This girl has more courage than I ever could!

So, there's a new contender to the Miss UK title, 17 year old Chloe who is anything but a size zero model. She's out there to tell people to be happy with their bodies, which I think is a good message overall. Now, I think it takes a lot of self-esteem and courage to put yourself out there for the media to devour when you know that anything over an American size 0 is considered a cow. But I feel terrible for her because of all the horrible comments people are making to her below.

The question addressed by these "commentators" (who should know better than to post these things when someone has put themselves out there) is:

Has there been too much alteration to the idea of "curvy" versus "overweight"?

What do you guys think?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/article s/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=5527 92&in_page_id=1773&ico=Homepage&i cl=TabModule&icc=picbox&ct=5

If I was given the gift of being her size for the rest of my life, rather than struggle with the weight issues I have, I would take it. Gratefully. So it's all relative.

techraven, your comments have the scary tone of one of those people who are so self-righteous about weight issues that you think it's acceptable to publicly denounce and humiliate overweight people, because geez they need it right.

 It is entirely possible to be larger like Miss Chloe and be healthy. It is entirely possible to carry extra weight while eating all the right things and exercise regularly. I have had big thighs and a tummy practically since birth, and even if I starved myself into anorexia they would still be proportionately larger. It is comments like your that made me think I was "disgusting", even at 140 lbs and 5'8", and I took it to heart and ended up yo-yoing into a real weight problem.

I don't think that having her as a contestant "promotes obesity"....I think it's a nod to the fact that many women are naturally larger and that there are other standards of beauty besides what we see in the media/fashion industry. At 17, if I'd had role models and acceptance of people who were more similar to my own HEALTHY larger frame, I may not have developed such terrible body issues.

Now I find myself, finally, back on the road to a healthier body (it makes me cringe to even use the word "body" in reference to myself, isn't that sad). And I have a LONG road ahead of me. Hearing words like "unattractive" and "disgusting" in reference to a size 16 girl can be nothing but painful and detrimental. Makes me very sad when such intolerance is acceptable, because it is masked in concern for health.

I'll tell you what I find disgusting: comments like the person on the site who said, indignantly, Is fat the new black? OMG there is so much wrong with that statement I don't know where to begin.

victoria,

I don't support publicly humilating overweight people. I used to be quite overweight, and I know the trials and tribulations of being overweight. I just don't kid myself, I wasent healthy, I wasen't 'attractive'. While I could bench 300lbs at 260lbs bodyweight, I was still 'unfit', my bodyfat was WAY too high. I was asking for health problems.

I'm not saying you need to be size 0 (or even a size 6), but a size 16 most likely means your quite unhealthy.. Strive for truely being healthy, I honeslty doubt she's healthy, because a healthy person doesent hold weight like that. Holding that much around the stomach seriously increases the risk of cardiovascular problems.

I'm glad your on the road to getting fit, and I commend you for working towards a healthy body, and I appreciate the long road. I wish you the best of luck, and hopefuly few road bumps (But even with them, just remember to keep going).

techraven,

I'm 24 years old. The fittest I ever have been was when I was 16. I was running at least 4 miles a day, and my food consumption was this: 1 whole wheat bagel with 1/2 container of low fat yogurt, a salad with turkey and veggies, and ranch dressing, the other half of the low fat yogurt, baby carrots, and a lean meat with vegetables and a grain. We did weight training before school and were running for practice after school. I was a 3 sport athlete -- softball, basketball, volleyball. I was a size 16 at 5'2", and there was absolutely nothing I could do to get any smaller. I looked and felt fabulous. Some people are just bigger, naturally.

The girl in the picture looks to me like one of the goddesses from the medeival paintings hanging in the Louvre. She's not holding a lot of her weight in her stomach -- most of it is in her bottom. When people hold a lot of weight in their stomach/chest, they are typically apple shaped and their stomach/chest is hard, and that does increase their risks of a heart attack, because it's internal fat that is growing on and inbetween organs. This girl is obviously holding the extra weight in the outer layer of skin, not around her organs.

When people are calling this girl who is overweight, not obese, and even at that, not that grossly overweight, gross and obese, it is upsetting. It's indicative of how our society sets unattainable and unrealistic standards of beauty.

i disagree with people saying she's over 200 pounds.  i can see how she could be 176, active and healthy.  i very much doubt she'd seem so "huge" to people walking down the street in normal clothes.  i fail to see any rolls of fat...my mom was born with thick legs like that and always had them.  we're just not used seeing this sort of body type in a magazine and the camera does tend to add weight.

Yeah sure some girls are natuarlly bigger, but size 16 is not so natural. I don't get why everyone keeps comparing her to a size zero. At 5'10 she could probably never be a size 0 in the first place. She would look a hundred times better if she were a size 6,8,10, or 12. For that height and truely healthy healthy BMI, those are realistic sizes.

I think what a lot of you guys are missing here is this girl doesn't have the perfect body and she still had the balls to say F what people might think I am gonna do this. That to me, is amazing. I am much smaller then her and i spend every waking moment stressing over weather i look fat or not. This took some real balls to be overweight and to get up in front of people in a bikini. I honestly don't even think she looks that bad. Shes clearly not a twig but she looks pretty.

And techraven, seriously shame on you. The comments you have made are awful. Talking about how unattractive she is ...and you used to be overweight? I would imagine you would be more sensitive to a situation like this. And no matter what you are not a women and so you can never understand the pain and struggle women go through every day to try to accept themselves. I have friends who are stunning, thin and beautiful and they hate themselves because we are told we all need to look a certain way. Its people like you who feel these insecurities. Please try to keep in mind that this girl is human. She is not perfect but she is doing something that few women would even have the strength to do. and for that i applaud her.

i cant believe she weighs 176 that baffles me she has got to be heavier. i mean i weighed 176 at 5'6 and thats shorter which would look worse on me and and as im looking she is much bigger than i ever was plus a bmi of 25.3 or whatever that comes out, too isnt that far from being a healthy weight. shes a  pretty girl no doubt about it and good for her in the confidence but she cant be healthy and i cant believe that weight

Hmm well I don't have much experience to go by, I haven't been a size 16 since I don't know when, but my sister is around 190 and she is a size 12....AND she is shorter than this girl by three inches, and has a large frame. So I don't see how it's humanly possible that this girl is 176.

On one hand, cmon who cares??? Appluad her courage and leave her be...But on the other hand....I am greatly looking forward to getting DOWN to 200 lbs, and would like to think I will look similar to her then, or even at 220 or so. I am currently 287 and a size 22....geez i am hoping for size 16 a little earlier than 176 lbs that's for sure!! It would be nice to have honesty about the dreaded lbs numbers...to remove some of the shame of being over 200. 

I'm sorry if I offended people.

But in my honest opinion, she's quite overweight. I never said she was hideous, infact she's quite attractive, just needs to loose some weight, she'd be healither, and look much better.  I agree she would never be a 0, probably never even a 4, she's 5'10, she'd likely be a 6, 8, 10 like someone else said.. 6 would be on the skinnier side, 8 would be a bit curvy, and 10 might be a little 'extra' curvy... She's obviously got fat, and lots of it, I know what muscle looks like, and well its not that..

And hgiel it sounds like you were starving yourself if you honeslty ran 4 miles a day and were a 3 sport athelete, with weight training.... yea, I can't possibly get how you werent starving yourself given your diet...

Some people struggle to loose weight, but she's not even close to a healthy fody fat %, how is that 'a sight of beauty', that shouldnt be a standard, or something to be proud of? Everyone can lose weight, some of us its much more difficult for..

I'm sorry i'm not a woman, but trust me, I understand what being judged is, and what feeling like i'm never going to be good enough, the eternal struggle to be ripped and 6 packed with huge muscles for guys...

I wasn't starving myself. I have PCOS, and have to eat little or I gain a lot. I've been eating 1600 cals for the last 3-4 months, working out 4-5 times a week and have lost 6 pounds. Sorry if you have a hard time believing that. Take it up with my metabolism.

This is great and all, but why do people have to be extremes. Why can't a model with a healthy bmi show up and become famous? *sigh*

Actually, edited.

I think, techraven, you might have a slightly distorted vision of what sizes on a woman that tall look like. I wear a size 8 in pants and a 10 in dresses, and am 5'11''. I am not 'a bit curvy' I definitely look on the skinny side. Now, as to what size she currently is and what she weighs, I don't know, nor do I really care, I just had to step in and speak out for tall women and how annoying talking about the numbers involved with size and weight are when people are used to women much shorter than you.

Wow, this sure is a split-discussion! It seems there are definitely two separate sides, and I'm not sure there is a right or wrong side...

However, I do feel like she doesn't look very healthy. And hgiel, if you did not have PCOS you would likely have weighed a lot less back then, but I doubt that this woman has that problem, or at least it has never been mentioned on anything I've read and if she had a really healthy lifestyle she probably would not be as big as she is, especially at the age of 17, when most people are at their smallest sizes due to higher metabolism, more active lifestyles, etc.

If shes happy with how she looks then that is great and I definitely think she should be allowed into the competition, but I don't think she is exactly a poster child for a healthy lifestyle. Most people that are active and eat well are not of her size (unless they are losing weight, as many people on this website are, but almost all that are successful will end up with a weight a lot lighter than 176 for a woman).

Live and let live, it doesn't offend me to see her in a bathing suit, I think she is quite a pretty person and as someone who isn't a fan of the idea of beauty pageants, I kind of like the fact that she doesn't look like the rest of the "Barbies".

finchcat, I dunno, maybe I was going off one of the women I used to date, who was 5'11, size 6/7, defintly skinny, far from aneroxic... very muscular legs.. womens sizes are confusing to us men ;) and I think they are confusing to women too.. :) Didnt mean to call you 'a bit curvy' (not that there is anything wrong with curves mind you) :)

Why can't womens measurements be in CM, inches, something that means something? I mean a size 0 just sounds bad, even if your perfectly healthy and a size 0... 

I strongly doubt her self-reported weight, actually. 5'10" and 176 is pretty healthy, it's a BMI of 25.3 (yeah, yeah, even if you don't have much muscle you can still be healthy at that BMI).

I personally love the illustrated BMI categories at flickr. This girl, for instance, is 5'8" and 176 lbs. (I doubt she would have overreported her weight!)

As for the model, good for her for promoting self-esteem. She is a lovely girl. Since she looks to be closer to 200 lbs, it probably would be advisable for her to lose a little weight, but then again she carries it in her hips, thighs and legs, which is actually not as much of a health risk (it's abdominal fat that is dangerous to your heart). I'm not at all convinced that she is a UK size 16 - which is SMALLER than a US 16, by the way - it's more like a US 12.  (or 14, back before the recent spate of vanity sizing). So no, she shouldn't be a role model in terms of size, but she seems like a good role model in terms of confidence.

I think it is great that she has so much confidence. And I think she is beautiful. I also think she is overweight.

The way I see  one of the problems with our society is that we automotically think of thin=beautiful. It just is not always true. She is not ugly, selfconcious or (necessairly) unhealthy. She is just overweight. I think everyone (including myself) should work hard to remember that there is a difference.

I love the idea of overweight girls entering the competition but she is over over over weight, ... she is pretty yet looks so much older than her age and unhealthy...i love her attitude and courage but if she thinks she doesn't need to lose weight, she is sooo wrong ...

i have a question... how did they let her enter the competition ?... did they change the rules or what ??... what is so great about her!!

She's overweight. Sorry, but isn't half of it a beauty competition? I am hugely against the size 0 model industry but its true that in that bikini picture, she does not look good. To be a model (even a "curvy" one) you need to be willing to WORK at it just like anything else worth doing/having. To me it doesn't look like she has any muscle at all.

I think it could be improved 1000% if she just got a better top, though. Whose freaking idea was that? Her boobs are spilling out.

Give her FLATTERING clothes instead of throwing her to the wolves in the same style outfit a skin and bones model would wear.

Original Post by finchcat:

I think, techraven, you might have a slightly distorted vision of what sizes on a woman that tall look like. I wear a size 8 in pants and a 10 in dresses, and am 5'11''. I am not 'a bit curvy' I definitely look on the skinny side. Now, as to what size she currently is and what she weighs, I don't know, nor do I really care, I just had to step in and speak out for tall women and how annoying talking about the numbers involved with size and weight are when people are used to women much shorter than you.

 Yeah I don't think an 8 or 10 is too curvy either, (Except for my butt maybe :) ) But boys are dumb (in a cute way?) and they never seem to say things the way they mean them.