Betty Dodson with Carlin Ross

Better Orgasms. Better World.

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I think there's a beautiful diversity all around us, why not reflact that in ads and bond with your customers.

I just did a project on Anorexia Nervosa if anyone's interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPUqUdzwY9s&feature=feedf

It's strange that we're feeding this unrealistic ideal instead of embracing real bodies, much like Jake said. I'll be happy when I start seeing more and more "real" people in ads.

while watching Project Runway. I looked at the models and it finally clicked: their body types are purely functional, chosen basically to be living clotheshangers. (I'm not trying to offend any models out there.) There is nothing to feel bad about! It's their job. But... it is still messed up that underweight and unhealthy is considered to be 'fashionable'. Let's try for real, healthy, sexy, feminine and erotic. Those ideals would be much more fun for everyone!

I agree that the models we see are too thin, but I think we need to keep in mind that obesity is a disorder that affects a higher proportion of the population than anorexia. The fact that "we are in fact curvier than ever" is itself part of the problem. What we need is a realistic and healthy ideal.

If men (as a homogenious group, apparently) prefer "curvier" women, then women with curves must be more "womanly" (and more fertile to!?) then the rest of us. The man said so...
 Some of us love our cream and butter but just happen to be tall and athletic, uncurvy, tubular... not womanly? Isn't being born with a vagina enough of a criteria to be considered womanly?
 

The one thing that I really like about Betty's sketches is that she does draw a belly on women. I'm one of the men who like women with some curves.

While I agree with the spirit of this article, I feel compelled to caution against the sort of body essentialism espoused in the closing sentences of this post:
"The tubular body shape is not womanly. Curves connote fertility that's
why men love curves. It's like denying biology...and for what?"

Some women are naturally 'tubular', and I don't think it's particularly kind or body-accepting to say that their shape is not "womanly."  Fat positivity, body acceptance, and/or positive self-image do not mean we should be shaming or negating the sexuality/sensuality of those with bodies different from our own. 

In addition, to say "curves connote fertility that's why men love curves" is a biologically deterministic statement, I think, that pins male sexuality to a drive to procreate. I know plenty of men who love all sorts of body types, without regard to their ability to pop out babies.  Personally, as a chubby, queer woman, I can attest to having loved (and physically, visually, sexually, sensually, wholeheartedly appreciated) women with big breasts/flat chests/skinny legs/soft stomachs/thick arms/broad shoulders/"boy hips"/big asses/etc/etc/etc - that is, all shapes and sizes.

Let's be careful, when embracing ourselves, not to marginalize others.

point taken.  I have curves and I get defensive.  What I was referencing is the 70% hip to waist ratio that connotes fertility and is deemed ideal by most cultures. 

Tubulars, apples, pears, curves and all others in between are beautiful and womanly. 

well I am one of those that dissects every issue so for me there is always an underlying or something deeper,  for either one who is overweight or someone who is  underweight, for one who is overweight there may be something that the person feels they want to protect,  and for one that is underweight they may not want to be seen..I know this to be true because I have been on both side of the fence ladies and gentlemen, and in both scenarios for me it was to be true..perhaps not true for all, yet in many cases to be so...I am now at a comfortable weight for me... I have come to a place in my life where I eat that which sustains me, I exercise to that which sustains me, and have sex in ways that sustain me...love the one your with! and "be" what's good for you....

the general point of this is well coming but when I looked at this article I saw the picture first. the fact of the matter is i have never seen a woman in an american size 8 who’s torso and legs look like that, let alone a 12 or 16.
I am a Canadian and depending on where you are in the U.S. your sizes tend to be a size bigger. Taking that into reference most of my friends are a size 8 here so in most states their a size 6 and none of my friends bodies look as idealistic as the ones submitted. Their not all hourglass, some are top heavy, some bottom but their all different and beautiful because of that.
I do not like being told love your body when the person saying it is promoting their own idealism. I am also sorry if you are a size 16 because unless thats your bone structure you are at a unhealthy weight. It is sad that this article has such a good base message but fails because it’s promoting unhealthy perception of weight and a negative mindset when looking at your own body if its not an hourglass.

I just ran a Google image search for Ms. Frankel and I must say, wow.  If her physique is a good example of 'boyish' then boys have changed considerably since I was a girl.  A previous poster mentioned anorexia nervosa, which provides a good entree into what I believe is the crux of the matter--anorexia nervosa is characterized, in part, by a marked cognitive dissonance between a sufferer's idea of 'body' and the reality thereof.  I see the same sort of dissonance in the description of Ms. Frankel as boyish and in, as unhappy-hourglass pointed out, the photographic representations of 'ideals' provided with the original blog post.  Speaking as one of those true (and healthy) skinny-minnies beside whom either of the representations of the 'tubular ideal' would appear a veritable Venus of Willendorf, I would caution anyone who wishes to speak of our truly dysfunctional collective idea of the female body to not engage in the same distortions of representation that is part of the problem in the first place.  The bottom line is that sexy doesn't live in curvy or not-curvy or a number on a tag in the back of your jeans.  It lives in our enjoyment of our bodies and in the pleasures (sexual, sensual, tactile, intellectual, visual, aural, olfactory, take your pick) that we can take from them. 
Heaven forfend that the piece of cheesecake I eat should fail to go to any part of my body beside my endorphin receptors, or that we should stop nattering about what the media or culture or the unnamed subject who does the 'preferring' in those quantifiable results tells us we should be.  Heaven forfend we should stop slinging labels at one another and implicitly pejorating whatever it is that we're not, and simply take some effing pleasure in life, and in one another, and in ourselves. 

Just saying, I get annoyed that we like to call fat CURVY.....That size 16 model in the pic is not fat. But some size 16 women are. Curves are HOT. Obesity --not as much ...but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I find many men who are not chiseled to be very very sexy
I am a plus sized woman. With curves. And some lumps.
Some woman are curvy and a very healthy weight. I personally am striving for a healthier weight. I mean this realistically. I am not one of those "healthy" women who are always looking in the mirror saying they are fat.
But the size image marketed as beautiful is sad. Magazines should show woman of all shapes and sizes WITH NO TOUCH UPS.

While I agree whole-heartedly that there is an unhealthy push for skinny in today's world, I certainly disagree that just because a woman is skinny and not very curvy that she is not "womanly." First of all, as a woman that is right at a size 4 and that has B-cup-ish breasts, I maintain a healthy vegetarian diet (and I put away more food than most guys my age). I'm no exercise freak. I'm proud of the way I look. As I would be if I was a size 0 or a size 18.
 
There have been many times through my life where I have wished that I was curvier, where I felt that I was very boyish compared to the voluptuous bodies that I saw around me in high school. Then, no. I did not feel womanly. I tried to put on weight with the fervor that most girls my age tried to shed it. I wanted what I saw as the feminine ideal - I wanted to be a curvy Venus. But when I learned to embrace the fact that I'm skinny, I began to feel more womanly. Maybe I have what people are calling the "tube" shape (I'm "saved," perhaps, by having a bit of a backside). And, yes, with my short hair and small breasts, I have been mistaken as male more times than once. But I feel good about myself.

Whether or not one is healthy and embraces the strength found in being a woman should be the judge of womanliness, not their dress size, whether the ideal is a 0 or an 8 or a 12.

As a guy, my female ideal is VERY curvy. Not like a fitness model,
but a woman with lots of big, lush, swelling curves everywhere. Hips,
thighs---her whole body. What many people would probably think of as
"heavy" or "zaftig". I've been drawn to women who are built like that
since I hit puberty. Thin women seldom arouse me. They WILL arouse
someone else, of course, and any build or body shape is inherently
OK---although vastly excessive weight is a definite health risk that
people who care about themselves might want to correct.

I love the trend towards "plus-sized" female models who are very curvy, yet
beautiful and obviously healthy. The important thing is that how people
feel about their bodies, and the "look" they strive for, should be a
matter of personal preference, and NOT dictated by ad agencies and
fashion designers.

I wrote an article years ago called "America's Perfect Body Syndrome" and work with health/wellness coachess and holistic/alternative health practitioners. I have struggled my entire life and have yo-yo'd back and forth with my weight and the dreaded "d" word. My body image/self-esteem has suffered as a result. At the age of 39, it took me this past spring (I worked one-on-one with a health/wellness coach) to realize I am NEVER dieting again! I have thrown out the "d" word for good and it does not exist in my vocabulary any longer. Ironically, I worked for a public health non-profit so I knew the basics about nutrition and knew what I had to do, but it was those little voices that have been programmed in my head since I was a child. I finally had to"deprogram" those negative "body beat ups", stop obsessing, love myself for ME and LIVE a healthy lifestyle. 
The American society has become so obsessed with size, weight loss and dieting that we don't stop and think about our HEALTH. A size 0 person could be a walking heart attack, and a size 16 woman could actually be a portrait of good health compared to the size 0 person. I am using those two sizes as an example to make a point (or vice versa). You really can't judge a book by its cover. I've stopped reading fashion/women's magazines for this very reason. It comes down to your your health, and I'm not just talking physical health but your emotional and mental health as well.
It doesn't matter how much I work out and could eat the healthiest foods on the planet, there are parts of my body that will stay the same and I can't change my genetic make-up. I have accepted what God has blessed me with. Women are more than just a shape or size - we are thinking, breathing, feeling, loving, beautiful, and powerful goddesses!
Embrace your loveliness and take steps to BE HEALTHY - mind, body and soul! :)