On models and size

Just how big does a model have to be before folks are satisfied that she represents some ever-shifting vision of what a “real” woman looks like? Must she be precisely 5-feet-4 and a size 14, which is the fashion industry’s accepted stats for the average woman? And if she is, will that transform the fantasy photographs in fashion magazines into the equivalent of catalogues? After all, a large part of our fascination with Hollywood is because it’s populated with absurdly stunning men and women who are so far from average they ignite our wildest desires and persuade us to pay good money to go to bad movies.

From Robin Givhan zeroes in on debate over plus-size women in fashion in the Washington Post (via Jezebel).