Morganza

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandst...h-and-wellbeing

and

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...came-death.html

Hannah

Thank you for the links. Both articles have similar content, except the first is longer and more detailed, and therefore better.

I especially love its pro-indulgence passages:


*Sigh* I adore those paragraphs. This could be Crystal's finest contribution to size-celebration - showing girls that they don't need to deprive themselves, don't need to deny themselves food, but can eat whatever they want, and as much as they want. And best of all, as Crystal indicates in the second paragraph, by doing so they become more beautiful.

The article effectively contrasts Renn's comfortable relationship with food today with the horrifying, corpse-like state that she was in during her anorexic years - a state that was not only unhealthy, but (and for girls, this is the most important point) intensely unattractive:

She is so right. Contrast the empty shell that Crystal was while anorexic with the vibrant person she is now, when she eats. I can't imagine how any girl could not prefer to emulate the latter, rather than the former.

The author of the article singles out the best parts of Crystal's book, Hungry, which are its criticisms of the state of fashion today:


The only shortcoming of the articles is Crystal's stated displeasure that many fans would prefer that she were fuller-figured. I really wish she would empathize with why they feel this way. As the article itself notes:


The whole point of Crystal's career is that she is plus-size. Saying that fans should simply accept a size 12 limit on the models who represent them is the same as saying that fans should accept a size 2 limit on the models who represent them. Just as Crystal understands why women want models to be fuller-figured than a size 2, she should be able to appreciate why women want models to be above a size 12.

If she herself would prefer not to be larger, or if her agency doesn't permit it, then so be it, but she can't be surprised if people will then wish to be represented by other plus-size models who are larger than a size 12.

Other than the size issue, the articles are quite good, especially in their wonderful passages about food. Similarly, it was Kailee O'Sullivan's enthusiasm for food in her interview on this site that was one of the things that I appreciated most about her. Young women need to hear such things from their role models, so that they become comfortable with their natural appetites, lose any society-induced guilt about food - even take pleasure in it, as Kailee and Crystal so wonderfully do - and live in harmony with their natural inclinations.

M. Lopez

Crystal was on ABC's Nightline last night (Oct. 1st). The video is on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to-1voUiqL0

I like the fact that Crystal stresses that she was (a) NOT beautiful and (b) NOT successful at her anorexic size. Girls need to hear that starvation for the fashion industry is not a recipe for success. Far from it - they could be killing themselves for nothing.

What's bad, though, is that so many of these TV programs feature Crystal's underweight pictures almost exclusively. They should show fewer of those, and more of her plus-size work - especially those pictures (like the great Luis Sanchis shoot, or her Torrid ads of a few years ago) that show her actually looking full-figured.

Focussing on her anorexic pictures inevitably makes mimicry by young girls possible - indeed likely - regardless of what context those images are put into.

Hannah

There's also a brand-new interview with Crystal posted on the Time magazine Web site:

http://www.time.com/time/arts/artic...1931990,00.html

It's short, but at least it's free of any mixed messages.

I especially like this passage:


Bravo! Now, that's a message that I hope every girl takes to heart from Crystal's experience.

Diet-starvation and exercise-torture, those are the unhealthy activities.

Instead, Crystal's example shows that girls do not need to watch their weight - "at all," she adds, and I love the fact that she's very clear on that point. Also, she states unambiguously that girls do not need to restrict their calorie intake.

In her best interviews, she strikes the size-positive tone of the finest sections of her book. Applause for that!

I wonder if this interview will be in the print issue of Time as well?

Nazira

Crystal Renn has done so much for size celebration. This article mimics the mindset of Hungry at its finest. The best points are how it is dieting that is unhealthy, and eating without restraint that is healthy. So many people in the media excuse their thin-worship and starvation with a concern about "health." Crystal debunks that fabrication in one fell swoop.

Not that it should be anything less than obvious. Minus-size models look like concentration-camp victims. Plus-size models' faces and figures glow with health.