can’t pretend that the level of obesity in this country isn’t alarming. I myself am technically obese (according to BMI) and some would look at me and call me overweight. I am also in good health and fairly active. So I could never say that being obese automatically means a person is unhealthy, though I do know people do that. But there are a growing number of obese people in this country who are unhealthy. A great majority are, given that they exhibit related conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. There are significant related statistics supporting that. That’s not ok. I know that’s going to offend people but it’s not ok. We all end up sharing in the burden of addressing that problem.
Being rude is not a way to address it but neither is pretending it doesn’t affect others.
“What I don’t understand is why people are so worried and offended by someone else’s size?”
This completely.
Society is so overly invested in women’s bodies, whether they’re perceived to be “too thin” or “too fat”.
@LB We do see eye to eye on many things and I have enjoyed seeing your point of view! Difference of opinion helps the world go round 😊 And I agree that obesity is a huge problem , and one we should all be working on. I won’t ever disagree with that. But I think society needs to open their eyes and not just pick on a group we view as undesirable.
For example cancer and heart disease are very close in the numbers they effect- Cancer is the 2nd leading cause of death in America . The public is spending almost as much on cancer as they are on heart disease ( which is incorrectly seen as just a fat persons problem) yet you don’t hear the out cry about that. You only hear the out cry about diseases that people associate with heavier people or diseases the undesirable get. Technically anyone with a chronic condition in this country is a “burden” on healthcare in which we all pay and most chronic conditions aren’t just caused by obesity. (Like my mentioned chronic heart condition) Correlation does not equal causation. Out of the 10 leading causes of death (CDC) about four of them could be closely related to obesity, one or two others are still very debatable. But yet we are only taught that overweight people are the problem. Are overweight people costing society money? Of course but so are multiple other groups when you look Into the numbers. I don’t condone obesity at all , I just wish more people would look at the bigger picture and what is pushed on us as a society including the idea of beauty.
The point I was really trying to make originally is we see heavier people as the enemy and that’s insane. We see them as a group who is a burden and undesirable and anytime one of the “dares” to go against that narrative they are shunned and attacked. People are Allowed to feel good about themselves even if they are “fat”.
The argument that obesity can be healthy is so mind boggling and I don’t understand why people find it necessary to staunchly defend it. Both of my parents are overweight and I worry about them constantly. My dad is one of the people who has a lot of health complications as a result, and my mother fits the bill of the “other kind” of overweight person because she has less complications. I am extremely sensitive to the struggle that goes along with being overweight. I don’t care what they look like, I just want to them to be around for as long as possible and in the best health they can be in. I like that you mentioned that heart disease is the #1 killer and obesity doesn’t always have a role in that because I’ve lost both thin and overweight relatives to heart disease. The majority of my family has lived an unhealthy lifestyle that has involved smoking, alcoholism, no exercise, and terrible diets. The point behind all of this should be that we as a society should promote a HEALTHY lifestyle. No one here is defending an unhealthy lifestyle for thin people, and I don’t think anyone should be defending an unhealthy lifestyle by promoting obesity either.
Look at NYC, for example. Big gulps are no longer sold by 7-11’s because sugary drinks can lead to obesity and diabetes. Smoking is banned from all in door bars and restaurants and other places that used to allow it. Trans fat is banned, fast food places are now forced to put calories on the menu, and now there is a push for sodium content to be listed as well. THIS is example of a POSITIVE movement. The United States is unique in its status of having the most obese people in the world. Do we really want to promote this? I can’t think of the country at the moment, but somewhere in Europe people don’t drive cars at all on weekends. In Amsterdam the majority of the population chooses to ride bikes. WE CAN LIVE A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE. It is just idiotic to promote obesity or ANY other unhealthy lifestyle just so that people can feel good about themselves. I see a comment here says something unnecessarily cruel about overweight people smelling bad, and while there is no need to be harsh or cruel, there is absolutely nothing wrong with saying, “you shouldn’t feel good about choosing to live a crappy lifestyle and not taking care of yourself” and that goes for a thin person OR an obese one.
It’s just so funny to me that people are so adamant about defending this idea. Would you defend it if there was some huge movement promoting heroin or something? Unhealthy is unhealthy, whether a person is thin or obese the results are still the same. If you don’t think people have a right to be against the idea that a person would be content to wallow in their unhealthiness, do you also think we should remove the age ban on cigarettes and just let everyone smoke? It is the same thing. I believe in “live and let live” as well, but there are limits and sometimes people need an intervention. Quality of life should be paramount, not “let’s be sensitive to everyone’s feelings!”
It’s effecting your bank account in the way of higher insurance premiums for one. This woman is morbidly obese. She is death fat. If she weighed 60 lbs we would be freaking out about dangerous it was and what a bad example it sets. She’s fat, she’s rude, and she’s not a good example of anything except how the entire American public is now consumed with fatlogic. Obesity is something that leads to and exacerbates many illnesses. That’s a fact. It’s harder to do surgeries, or even basic procedures on fat people. Why? Because our bodies weren’t meant to get that fat, and our circulatory systems can’t keep up. This causes issues with healing among other things. Obesity is a major public health issue. We need to stop worrying about feelings and worry about health.
@michelle I don’t think people are defending obesity, no one would tell someone to be obese or unhealthy. They -including myself, are defending the right for people to be ok with their body regardless of size. They are also calling out the double standard there is in society. Most of what I have pointed out in my previous comments. Plain and simple No one should h*te themselves based on how they look. There is nothing wrong with that message. They aren’t one in the same. just because you’re ok with how you look doesn’t mean you are ok with being unhealthy. And let’s be honest Most people hide behind false concern for someone’s health just so they can comment on someone’s weight , when in reality they don’t really care, they are just offended by someone’s size and what they deem unattractive. And if we are being honest I have seen more disgust for a fat person than I have ever seen for a drug addict , alcoholic , smoker or someone with an eating disorder. All of those are seen with some sort of compassion.
@joy her size isn’t the only thing impacting mine or your insurance premiums, I hope you know. I also don’t think treating someone like a human being is worrying about hurting someone’s feelings. A stranger calling someone fat isn’t going to give someone who is already overweight or obese some sort of wake up call. If anything it’s going to do the opposite. That’s why shaming doesn’t work.
Thank you Kitten,
There is a very intense intersection of women’s bodies, health, food, sexuality, manners, victimization, exploitation at work here. Any one living in a woman’s body can relate to the feeling you are open to the world’s over investment in the exact dimensions/colour of every body part.
@Tifygodess – your comments are thoughtful and lovely. Thank you for posting them.
@Tifygodess Yes times a million to everything you’ve said.
@Michelle and others on this thread more generally, I’m not trying to be snarky but I’m genuinely wondering how many people commenting here who have gone down the ‘health is more important than feelings’ route are actually doing something about it?
Repeatedly saying that obesity is not healthy does not contribute to better national health. Harassing people and telling them their lifestyle is unhealthy doesn’t help. It strikes me that if you aren’t contributing anything positive to peoples’ weight loss – like providing professional nutritional or fitness advice (particularly to those with limited resources) – the very least you can do is care about their feelings.
So much yes to your comments, Gretchen.
Gretchen: Part of the problem is that all the “give them the resources to be healthier” doesn’t seem to be working. More and more people in the public health sector are proposing that stronger (basically, more coercive) measures are going to have to happen at some point.
There are a lot of things that the government could do to increase healthy eating. The biggest one would be the elimination of subsidies that skew our food economy towards making healthier foods more expensive.
However, the subsidies largely impact the poorest people the most. The problem is that obesity is rising across ALL demographic groups – upper class (though not as quickly), middle class, etc. Those groups can’t blame the subsidies as much.
Now there are a lot more health professionals who are calling for things like “vice taxes” on high fat, sugary or otherwise unhealthy foods. Another idea being floated is the restriction of things like food stamps to be limited to healthy approved foods. Then there’s proposals like permitting weight to determine your insurance premiums (that’s not nearly as popular but it’s probably coming somewhere down the line) or even authorizing doctors to withhold care from those who refuse to lose weight under standards of “patient non-compliance.” One thing that is already being floated, although its legally ambiguous, is to permit open discrimination against the overweight in hiring, particularly in medical settings. For example, there are a few hospitals that already refuse to hire healthcare workers who are visibly obese because they say they set a bad example for the patients. That’s something that some people favor being expanded (I don’t, fwiw).
The government has been trying for a long time to try to use measures that are merely “encouraging” or “gentle persuasion.” We’re reaching the point where some people are starting to encourage more aggressive and coercive measures because the obesity rates just keep rising. I’m not sure how I feel about them all personally, but that is probably where we’re headed.
@Sam, I certainly agree that it is a tricky subject that spans socio economic issues. Personally I’m against all paternalistic measures like the higher taxation of fatty foods or the limitation of food stamps to the purchasing of foods that fit government set criteria. These sort of solutions don’t offer something better, they just prohibit or limit the worst choices. I’m not a public health expert but two things I personally would like to see is better regulations on food produce (with for example strict limits on the amounts of fillers and chemicals companies can use in food) and better nutritional education in schools. As for sanctioned employment discrimination, that sounds like an awful idea, I’m concerned that government solutions often seem to involve punitive elements… is it because they’re cheaper to implement?
I understand the frustration, but if the resources being given aren’t working then they are the wrong resources. Obviously there are changes that can be made to improve this health crisis, and clearly it’s going to take time to get there, I just hope that the journey is undertaken with compassion.
I’m pretty sure she’s quite aware that she’s in a weight range that’s likely to lead to health problems. She’s probably had total strangers yell it out to her in the street! And even if she wasn’t aware, why is this “offensive”? “Offensive” to who?
This may be exactly why she has developed a prickly personality, as a mechanism to defend herself against relatives, friends and complete strangers who see fit to tell her how they feel about her body!
Most of us deal with some kind of demon in our lives — something we wish we could change, but can’t. Maybe it’s addiction, an illness, or an eating disorder. I think that if we are lucky, our demon will not be the first thing anyone sees about us. Overweight people (and people with visible disabilities and illnesses) aren’t so lucky in that respect.
And who doesn’t have unhealthy aspects to their lives, things that can lead toward illness? I know I do, and I don’t expect people to judge me for them.
Tifygodess.I like your post.As a formally obese person I got all kinds of verbal abuse and bullied to death as a child because of it.I was sducidal at twelve.How sad is that?I was also a functioning addict as a adult to cope with all the b.s.I am 51 now and back in the day you had to be blonde,petite,and thin.I was tall,dark,and overweight.Heaven forbid I had a say or opinion about anything.This just didn’t apply to kid’s but teacher’s also.When you are overweight(i hate the word fat)you might as well not exist.Perfect strangers will come up to you and make hurtful comment’s to your face like you don’t have feeling’s at all.I like this site but I am getting tired of all the P.C. comments on here.And yes I think I have the right to say that because I have had every kind of prejudice thrown my way and lived through it.
@petee I’m sorry for what you have gone through and that’s exactly why I speak up. It’s not ok to attack someone or treat them less than because of their size. I am also disappointed in many of the comments on this article. Many have no idea the reason they feel the way they do is because they are conditioned to feel so. Also people h*te what they don’t understand or fear of becoming – which is a big reason. We have one standard of beauty and thats not acceptable. No one is promoting others to be unhealthy. They are promoting tolerance and compassion and that we all don’t have to look the same. We don’t accept people judging people based on sex or race yet we have no problem doing it on size.
Nice reply Tifygodess.I couldn’t agree more.We need more people like you in this world.Smart and compassionate.
Yes, Tifygodess!
Being morbidly obese and being seriously underweight are both unhealthy. And it’s ok to point that out. But to use offensive language about the person or imply that the person should be blamed / shamed is not acceptable.
@Gretchen – Snark away, Gretchen. I don’t mind, but I have to ask with all due respect, are you kidding me? What am I doing to make the people around me healthier? Let’s get real for a moment. It is NOT society’s job to make Tess want to take better care of herself, and even so there are lots of places in the United States making an enormous effort to push people to take better care of themselves, whether it is because they can’t or choose not to. Michelle Obama’s entire time as First Lady has seen her promote ending obesity and advocating a healthier lifestyle. Places like NYC have actually mandated certain sized drinks are banned, smoking is banned for nearly all public places, calorie counts are now listed on restaurant/fast food chain menus, and there is a push for sodium levels to be listed as well. What more would you like for society to do? Physically move Tess and call it a work out? There are people in this world who are starving because they can’t afford food at all, and others who are unhealthy/overweight/even obese because they’re poverty stricken and make poor choices at the food store by buying more processed foods to get as much “bang for their buck” as they can. Tess is NEITHER of these things, has the means and resources to know better and do better and CHOOSES not to. Let’s not pretend she is a victim of circumstances. Tess is blatantly promoting obesity as a lifestyle that should be accepted, and I’m sorry, but it should not. This does not mean I have any sort of resentment toward obese people or Tess and I am glad that she doesn’t hate herself, but this doesn’t mean we should take an attitude of “who cares?” when we all know how unhealthy this kind of lifestyle is. Would you advocate this hard for a drug addict?
I’m not being insensitive at all to Tess’ feelings. I want everyone to love themselves—I just want them to do it while they live a healthier lifestyle that doesn’t involve angrily telling people that society needs to accept obese people because it’s their choice to be that way. Health issues are no joke and I see the consequences of them on a daily basis at work, so nothing is going to change my view on that. As far as my “contribution” to helping obese people live a healthier lifestyle—I’m a Registered Nurse, and I advise patients on a daily basis on how to live a healthier lifestyle and take better care of themselves. I’ve also dealt first hand with the aftermath of living this kind of lifestyle while caring for people’s wounds, such as amputated toes and limbs, or other wounds that won’t heal due to complications of type II diabetes and other obesity-related complications. What do YOU contribute other than apparently being an enabler?
her comment seemed pretty self-explanatory, even in her follow-up explanation. however, regardless of whether the cat calling was positive or negative, it doesn’t mean she can’t be offended.
So she feels flattered because of cat calls? Ugh. I find cat calling offensive, no matter what color the cat caller is. Nobody asked for their opinion!
Exactly. It’s like she needs other people’s opinions, no matter how, to feel worthy.
I don’t think she’s all that attractive to be honest. To me, it seems like she’s a caricature, like we’ve gone the other way completely. I like companies that show diverse bodies but this seems too much like they’ve found the most ridiculous opposite to skinny models they could find.
I just can’t get behind this whole “body positive” thing – if that’s what it’s called. I consider it a body negative to be that big. If you want to feel better about yourself, get healthy. Don’t act like being fat (or in her case, obese) is only shamed for the aesthetics of it. I personally don’t judge friends who are bigger than me, but it isn’t as if I’m going to pretend they should be happy about it either (I say nothing, positive or negative).
I really can’t see what’s positive about being that big. When you’re to the point where it’s difficult to move, it’s a serious problem.
Although she does make a good point about skinny models smoking. That’s not healthy either, although I don’t think anyone claims it is.
I agree. I used to be more demanding that everyone accept every body size, but then I lost a bunch of weight. That was a turning point because I didn’t realize how unhealthy I’d become.
I think the skinny ideal is ridiculous and stupid, and the healthy weight range is actually quite large for any given height, but this nonsense of “it’s okay to be ridiculously fat” has got to stop. It’s not okay. I don’t judge other people and I certainly don’t offer my opinion unasked, but I’m not going to smile and agree that morbidly obese is acceptable.
From where I stand this is a mutilated hurt human body which is sad and nothing nice to look at even less to try and promote.
“The team included two talented black women”. Please, tell me she didn’t say that. Whenever I hear something like that, I don’t know if I laugh or cry.
Now, she has a point about no one coming for celebrities for smoking/drinking.
No, she doesn’t because I don’t see those celebrities on the magazine covers with a cigarette in mouth or bottle in hand nor does my child. But she is right up there promoting her obesity.
I cringed at that line also. Even if she hadn’t said anything wrong (she clearly doesn’t realize that stereotyping is a form of racism) you ALWAYS SOUND WORSE when you say stuff like this. It’s like “Oh I can make a joke about asian people because my asian friend laughed and thought it was hilarious therefore it won’t be offensive to any asian person because they have a hive-mind”.
I think she’s pulling a little “Kim K” with her size. I was a 22 right after I had my baby and I looked nothing like that. There is a lot of excess in her hips and belly, much more than a size 22.
Maybe she’s short? I’m 5’9″. I just think it’s funny that no matter what size a woman is she still claims to be smaller!
Yes she’s short. I’m five 9 too. I used to be 160 lb and looked very fit, skinny arms no gut (I’ve had kids and am currently pregnant so not sure I’ll even look like that again) compare that to Amy shumer who says she’s 160 lb (recently, as a joke I guess ) but definitely looks chubby- arms torso and face are fleshy on her.
160 looks pretty awesome on a 5’9″ frame! I would love to get back there. Still battling the baby weight, which doesn’t want to move since I’m still nursing my 11 month old.
Slow but steady and I’m down to 230 which puts me in a size 18.
I am 5’9 and 164 and wear a size 8.Alot depend’s on how tall you are and your built.
PATRICIA I am skeptical too. That’s a size 22? Really?
She’s listed at 5’5″. I’m sorry, I don’t think she’s size 22 at that height, she looks bigger. I’m 5’7″, and at one point was a size 20, and didn’t even look close to that. I have a close friend who is about her size in both height and weight, and is a size 26-28.
@Izzy – yeah, unfortunately even though Tess is trying to make herself out to be the voice of obese women, she is not as confident as she would like to claim she is and lies about her size. One of my closest friends is smaller than Tess, also 5’5 and after losing weight as a result of getting a lap band, she is currently a size 24. I don’t know how to gauge what size Tess might be, but I would guess a lot bigger than a 24.
I read somewhere that she models for Torrid, a plus size store, and supposedly doesn’t fit in the sizes that they carry so they have to custom make her clothing to model. I’m just saying, if you’re going to put yourself out there that society should accept you, shouldn’t you accept yourself as well? Why lie?
Interesting bit about the custom clothes for Torrid.
Kudos to your friend for doing the surgery. I actually looked into it (and the gastric bypass), and in the end, would have needed a medical override to have the surgery because I wasn’t heavy enough. Now I’m losing the weight by modifying my eating habits and getting more exercise, which is recommended with the surgery regardless. Weight loss is a tough battle no matter what tools you use.
I understand why she comes off as abrasive. I’ve been heavy all my life and I get defensive if someone comments about it. We fat people know we’re fat. You reminding us doesn’t change anything. But it’s definitely not something I am proud of nor is it something I want to flaunt. I’m just trying not to hate myself.
Thanks IMO I’m been doing pretty good.
I have been there.I know how you feel.Love yourself no matter what Mirandaash.
Yeah, I bet you get pretty cranky having to defend yourself as a model all the time. It’s like, her second job.
I just think everybody in society should be able to see themselves reflected in a model. All body types.
So whats wrong with that… so basically its forbidden to mention race in any context at all or to say x likes/dislikes or does this or that– ie, a generalization, however non-seriously it is meant- ? Do i get that right? I’d say arab men love me cos they really do, but I dont see whats wrong with saying it because its just true.
Actually she sounds like your typical girlfriend with somewhat lower self esteem saying “well at least construction workers will always whistle at me/ I can turn heads by visiting prisoners”.
No offense to construction workers. And prisoners.
Oh on the whole body size thing– if shes happy, it doesnt matter. No one has a right to judge for any reason, whether cloaked behind “health concerns” or any other reason to dish out the judgement.
But you know what? Maybe Arab men don’t prefer you or your specific appearance particularly, they (or many of them) just have a way of expressing interest (to any woman they choose) which is more noticeable than that of any other culture of men you’ve lived around. Same goes for Tess, maybe only black men are the only men who whistle at her. But maybe they (well obviously not all black men) don’t mean much by the whistling and in fact whistle at 99% of (hopefully age appropriate) women. I found her comment abrasive and presumptuous.
soooooooooo…when is her 15 minutes going to be over?
When younger I got more attention from black men than my girlfriends did. I am native but I lived off rez and most of my friends were white. I once had a black man tell me it was because I had a tiny waist and a big butt. I also had a white guy tell me my butt was too big. That was just a couple of guys saying that so not true for all of either race but I did notice that black guys liked me. Is that racist?
It’s not a pleasant thing to say, even if you’re pretty sure you’re not imagining it. I think these days white guys may be open to the big butt look too (I’m the same- and I think around the world many people like the small waist look instead of straight, but straight is ok too!). Anyway you know your asset, flatter it, choose the best mate you can, but no need to go around saying “black guys like me” it just doesn’t sound nice or thoughtful. It even sounds kind of uneducated and low-classy. But if you also find black men to be the most attractive its not “racist” to try to meet them in particular, on online dating or however you do it.
PLENTY of white guys like curvy women with larger derrières. Trust me.
Again, I think it just depends on the guy. I get that it’s tempting to make generalizations but one man’s standard of beauty is so incredibly subjective.
Big butts didn’t used to be as universally popular as they seem to be now. When I was a kid, I’d get catcalls from white guys about my big chest, and the occasional nasty comment from them about my “big ass”, and catcalls from black and Latino guys about said big ass as a good thing. As a general rule/generalization – I do know a few white guys who liked big butts all along, ha ha. Not a bit overweight at the time (could lose a few pounds now, though.)
Edited to add: It’s not like it was EVERY Hispanic or black guy would make a positive comment about my butt, or EVERY white guy about my chest obviously, but the catcall content (ha ha) definitely fell along cultural lines for the most part.
I’ve been following Tess on instagram for years now, before her recent blow up in fame. I wouldn’t call myself a fangirl or anything, I just think she’s very pretty and for the most part has a good attitude. Based on how she depicts herself on instagram, I’ve never really found her to be as catty as this Guardian piece as made her out to be. She has, however, been called out for blatantly photoshopping instagram pics, and there’s no way she’s a size 22. I’m a 24 and I’m significantly smaller than her. Even my husband calls BS on her being a 22. If you’re confident in your size why lie about it? Seems odd.
The whole body positive movement is a great idea, but unfortunately, I think most people supporting it come off as a bit abrasive. In an attempt to defend themselves they usually end up attacking thin people, which is a bit hypocritical. I think everyone should love their body, regardless of size. How can you expect to improve yourself (lose weight, change your mood, etc.) if you don’t start by just loving yourself where you’re at, right now?
What bothers me most though is seeing how people respond to seeing a plus size woman exude confidence. People are so quick to tear her down. None of us know Tess’ health situation, or anyone’s health situation for that matter. It’s irresponsible to assume that people who are overweight are that way because they’re lazy or eat donuts for every meal.
I could go on and on, but plus size women get such a bad rap. If we’re not acting silly and being comic relief, then we’re being bitchy and unattractive.
In regards to what she said, honestly, I can understand and relate. I only get cat-called by black men—granted, I live in the South in a predominant black neighborhood, but I have never been cat-called by a man of any other race. It’s just a fact. I also know how frustrating it is to be cat-called, we don’t know what exactly the man said. If it’s anything like what’s yelled at me on a regular basis I can understand her frustration and why she might have said what she said.
It did surprise me she photoshops the cellulite out when she’s so loud about acceptance.
She doesn’t photoshop the cellulite out of the photos, the photographer or retoucher does it. I’ve dabbled in a bit of freelance modelling and I can tell you with confidence that absolutely EVERYONE will do post-production aka photoshop on their photos of some kind. Tess has nothing to do with that, she goes in, does her job and what’s done with the photo after that is entirely up to the photographer. But people don’t realize that and blame her for it. It’s how the industry works.
Yea, I’m not saying she photoshops images from her photoshoots. Everyone knows those are heavily edited. These were selfies where she had used the smudge tool to tighten her waist, a la Kim K.
I’m a graphic designer by trade, so I’m very much aware of all the photoshopping that goes into magazines and other marketing materials, but why photoshop selfies that you’ve taken with your iPhone?
I am going to say something definetly not nice: this girl is not plus size, is not “overweight” , this girl is obese, and even if she has a beautiful face I think promoting an unhealthy lifestile is wrong.
She has a serious condition she is not a “different kind of beauty”.
If a person with aids takes a picture and says love yourself no matter what is he/she promoting aids? I’m sorry if I sound rude I’m just trying to understand what people mean when they say she’s promoting obesity
Sizes vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and a size 2 today was formerly a size 10 – thanks to vanity sizing, so a celeb describing themselves in terms of a size is not particularly helpful. If she described herself in universal terms like I’m 5’2 and weigh 250 that would be more meaningful.
If she’s a size 22, I’m Prince George.
It’s not her size that I’m objecting to, it’s that she’s clearly obese and she still lies about her weight. If you’re going to make your name as a plus size model, embrace your size, don’t lie about it.
She looks like a 28 or a 30.
At the very least. I’d say size 32 or bigger
There is also no way she’s only 280. Her arms and lower body are very big. I’m against the pro-obesity movement, just like I’m against all pro-anorexia movements, but I find it especially disturbing that this woman calls herself an advocate and seems to be lying about the size she wears and her weight.
Huge eye roll for all the arm chair doctors that clutch their pearls in the name of “health”.
This ^^^ !
She’s very very morbidly obese. It doesn’t take a genius.
Thanks. I’m in health care and I can see that that’s where she falls on the BMI scale.
I just don’t believe that people genuinely care about stranger’s health, just their weight.
Krista, you’re right. Most of us here care more about our own weight than hers. But we also care more about our own family than the Duggars. So why the comments and outrage? Because hypocrisy and lies.
Let’s not call this particular moment a “body positive” moment. It’s not. Body positive is about de-normalizing “thin” as the only acceptable standard so women and girls everywhere stop starving themselves to achieve an unattainable goal.
Tess Holliday is obese. Morbidly obese. And promoting that kind of lifestyle, and her unhealthy eating habits, as “positive” just isn’t helpful. And this is coming from someone who recently embarked on a change of those habits and knows how hard it can be. We should NOT be “normalizing” and “making positive” the bad habits that can lead to serious health issues. Period.
I agree – unless a concern troll is nagging everyone about their poor health choices, they’re just criticizing her because she’s big and in their eyes (and mine, honestly) she’s unattractive aesthetically. I never see concern trolls grilling women of childbearing age if they’re taking prenatal vitamins in case they get pregnant, or finger-wagging people at a barbecue for consuming carcinogens, or asking thin people if they exercise regularly. Or slamming smokers.
Actually I know plenty of smokers/ex-smokers who are/were regularly shamed. And pregnant women who have been grilled/shamed about their pre-natal health habits. I truly think appearance isn’t the only reason people are concerned about obesity.
That isn’t what I was saying. I think plenty of people ARE concerned about obesity’s health effects and about keeping the population healthy in general, but that there are a lot of people who really are only bothered by how it looks – people who don’t care at all about smoking, prenatal care or other behavior. They just don’t like the looks of fat people.
The modelling world is ridiculous. Nothing against really thin women and really big women, but where are the in between sizes that represent MOST women. I’m talking about the average sized woman who is generally between a size 10 and 14? We are inundated with size 0-4 women in the media so it’s nice to see a few plus sized models such as this woman who is a size 22, but none of these models represent most of the women I know. From a personal perspective I would like to see more celebrities and models with my body type (which I guess is closer to Mindy Kaling’s, petite with some meat on her bones).
It sounds like you’re pining for some neorealism. You’re not going get that in the mainstream media. Plus why do you need someone to represent you in the media? Represent yourself.
The beauty standards, especially in this country, are screwy.
What I find grotesque are girls layered in make-up, filtered and shopped beyond any semblance of their typical human appearance, baring all for anyone to see on the Internet. Size regardless.
But, people have the right to dress, act and paint themselves however they like. I like that Tess is unapologetic about her appearance.
However, it doesn’t look healthy or attractive to me.
I think this is definitely a step in the right direction!! I’m tired of seeing baby steps in increasing the size of models. Size 12,14 etc Let’s make a statement and size 22 definitely does that. As for her attitude, I don’t believe it has anything to do with her size or insecurity about size. Look at Naomi Campbell, she’s got a BIG attitude. Does anyone believe that has anything to do her size?
Black men are just like men of any other culture. Some like slim women, some like curvier women, some like plus sized women. It’s not as if they all want the same exact type of woman.
1). Chick is not a size 22. I currently wear a loose 16 and there is NO way she is anywhere near my size or within even ten sizes.
2) Beauty standards and morbid obesity are two entirely different things. She looks sick and unhappy. She can claim to be happy about her size all she wants. Deep down, that isn’t the truth. The truth is that is that she has an unhealthy relationship with food and cannot control her eating or weight. If you have ever been obese (like I am now), you would know it is very uncomfortable and difficult to breathe and move, etc.
Good for her for pursuing her dream. I love models who represent reality. Too bad about the PC freakout. I think she’s pretty accurate, people are judging her visible vice. Generally, open bullying of fat people is not yet covered by the PC movement. And of course she’s defensive. She’s always under attack for being fat. I respect her moxie.
She doesn’t represent reality, at least I hope not. She reminds me of black women who proudly state that they are “thick” but are just fat and lazy. Their upper arms are bigger than my thighs put together but no one can tell them they don’t have it going on. Mo’Nique said skinny women were evil but when she lost weight she was loving it. Jennifer “I love my jelly” Hudson sat in Weight Watchers meetings every day and the nasty woman from “The View” trashed average size women like they were, well, trash. All while undergoing surgery to lose weight. If this woman had the willpower to lose weight she would. In the meantime she’ll smile and people will make excuses for her.
WHY do we live in a society where everyone thinks that they need a trophy or special treatment? The rest of society has accepted that generally, models are thin. In some cases, they’re too thin. WHO CARES?! The average person doesn’t look like a model. Almost everyone on the planet has been called fat, ugly, too skinny, stupid, etc. This is life. Get over it. Do people really walk around feeling envious of everyone around them? WHY should it affect anyone’s life so deeply if runway models are so thin? This is just like all the brainless college kids who protested on Wall Street because they can’t accept that some people are millionaires and they aren’t (this does not reflect my opinion of what inspired that movement, I’m only saying that a lot of college kids had no idea what they were doing there and were looking for a handout). Not everyone is a model.
I was a fat kid and I got called names sometimes. I’m no longer overweight at all but only because I work out, and I remember distinctly that I was absolutely out of shape as a kid and that is nothing to praise or ask people to accept as normal! I’m an ethnic-looking Italian woman. Literally no celebrities in the US look like me. I don’t want to curl up in a ball and cry over this. It is really like the people who are so behind this movement need to read a Dr. Seuss book about how people come in all shapes and sizes. Get the fuck over it.
The most IRONIC part of this whole “obesity acceptance movement” is that these are people who are saying that they need to be not only accepted, but praised, yet they want to tear down thin people in the process. The goal should be to just accept that other people are different from you and learn to love yourself even if no one else looks like you, not “I need to be accepted and praised by society or I’ll see myself as having no worth.” It is pathetic and stupid.
I LOVE YOU VOICE OF REASON AND SANITY!!!!
LOL yeah she’s a size 22, and I’m the Queen of England.
I’d be curious to know what here blood pressure , cholesterol, etc. are. I don’t see a healthy “plus size” model here. But whatever. Self love and all that.
not only is she morbidly obese, she’s obnoxious too. This woman is HUGE.
For someone who claims #effyourbeautystandards, she sure adheres to the beauty standards of tons of makeup, cinching herself into corsets, and Photoshop. I support body confidence in a wide range of healthy bodies, but promoting this kind of obesity is ridiculous. Obese isn’t a pejorative term, it’s a medical standard.
THANK YOU! This has always confused me! WHY is it called “Eff your beauty standards” when that hashtag is always used on photos that conform to every single beauty standard except for one (body size). To me ‘eff your beauty standards’ would mean having natural hair colour, hardly any makeup (or none at all), comfy shoes, etc. Instead it’s highly processed/styled hair, tons of makeup, heels, waist cinchers. So really it’s promoting that we don’t get rid of rigid beauty standards…just that we add larger frames to the acceptable standard. I’d rather just get rid of having a narrow standard to begin with!
I’m a food addict. Not an alcoholic or drug addict. Unfortunately, I can’t stop eating – I’d die. Finding that balance and working through binge eating issues is hard enough without telling me I’m fat or ugly or pathetic. I’m 5 ft 7 and 230 pounds. I’ve lost and gained consistently over the years. I’m a single mother with a small child who can’t be left alone while I work out and a tight budget that can’t afford a gym with daycare. I do what I can and try to make healthy food choices. At the end of the day I’m the only one that can help me, but instead of hearing about how people are concerned for my health, or how gross I am – it would be nice if someone would just say “it’s hard, great job” and not be an jerk to me at the gym because Lulu doesn’t make workout clothes in my size but Pilates is my favorite – and you don’t wear sweats and loose tshirts…
bodyrock.tv and hulu have yoga videos and other work out videos. I have two young sons and don’t pay for a gym either so I either go to those, or google workout videos and do it at home. The added bonus is I can look like hell and not worry about being judged at a gym.
Check the Fitnessblender interval workout videos on Youtube. Top notch training with absolutely no pretensions. And stop it with the self-namecalling.
EDA: this is for Sunny, and I posted before right meow (hehe).
Thanks for the suggestions ladies – will check those out. I try to take an ocassion class to ensure my form is correct – injuries won’t help. Fortunately my daughter likes to walk – great exercise for your bones.
My best friend is a single mother on a very tight budget who also has no living relatives thus no help but from friends. She does Pilates at home while the little one has a nap or when goes to sleep in the evening. She can’t buy fruits and veggies for him only but she finishes his, switched to cooking nice soups witn whatever is in the fridge and they turn yummy and light but nutritious, and does not buy junk. Ever. She is in great shape despite the exhaustion and sorry, but there is no excuse if you want to exercise. From the very beginning she said she was happy that Pilates let her exercise wirh no need of equipment (she does some ballerina’s Pilates and it takes nothing but shorts or leggings).
Please don’t say “there’s no excuse.” Some people are better at juggling than others, and some find it easier to grab a little of that “me” time needed to do things like exercise consistently. Being a working single mom isn’t an excuse, it’s reality, and I can’t imagine how hard it must be. Your friend was able to? Great for her, she’s super-mom, and you just used her to put someone else down.
In my case, I was helping to care for a parent who was dying. That took four years. I was always exhausted and my immune system was shot, so exercise took a back seat to just trying to not stay sick. Go ahead, call that an excuse too. But I don’t know ANYONE who ever said “oh goody, my parent is sick and it’s a long downward spiral and it’s sucking the life out of me too, guess this calls for a donut!”
Good for your friend, but there’s no need to be so rude.
Hi Sunny,
I am not overweight, but I hate how people are always harping that it’s SOOO easy to fit in working out when you’re a parent. No, no it’s not easy. It’s 1:00 am right now. The kids/baby have been asleep for hours. Why am I up? Because I’m pumping my breasts and this is the ONLY time I have to do it (I do it early in the morning as well). It really, really irks me how so many people are quick to jump all over you and shame you for not simply using the free exercise videos on youtube. Yeah, there’s great videos on there…but you know what? THey don’t know how hard your life is and how pressed for time you truly are. And yeah sometimes when I DO Have time, I want to sit down with my coffee and read celebitchy and you know HAVE SOME RELAXATION>
From tired mom lol
As someone who’s beaten drug addiction I hope you’re as accepting and encouraging of the addicts you come across as you expect people to be of you. Maybe you are, but in my expericnce people are FAR FAR more judgemental about that.
In order to be labelled a “super model” doesn’t everyone need to know your name? I don’t think she’s a household name yet. Now a days everyone is a frickin “super model”. I think it’s good we are seeing women who aren’t stick thin, but this is now too much of the other extreme. This body type is not healthy either.
Yep. You’re absolutely right. There are totally rules about who can be called a super model. Super good catch!
It’s kind of like everyone who’s been in a porn film is a porn star I guess.
Ugh. She makes me miss Amy Schumer… or even Rebel Wilson. Both non thin white girls with actual TALENT. (Amy Schumer more so).
If she were really accepting about her morbid obesity, she wouldn’t lie about her size and she would criticize the photoshopping of her modelling photos. She’s not a role model for anybody, either for her size or for her attitude. She needs to go away.
How can she be a “model” when she’s only 5’5″ ? Also, what companies is she modeling for? Her size clothing is not standard in any country is it? Lastly, the comment about African American males…she said she “forgets” they like her until she goes to a “black neighborhood” and is reminded. Just wondering where does she live where she doesn’t see any black men on a daily basis? Or is she trying to say only black men that live in black neighborhoods like her? Either way, this girl does not come off as very likable. Also, her body type is not healthy…not for anyone.
You know what’s affecting health cares costs WAY more than obesity? Prescription drugs and medical malpractice liability. We don’t see this level of public investment or outrage at people who sue hospitals, but when it’s a woman’s body being discussed, everyone gets up on a soapbox.
Fine, let’s talk about male obesity exclusively then.
@Kitten, To add and clarify, I don’t take issue with what the content of what you wrote, but the way you argue is throwing a lot of straw men out there. Like an above poster noticed, too.
Ugh. First of all, I’m not “arguing”. Arguing would be saying that I disagree with the majority of commenters here saying that obesity is unhealthy. I’m saying none of that. What I disagree with is thread after thread of people dissecting women’s bodies and their personal perceptions about how healthy a woman is.
If it seems like I’m going off-track it’s because I’m purposefully NOT engaging in all the concern-trolling of this woman because her weight is not my business. It’s her f*cking body, her health, and her life. So yeah, for the sake of consistency and because I’m not a hypocrite, I’m not going to go there. If that seems “straw man” to you, so be it.
I used “argue” as in “building an argument” not “fighting”. A “straw man argument” refers to a fallacy where one counteracts a proposition by replacing the initial premise with another. You’ve done so with the talk about malpractice insurance or the exegesis on female bodies. That’s what I proposed to talk about male obesity, if you think it’s more acceptable.
This woman’s health is her business, but I reserve the right to make the health of the nation my business. I’d be an idiot if I didn’t.
Talk about straw man….Why would we suddenly talk about male obesity on a thread that has nothing to do with male obesity?
And it’s worth pointing out that female obesity was also not the subject of this post.
Look, I get that it’s a gossip site and people will talk about a celeb’s appearance but the blog write-up was about this woman’s comments about black men, it wasn’t a post about her weight, yet her body is EXACTLY what almost every commenter chose to focus on.
Also, lecturing and pointing out the perceived unhealthiness and/or obesity of others doesn’t actually do anything to improve our health as a nation. It doesn’t spur people to lose weight and it doesn’t actually lower health care premiums either.
OK, this discussion is really meandering, and I contributed. I brought up the point about male obesity as an illustration of your way of arguing. I for one am fine with talking about that, as an aside. You’re right that most people did not talk about her moronic comments, but about her weight. I like to think that’s because of how conversations self-generate, not because most commenters are spiteful concern-trolling jerks.
I work in urban planning. I recently helped in implementing a project that would create bike lanes on a stretch in the shopping district. There’d be many benefits to having biking lanes, and improving the health of the county’s residents is one. We encountered huge resistance at the research and funding stages. The obesity rate where I live is nearing 37%. I’ve talked a ton about myself, not too off-tangent, I hope, but just to point out that it’s possible to be concerned without being a concern-troll about women bodies and whatnot.
@S-Creating a bike lane is doing something proactive and positive not only for the health of the community but for the “health” of the environment and I have nothing but respect for that. On a personal level, I make it a mission to leave the smallest carbon footprint I can, which means walking 5 miles a day to/from work, sometimes more if I’m going to the gym or running errands.
Not trying to boast or anything just trying to tell you that I hear you. Believe me, I value health too. As I said above, I’m an avid runner and a fitness fanatic.
You’re absolutely correct. Lawsuits and prescription drugs are some of the few reasons healthcare costs are through the roof. You’re wrong in your belief that nobody debates those facts. It doesn’t happen on this forum because this is a celebrity gossip site. Rarely does the opportunity to speak on them arise. Cruise through The Guardian or The New York Times blogs and you’ll encounter an endless debate on the matter.
Tess Holliday means nothing to me. I’m not her target audience nor do I feel as if she’s a threat to my personal health. That being said, people are having strong debates over her and the subject of health because it is the underlying issue, after all. Health care is a hot topic in the United States. People went just as tough on that mom who obsessively worked out. She was covered intensely on this site, a couple years ago. People were equally upset when Adriana Lima spoke the truth on how she prepared for a Victoria Secret runway. I read on this site people that were concerned over Matthew mcconaughey and his extreme diet. I just don’t see how this issue in particular is a man vs woman issue. You have women on this site that are her ethnicity, age, and weight saying that they disagree with her health views.
Fair point. Admittedly, I don’t frequent other sites much but I believe what you’re saying about healthcare being an important topic these days.
It just rankles me that the discussion so consistently boils down to women’s bodies and if we’re fat or skinny or healthy or not. I find it tiresome, repetitive, and frankly, a bit boring.
Maybe I should visit the sites you mention for a more substantial debate 😉
“Maybe I should visit the sites you mention for a more substantial debate”
That’s the most sensible thing you’ve said on this thread.
but the blog write-up was about this woman’s comments about black men, it wasn’t a post about her weight, yet her body is EXACTLY what almost every commenter chose to focus on.
Point taken.
@Mispronounced..whatever-Thank you for your incredibly unsubtle shade. Your contribution to the discussion have been immensely thought-provoking.
Yet you sound provoked.
Thank you, Kitten! I’m reading these comments and feeling pretty sh*tty about the world, frankly.
I have zero tolerance for the discrimination that goes on towards overweight people. She alludes to it in the interview as well and I say it all the time as well. It is FAR more socially acceptable to be an alcoholic, drug addict…pretty much anything. But have an issue with food, where you have to walk around with the evidence on your body for all to see. And people are just so utterly mean and hurtful. Like you said, this post wasn’t even about her weight.
You know what, people. MANY things are unhealthy. Smoking, drinking, drugs, tanning… Should an actor be called into question because they smoke a pack a day? Oh what a terrible role model. Get off your bully, fat-shaming soap boxes. Discrimination by any other name is still discrimination.
@Sticks: More socially acceptable to be a drug addict? What an ignorant comment. “Drug addicts” particularly people who inject drugs are treated as if they’re sub human. They’re also incarcerated for their drug use. I don’t see fat people getting incarcerated being overweight. People who inject drugs are one of the few groups left that bigots can discriminate against with impunity.
She is pretty but definitely comes off as abrasive. Also, I don’t appreciate her comments about people’s vice. They are called vices for a reason, it’s not positive to promote such behavior. Also, I think she probably has more than one chocolate croissant at the end of a day.
This young lady will have lots of followers considering the numerous woman who are struggling with extra weight all over the planet. The world has become a gigantic global freak show.
Damn.
Speaking as a former size 28, now a size 14, being obese is a KILLER.
Next time you are out at the mall, watch the people and try and find an obese person over the age of 60. They are rare, and not because we’ve all lost weight, but because they’ve died of complications due to their obesity.
I am not talking ‘fat’ here, slightly overweight can have benefits, but extreme obsesity is not healthy…ever. People who have convinced themselves that they are still healthy are in deep denial.
I don’t understand all the comments about “its not healthy”. Who cares? Its her life, she is what she is, like her or don’t. She says in her comments, life is hard and this is how she copes. Food is a coping mechanism, just like drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping. You shouldn’t hate on someone because they choose a life style that you deem unhealthy. I would bet that many super models are unhealthy.. Some some, others drugs, others having eating problems. Skinny people drop dead all the time and while weight plays a role in health, it doesn’t necessarily make her unhealthy, just as being thin doesn’t mean you are healthy.
Obviously this is a very touchy subject but my opinion is not that she’s promoting obesity or being unhealthy but that people shouldn’t think about someone as a lesser person because of what they weigh.
So maybe she’s not healthy, what does it matter?
Larger people who aren’t even famous gets hate by random people all the time and why? It’s not like you’re in danger of inhaling passive obesity by someone walking by you.
I think that if she can make young girls who gets mean comments on the internet and other places for weighing “too much” feel better about themselves, that’s great.
I know. I am really blown away by all these people who think they are saving the world by reminding all those fat people how disgusting they are. Yes, I am sure she would be healthier at a lower weight, but it is a complex, difficult thing to struggle with weight, and many, many scientific studies have shown how hormone signals, etc. sabotage weight loss once you are significantly overweight. Does that mean all obese people need to be publicly shamed and mocked for ever thinking they could be attractive to another person or wear trendy clothes? People are really committed to feeling self-righteous. I say this as someone who has been relatively skinny most of my life.
Relatively skinny person here too, but with yoyoing weight since starting college. My body is boxy, I’m short, and I only gain in my stomach. I’ve been called fat once in my entire life, by my overweight father of all people, and it hurt more than anyone every calling my skinny did.
Saying people are unhealthy is one thing, but personally, I’m sure the person in question here already knows. How does being crappy about it help her or others loose weight, because I feel like that just makes them eat more. I’m not Tess’ friend or family member, so she isn’t affecting me. A lot of people here are taking her existence way too personally.
Maybe it’s not about saying, ‘it’s healthy’ or ‘it’s not healthy.’ It’s not about concern-trolling. My health is my business, her health is her business. It’s about being able to see someone’s attractive qualities and appreciate them. Personally, I think she sounds crass and defensive – but who can blame her? Like someone posted earlier, I doubt little girls are going to see pictures of her and strive to be obese. But if circumstances (be it eating too much for comfort reasons, medical issues, whatever) lead to that being an issue for them, they can still feel beautiful. I think that’s valid and important.
I don’t think it’s trolling if anyone comments that tess’s body type is not healthy. Facts are facts. It’s different if they are calling her a “pig” or mean names…but most people here are being respectful. At this point, there shouldn’t be any “comments section” since everyone is too afraid to give their honest opinion as they will only get called a “troll’ for doing so. It’s getting ridiculous.
Oh FFS. I’m not calling anyone specific a “troll.” I’m calling the unnecessary pseudo-concern about her health “concern-trolling.” And it is. Her health is her health, period. I had the same thing going on when I suddenly lost a lot of weight. My health is between me, my doctor and those who are close to me. I don’t need to go around telling someone they’re unhealthy or acting like it’s the worst thing in the world to be unhealthy. It’s her life, it’s her body, period. I’m sure she has access to medical care and google and the general principals of healthy eating, etc. She’s showing that all kinds of people can project their beauty; she hasn’t been nominated for surgeon general for pete’s sake.
This is just a celeb site called “celebitchy”. It’s not worth getting angry over lol. She’s on the cover of a magazine that’s calling her a “super model” so of course people are going to comment…we all have a right to our opinions don’t we? I agree with the majority of people here though, she looks just as unhealthy as someone who is underweight. There is nothing wrong in saying that. None of us know how “healthy” or “unhealthy” she really is, but people do have a right to comment any way they choose (as long as they are being respectful). No one should have an issue with that. Have a nice day.
I have to disagree. I am European, and here the NHS is public, so your health is my business too, because I end up paying. with my taxes, your problems. I want the NHS to stay public, at the same time I have to admit that promoting an un-healthy lifestyle (yes you’re beautiful and confident I am happy for you) on a large scale will become a problem for everyone.
As someone who used to weigh 336 lbs, lost about 140 of it, and is now around 200 lbs, depending on how it fluctuates at the moment , I cringe every time I see this woman in the press. Why?
Because she’s trying to promote a lifestyle that is extremely unhealthy, and doesn’t care about it’s ramifications.
Yes, everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, but to try to promote such a lifestyle as healthy or normal and not give a s*** otherwise? I can’t get behind that.
Being super heavy is NOT healthy, should NOT be normal, and is not something anyone should be promoting.
Our society has it’s priorities in the wrong place.
No way this woman is healthy http://40.media.tumblr.com/8e7e7f5b30c8415c4dbe87c28380e97f/tumblr_ng4m9vvRMP1qj6wguo1_500.jpg.
They promote obesity as normal but its not.
Y’all need to watch Phat Girlz with Monique. The premise is that American black men go for skinny white girls, but for Aftican men, REAL black men, the bigger the better.
REAL black men? Really?
These days, black men go wild for ANY woman that is NOT black!…but they especially love the fat, white women. #truth #truthshallsetyoufree
And then they have the nerve to complain about black women who date white men. Go figure.
There are a lot of preconceptions about big black women and as a thin black woman I deal with them all the time. I went shopping in Harlem and saw a store advertising REAL clothes for REAL women. I went in there and they didn’t have a single item smaller than a size 10. I was like, don’t look now, but people who wear single-digit sizes are REAL women too, and walked out.
Another time I received a catalogue advertising clothes “specially designed for black women”. Again, not a single article under a size 10. Do they think all black women are fat or what?
Black men can be jerks about heavier women just like white men. I had an email from a guy who wanted to meet me for drinks provided I was no bigger than a size 14. I told him, actually I’m a size 4, but since you evidently reduce all women to dress sizes, eff you. That was the end of that.
Not really related to the story, and not trying to be rude, but how did she become a model? She’s got some big tattoos, I don’t find her face remarkable at all (though pretty) and she doesn’t have good natural style from what I saw. Is this a Kate Upton type thing where social media made it so she caught a break in the real world? I don’t get why she’s famous.
Read the story. It explains how she became model. You seem ignorant and lazy from your comment.
Let’s see how long she lasts after the shock value of her media campaign has faded. This woman can’t even stand up on her own without help.
Wow.
I think she does have a really pretty face but who chose that cover photo? It’s the worst photo I’ve ever seen of her. I also thought you couldn’t be a model if you have large tattoos (unless you’re specifically for that genre of modeling)
She’s beautiful!
It’s so sad that some people don’t understand that obese women exist not only because they eat more than smaller women. There are medical conditions that also contribute. All y’all see is OMG she’s huge… I see a beautiful woman that has accepted herself for her flaws and loves herself despite all the nasty looks and comments she recieved. She is a symbol to those women that hate to look at the scale and tried EVERY diet and try to live up to societies standards and hasn’t gotten there yet. Are you saying she can’t help or inspire other women to accept themselves without inspiring them to keep fighting their own battle? Health is very important…hell it’s vital but I’d much rather be happy. Who cares what the majority thinks anyway. She has to live for her in this life. She’s human. You don’t have to accept it as long as she accepts herself.
^ This. Thank you so much for you comment. I can’t believe how nasty some of these comments are!
Personally, Tess inspires me with her confidence. I am overweight, and I wish desperately that I could have half as much of the confidence she has. I’m in my 30s and my entire adult life has been dictated by my weight. I’d love to believe like she does, that I deserve happiness, love, and what everyone else has. But I don’t believe it. And despite my intelligence, all my higher education, my career success, I still feel like the first thing people see is my weight.
And sadly, most of these comments just support my thinking.
Nikolett. ..you have to make a decision right now. You have to decide that no matter what anyone thinks you will be happy. We’re not promised tommorow. Decide to say I love me. Flaws and all. I hope you know you deserve to have it all just like any other woman. You’ve worked harder than most of us so why should you wait for your reward. Grab it and LIVE! Good luck to you.
CAN WE QUIT CALLING HER ‘SIZE 22 MODEL’?
Because…she’s not.
I struggle with my eating disorder and my weight everyday. I am a first time mom, with a five month old and am obsessed with my weight. all These negative comments are so heartbreaking to me. I just think she is so brave and strong for putting herself out there. Can she not celebrate her body? can she not love herself for what she is like at any size? How is that wrong? I wish I had her confidence. Are only thin people allowed to be brash and loud?
I believe the vast majority of the comments I’ve read on here are EXACTLY the reason why people like Tess are so,so needed.
Who gives a flip if she is a size 22 or not ? Why use that as an excuse to rag on her, and to justify all the comments about her size.
I love her spirit and willingness to tell the haters to Eff off. Yes, I said haters because I see so much hate under the guise of being concerned about her health, or flat out calling her a liar or just being nasty in these comments.
Just my opinion
Yep ×1,000
Please, there is a difference between acknowledging what women come in all sizes [as do men], but it’s quite another thing when you hold up a morbidly obese person as the norm. It’s never attractive to be so fat that you need assistance for basic tasks like dressing yourself. Not only this, in other images, you can see that she is so overweight that you can’t even differentiate her joints [knees, elbows], so I can’t even begin to imagine the pressure her bones are under from all that weight. If that’s considered attractive, I don’t know what else to say.
No one is saying that being anorexic or model thin is normal, but Tess sits on the opposite extreme, which is just as extreme and hardly an example.
I’m all for not body-shaming but this women is fat to the point of being unhealthy.
I guess it’s like this; skinny person says something offensive and gets berated for their comment. Fat person says something offensive and gets berated for being fat.
Actually, on this site I’ve seen plenty of skinny people get berated for being too skinny as well.
I’m growing rather tired of people being forced to apologize for innocuous, unmalicious things they say because someone, somewhere had their feelings hurt or because it violated the prohibited thought, word phrase no-no list du jour. Life is hard enough as it is – now we have to walk around on eggshells? I especially cringed when she said “your opinions are important to me.” Nobody’s opinions are important to me. What’s important to me is peoples’ right to express their opinions without having to constantly apologize.
I know. It’s absurd. I will not be politically correct and I don’t care who doesn’t like it. And go ahead and hate me; that’ll be your problem.
This is the first pic I’ve seen of her without that horrible over the top cartoon makeup she usually has. I’ve read she does her own makeup for many shoots. I guess now that she is hitting the real big time there was a makeup intervention.
She’s a novelty, not a supermodel. Her face looks quite harsh and being the poster girl for diabetes is not inspiring.
She can’t get up without assistance. That’s not healthy. You can slice and dice it anyway you like but this representation is no more healthy than those of unhealthily underweight people.
It’s not “concern trolling” for me, mostly because I’m not remotely concerned about her. I don’t pay taxes in the country she lives in so her health costs are nothing to me but if people can point out that my smoking (done only in my own home where I live alone or in the homes of friends who also smoke) is unhealthy without anyone freaking out about “smoke shaming” because it’s patently and obviously true then it’s not fat shaming to do it in regards to weight, whether dangerously obese or in the throes of anorexia nervosa.
I saw a few images of her where she couldn’t even dress herself, she needed assistance.
What I find irritating is the total hypocrisy. Those who are making her happen, are all about the commissions they’ll get for essentially treating her like a 21st century sideshow act and yet, women who are between a size 16 to size 20 [who are usually more mobile and healthier] struggle to even buy decent clothes. So how on earth is this woman, a woman who is so obese you can’t even see her knees [or elbows for that matter], the new ‘normal’?
I agree with the majority of commenters here. While it’s important, as women, to smash the male-driven fashion industry’s narrative on the “ideal body” and celebrate all kinds of shapes and sizes, the ONLY relevant question about a person’s body is “are they healthy?” You can be thin and healthy. You can be chunky and healthy. You can NOT, however, be skin and bones and be healthy (helloooo Uncle Karl) nor can you be obese and healthy. Tess Holiday is obese. She’s not just fat. She is morbidly obese. Yes, we should celebrate larger, curvier women breaking into the skinny-obsessed fashion world, but we should NOT be celebrating morbid obesity. She isn’t championing body acceptance. She’s looking to have her own unwillingness to address her health issues validated. No, no and no.
Eating, just eating every day, the amount of food needed to maintain the weight she is, is not healthy. The sheer amount of food she consumes every day.
This isn’t the norm, nor should it be. In the world we live in, one of the last things we should be celebrating is obesity, from just plain over eating.
Personally, I did not find Tess’s comment regarding black men loving her as racist. If that has been her experience, then she’s only stating what she has experienced. My issue is, is the fact that all black men may be placed into this category. Many black men (from what I understand as a black woman) like curvy, toned women. Curvy and overweight are not synonymous and should not be used as an alternative word for the other. Curvy is more athletic looking with a nice size-height proportion, a figure eight. Guaranteed, most doctors would say she is overweight. However, if she is healthy and she loves her size, then there shouldn’t be a problem. I’m sure that there are some black men that love really, heavy women. (We all have different physical characteristics that may attract us.) Black men do like heavy bottoms and big thighs (but with tone).