Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Whitney Thompson wins America's Next Top Model

Some of you may be familiar with the name Whitney Thompson.  Recently she was the winner of America's Top Model and is the first "plus sized" woman to win the title.  Whitney competed in the tenth cycle of the show and was competing against thirteen other women.


As part of the prize package awarded to her for winning Top Model, Thompson received  contracts with CoverGirl cosmetics and Elite Model Management. She also received the cover and six-page editorial spread in the July 2008 issue of Seventeen Magazine.


Thompson said this about her win:
"People always say you have to be stick-skinny, emaciated and unhealthy and I’ve kind of stood up for [being full-figured] my whole life. I’m not going to lose 50 pounds – if someone asks me to do that, I’ll go to another [modeling] agency. I’ve already heard online from boys and girls all over the world who are dealing with eating disorders. They’re thanking me for standing up and saying, ‘I am a plus-size model and I am beautiful.’ This is what people should look like rather than skin-and-bones, which is disgusting and sends a bad message to people everywhere.”



The win is not without controversy. Some "plus sized" advocates believe that she is not "plus sized" at all.  What does this win mean for women?  Is society becoming more accepting or do we simply have a new idea of what it means to be "full figured"?

1 comment:

  1. Come on!!!!!!!! She cant be more than a 12?
    Lets see some real plus size models all sizes should be represented as all sizes love fashion, 8 to 22 or what ever.
    Its easy for me at size 9-10 but for my plus size but healthy cousin she is forced to make most of her clothes and she likes to look good same as me

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