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Fashion magazines showing more body types
NEW YORK: Mixed among the pages of dazzling celebrities and rail-thin models that dominate fashion and teen magazines is a surprising sight: young women with thick thighs and flabby abs. In "Seventeen," "Teen People," "CosmoGirl!" and "Teen Vogue" are bathing suit sections partly illustrated by less-than-perfect figures and tips on maximizing assets and minimizing defects. Editors say they are using more average women and fewer models to reflect changing body types and to help self-conscious teens see that not everyone is perfect. "It's not going to help my reader if we only show girls who are size sixes," said Atoosa Rubenstein, editor of "Seventeen" magazine. "Everyone is beautiful, it's just a matter of confidence, and we try to show that." In May 2004, "Glamour" Magazine broke a barrier of sorts by putting the sizable Queen Latifah on the cover. It outsold the May 2003 cover which featured svelte actresses Halle Berry and Rebecca Romijn. Dove recently started an ad campaign featuring "real" women ranging from size 6 to 14 that shows them wearing only bras, panties and big smiles on billboards, bus stops and trains. The advertisements are designed to sell products from Dove's firming collection lotions and creams meant to reduce the appearance of cellulite. Casting director of "Seventeen" chooses girls in malls, on the street, and anywhere she can find them for beauty and fitness sections. The magazine has increased newsstand sales by 17 per cent in the past two years. "It doesn't make good business sense to stay the same," Rubenstein said. "Girls today have so many different role models they wouldn't stand for it if they only saw the same thing every time they looked at Seventeen." Jane Keltner, fashion news editor at Teen Vogue, said it's inspirational for girls to see how their peers are dressing. "We try to use all shapes and sizes, but we are especially interested in their sense of personal expression and style," Keltner said. Teen Vogue picks non-models for snapshot portraits highlighting individual styles, and also showcases cool bedrooms. The back-to-school issues followed girls in Boston and Dallas as they shopped for clothes and school supplies. Experts are lauding the shift, but say the industry still puts too much pressure on girls to be thin and conventionally beautiful. And there is no question magazines are still putting thin, beautiful celebrities on their covers.
(China Daily 08/11/2005 page6)
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