Meet the Real Woman on Glamour’s p. 194

What happens when the editor-in-chief of a woman’s magazine actually shows a real woman as she really is? She gets nearly 1000 comments on her blog that express joy and relief. Unlike Lucy Danziger from Self Magazine, let’s hope that Cindi Leive, Glamour Magazine’s editor takes heed to what her readers (not her advertisers) really want. Here’s what Cindi has to say:

I loved this photo at first sight myself–we’d commissioned it for a story on feeling comfortable in your skin, and wanted a model who looked like she was. But even so, the letters blew me away: “the most amazing photograph I’ve ever seen in any women’s magazine,” wrote one reader in Pavo, Georgia. From another in Somerset, Massachusetts: “This beautiful woman has a real stomach and did I even see a few stretch marks? This is how my belly looks after giving birth to my two amazing kids! This photo made me want to shout from the rooftops.”The emails were filled with such joy–joy at seeing a woman’s body with all the curves and quirks and rolls found in nature. (Raising a question: With all the six-packs out there, do you even know what a normal belly looks like anymore–other than the one you see in the mirror?)

So what’s the story behind the photo? “The woman on p. 194” is actually 20-year-old model Lizzi Miller, and this is her second appearance in Glamour, shot by fashion photographer Walter Chin. A size 12-14 and avid softball player/belly dancer (“I like exercising when it’s fun”), Lizzi moved to New York City from San Jose three years ago to become a model (a “plus-size” one by modeling industry standards, though hello, at size 12 she’s actually “normal size”…but I digress)…

…As for the letters, Lizzi’s loving them. “When I read them I got teary-eyed!” she says. “I’ve been that girl, flipping through magazines trying to find just one person who looked a little bit like me. And when I didn’t find it I would start to think there’s something wrong with the way that I looked. When J. Lo and Beyoncé came out and were making curves sexy, I started to accept myself more. It’s funny, but just seeing them look and feel sexy enabled me to do the same.” Lizzi, now you’re doing the same for all of us–massive congrats on that.

Read more and vote on what kind of images you’d like to see of women in Glamour at: glamour.com.

3 thoughts on “Meet the Real Woman on Glamour’s p. 194

  1. me-oh-my!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3

    I truly wish that magazines today had REAL people in them, REAL-ness in the general, folks! When I saw this picture and read the article, I too was moved to tears.

    Now, I am a thinner person by nature. I have always been thin and lanky. So when I talk to women about body image they just look at me like I am nuts: "What are YOU talkin' about, girl!??! You're skinny as ever!" and so on.

    But I didn't choose this. I am also a vegan now (as an adult) and this has probably kept up my natural thin-ness, but I do have a hankerin' that I would be on the thinner side even if I was eating the Standard American Diet of burgers and cheese.

    ANYWHO. My point in this mini life story here is that even though I DO happen to be thin, this story and other stories concerning the collective body image distortion and enormous eating disorder problems that women mostly bear the brunt of from the media's awful messages. . . .they still leave me teary-eyed with immense joy.

    ADIOS, barbie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    <3
    miK

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