The New Miss Surrey A Beautiful Size 16 Girl
Yesterday 16 year-old Chloe Marshall beat many other slimmer hopefuls to be crowned Miss Surrey. She is on her way to the Miss England competition.
The full article in the Daily Mail states that the teenager, who has been signed up by the Models Plus agency, said most of her rivals were size eight or ten.
The article quotes Chloe as saying:
“Everybody thinks you have to be a tall, slim blonde and I’m a curvy brunette,” she added. “I want to show it is possible to be beautiful and not a standard size zero.
“The reaction I’ve had is great. Other girls have told me I have really boosted their confidence, which is terrific.”
No matter your personal feelings about beauty competitions I think that this is a fantastic step towards sanity in a thin-obsessed world.
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- Mar 22, 2008: The New Miss Surrey A Beautiful Size 16 Girl - AmityMama.com
Size 16 in the UK is a 10, or at most a 12, in the US. Not even plus sized. I’m a Size 10. And most people consider me thin. Size 10 is only fat in the entertainment industry and among health fanatics. So it’s not quite a victory for fat people.
But I guess it’s a step in the right direction – normal size people considered beautiful by the entertainment industry.
It’s a “victory” in the sense that the competition is recognizing and including average-sized women (or near-average in the U.S. where the average woman is a size 14). Who knows? Maybe this is the baby step to including a variety of size diversity in the competition?
Of course, one also has to consider that we’re still judging girls and women by how beautiful they are and how good they look in a swimsuit. The focus is still on the body, regardless if it’s plus-sized, average-sized, or underweight. In this sense, it’s hardly a victory at all, is it?
You’d never see this happen in the US. While I have mixed feelings at best about beauty contests, I do think it’s nice to see the boundaries of what makes someone beautiful stretched by the inclusion – and victory – of a size 16 model.
The reality is, beauty is so subjective. It’s fine to think someone is beautiful, and it should be something that’s done without any thought to size or shape… but it’s not. We’re just not living that reality yet.
So maybe this is a step in the right direction. I just hope this doesn’t simply result in the creation of like Miss Plus-Sized England (which probably already exists in some form, come to think of it).
Definitely a step in the right direction, regardless of what we may think about beauty contests. At least we’re now reaching an era when a curvy girl can stand next to the size 2 and feel confident and beautiful. I think that’s the most important aspect to focus on here.
Juliet, I’m not sure if you would “never” see this happen in the US. In actuality, Chloe would probably blend in more in the US than in England. Speaking from personal experience, when I studied abroad in England, I noticed far more skinnier people than I’m used to seeing in the US. Not to say that our culture is completely accepting of curvy girls, but I think we could be ready for a size 16 beauty queen.
I SO appreciate you posting this young woman’s wonderful acheivement. Regardless of how we feel about beauty competitions, we absolutely need to be made aware of any positive steps taken in the right direction and then celebrate those women who are breaking boundaries. Beauty is simply about appreciating and respecting who we are and the body we have. Cheers to Chloe Marshall and to “A Celebration of Curves”!
I think that this is great news and also if you take a look at the plus size industry in it’s all you will see that plus size models are poppiing up everywhere. I have seen models up to a size 22 in actual agency websites. The fact remains that the majority of people will just always disapprove of overweight and or obese people and this won’t change. However with all of this media attention and adds on tv endorsing plus size models that my friends will definately start to change opinions because we won’t only see stick models and we will have at last variety. YAY for the plus size community.
Hi, loves…I live stateside, and can attest that Miss Surrey is every bit of a US size 16. She’s very lovely and beautiful, but a UK size 16 is NOT the equivelant of a US size 12. Judging from Miss Surrey’s picture, it in fact appears that UK and US sizes are remarkably similar.
This is a big step in broadening the scope of our current culture’s definition of beauty. I was so excited about this and I’m glad someone else was too! I also blog about body image, the media’s craziness and body acceptance. I would love to add you to my blogroll and be added to yours.
Check it out: tiffabee.wordpress.com
I am also in the blogher.com database
There is so much to say about a women’s body. Most of which has been negative in the previous years. A women’s body was sculpted by the male ideal. It was only liked if it had no hips, no butt, huge boobs, and a flat stomach. It became a problem. Some women would starve themselves to become that ideal. They would become sick and become something they’re not. Depression was also linked to the “way women are supposed to look.”
Being a women is not easy, we have to stretch to meet the so-called “goals” that are written for us by the media and our society. Women were very limited to what they could do. Women that did not acquire the “model body” were looked down upon, and left out of many important events like modeling, pageants, and in our pop culture. I am thrilled to hear that things are changing. I am excited for that 16 year old who is on her way to the Miss England Competition.
Hearing things like this make me believe that our society is finally changing. Women are coming out of their shells. We are achieving greatly in the workforce, society and at home.
Where I am from, I don’t see a lot of discrimination against plus size women or women without the ideal body type. I myself don’t have that ideal body type, but I have never been put on the spot for it. After reading the article and the comments posted, I became more aware of it.
I am proud to call myself a woman. Throughout the years, women have gone through thick and thin to get us women where we are today. If it wasn’t for the strength of women, I’m not sure where women would be. We should all be proud of ourselves. We have all made a powerful impact on some events in our own lives or the lives of others. Thanks you!