MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It doesn’t come out until February 9, but the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition is getting a lot of attention, and plus-sized models are stealing the show. But not everyone is happy with the way these women are being portrayed.
WREG asked women what they thought of the picture of plus-size model Ashley Graham.
Erin Perry said, “I think this looks like a regular woman.”
Nikki Lassiter added, “She is a normal, everyday girl, in a bathing suit.”
Robyn Trujillo said, “That’s not plus-size to me at all.”
Graham is modeling for a bathing suit company stressing that bodies come in every shape.
Folks with Girls Inc. are focused on healthy body images, and they work with girls to teach them how to read through the advertising.
Lindsey Stanfill said, “They look at this and say what is the underlying message? Who are we trying to sell things to? They can recognize what is realistic and what is unrealistic.”
Stanfill says girls are bombarded with images of unrealistic women every day, and it can affect their self-esteem when they don’t see that same image looking back at them in the mirror. But through efforts like Girls Inc., they learn that every body is beautiful, and the images in Sports Illustrated echo that.
“When they see images like that, they know how to react to them,” she said.
Women we talked to say this one ad is a step in the right direction.
Lassiter said, “At least they are moving in the direction of putting normal looking women in magazines.”
She says models like Graham should be who we see splashed on the pages of these magazines every day instead of the Photoshopped girls who tend to land on the cover.