Rounding Off Their Figures: On women of color, curves are acceptable

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: Rounding Off Their Figures
For Women of Color, a Fuller Beauty Standard
By Robin Givhan
Friday, February 16, 2007; Page C02


Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce Knowles, getting the cover-girl treatment -- and shifting the bar for what passes as a "model" weight. (By Annie Leibovitz -- Vogue)

The voluptuous actress Jennifer Hudson wears a burgundy satin dress on the cover of the March issue of Vogue magazine, where she has been photographed by Annie Leibovitz and lionized by Andre Leon Talley....March is not Vogue's "shape" issue, its yearly nod to women whose body type does not fit the fashion standard. It would not be particularly surprising to see her there. Instead, Hudson, who went from a reality show castoff to Oscar nominee, is the logical but unexpected star of the fashion bible's enormous "power" issue, which also celebrates women such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the model-turned-philanthropist Natalia Vodianova....The Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition also has a cover model known for her generous curves: singer Beyoncé Knowles. Although one should point out that her figure is generous only by the standards of Hollywood and Seventh Avenue....

***

These disparate magazines are lauding the booty beautiful at a time when the body standard for models -- and actresses -- has come under scrutiny for being unrealistically and unhealthily thin....The one thing that connects these three curvaceous women, other than their celebrity, is that they are women of color. On them, curves are acceptable....(I)t seems that only African American and Latina actresses really get away with extra pounds, or even just a round bottom. See: Jennifer Lopez, Queen Latifah, "Ugly Betty's" America Ferrera and "Grey's Anatomy's" Chandra Wilson and Sara Ramirez.

One could argue that these women, each one quite pretty, are not considered part of the mainstream -- their ethnicity is still a regularly used modifier in their professional lives. They stand just a little apart, so they are exempt from adhering to mainstream definitions of beauty. They set their own standards. But being judged by a different set of rules can be both liberating and vexing.

There may be a greater willingness to accept heft when it is brown or black because it is so much easier to find evidence of black women who are large and proud and take pleasure in their bodies. While so many women -- of all ethnicities -- fret about a modest waistline that protrudes slightly over a pair of low-slung jeans, creating the dreaded "muffin top," there is a group of self-assured women of color who have an entire loaf of bread rising up and over their waistband, and they don't care. Their pudge may not be healthy, but they project confidence and contentment.

There is also the stereotype of the large black woman as the diva-like sexpot: strong, aggressive and entitled. See: the comedian Mo'Nique. There is always the looming danger of taking that caricature into destructive and demoralizing territory -- black women as oversexed, or black women as impenetrable, or obesity as healthy. But that iconic image has established that big can be beautiful and desirable -- at least when it comes to women of color. Telling a black woman that she has "big legs" -- meaning shapely -- is a compliment, not something meant to send her into training for a marathon.

The larger culture has not bought into that opinion, but it seems to have been swayed. Roundness is more accepted of black women because they are more accepting of their own curves.

(NOTE: Ms. Givhan is herself African-American.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/15/AR2007021501879.html

[Manifestor_of_Light]

1. I've noticed the token fat black woman in the group.

It's okay to be fat if you are Queen Latifah. If you're white it's not acceptable to have ANY fat on you.

VOGUE is so far removed from reality it is not funny. I saw an issue about "figure problems" and their idea of short was Five foot six. ?????? :wtf:

And I think their idea of fat was probably a size eight or ten, which is tiny. I wore those in high school, fifty pounds ago.

[Karenina]

3. "White women obsess about their weight...

while black women obsess about their HAIR." :evilgrin:

[Benhurst]

2. The fashion industry is determined to make women look like adolescent boys.