Re: The three stages of body love

Posted by Chad on March 09, 2005 at 18:23:10:

In Reply to: Re: The three stages of body love posted by Melanie W. on March 09, 2005 at 05:19:47:

I think that if someone finds the idea of how to create truly size-positive, truly celebratory magazines/campaigns/promotions/etc. difficult to imagine, there is an exercise that others have mentioned on this forum that can really help them visualize what this could look like. Take any of the size-related stories in fashion magazines or "entertainment news" programs, and invert them. Turn their ideas upside down. When they say, "minimize flaws", say "accentuate curves". (A curve is NOT a flaw!) When they offer ideas for hairstyles that can make your "face look narrower" (why would anyone find this appealing anyway?), offer tips on how to accentuate the gorgeous roundness of a person's face. And so on. Mode did this so well. I remember a simle caption for a makeup editorial that read, "The beauty of Kate [Dillon]'s face is that it is full". It sounds innocent enough, but it was a total turnaround from the usual philosophy of the thin-worshipping, curve-hating fashion mags. And as Melanie suggested, I'm pretty sure that in its day, a lot of full-figured women only read Mode, and ignored the other fashion mags. To them, the size-positive message in that magazine was the only type of fashion/beauty advice they were getting on a regular basis. Which was a blessing. It indicates just how much good a truly size-positive, "alternative media" could do.