Fashioning Fat: Inside Plus-Size Modeling by Amanda M. Czerniawski Read Free Book Online Page B

of Recruitment into Plus-Size Modeling
    The nature of modeling work suggests that models are different from the general population. Compounding the difficulty of working under the conditions of impersonality, objectification, and necessary corporal discipline, plus-size models face additional scrutiny due to the negative cultural view of fat. While Erving Goffman’s view of stigma suggests that fat women would be more inclined to cover up their curves and excess flesh, these women chose to enter a field where they publicly parade their fat bodies for a discerning public. Essentially, it is this very courage to flaunt their bodies that sets plus-size models apart from traditional, straight-size models. These women shed a penetrating layer of shame and guilt built up over the years to reveal a new, confident self that was no longer afraid to enjoy her size and shape. These plus-size models broke with conventional interpretations of their social identity by flaunting their fat bodies in hopes of changing the cultural discourse. 1
    The typical routes to enter into plus-size modeling include the former straight-size model, the performer, the outsider, and the self-promoter. In the first type, a straight-size model discovered plus-size modeling after she failed to maintain a thin physique. As plus size, she tends to inhabit the smaller end of the size spectrum. In the second, a non-modelworking in entertainment booked a modeling job because of their status as a performer and then continued modeling after that initial experience. In the third, a fashion insider recruited a woman without any previous modeling experience. In the fourth, a woman entered the field of her own volition without the aid of a network connection. As my own case demonstrates, this is possible but requires a great deal of determination and luck to acquire contacts. Success, by any route, is rare.
Formers
    Some of today’s top earning plus-size models began their modeling careers as straight-size models. Crystal Renn’s career trajectory is a prime example of this route. After struggling to maintain weight as a straight-size model by exercising for eight hours a day, Crystal transitioned to plus-size modeling:
    You know, I was so happy for once, and I was really comfortable in who I was. You know, whereas before, I was completely unhappy, and you know, scared and insecure. It was a whole different me . . . I really learned—it took me six years, but I learned to be who I was. 2
    Livia’s story is another example of this transition. While working as a size seven fit model in Los Angeles, Livia’s body “gave up” on her due to hunger and dehydration, so she decided to move to New York, where she discovered plus-size modeling. Clarissa, too, switched to plus-size modeling after a couple of, self-described, unsuccessful years as a straight-size model:
    I was told my boobs were too big, my hips too wide. I wasn’t booking work and trying to lose [weight] wasn’t working . . . I stopped fighting my body and found a new career in plus[-size modeling].
    As a size fourteen commercial print model, Clarissa booked more jobs than when she was a smaller size.
    In their first stints as models, these formers tried to maintain a thin model body type to the detriment of their own health and emotional well-being, exacerbated by the pressures of working alongside pre-teen models with extraordinarily high metabolisms. They felt like failures as their bodies changed despite their best efforts. Livia admitted that she felt uncomfortable with her body as it began to change: “I believed I had to cover myself up. I was ashamed I couldn’t control it [her body] . . . I failed at my job.” These formers tried to mold their bodies to match the thin model expectation; yet, in that very process of losing weight, they gained insecurity and body loathing.
    Once these former straight-size models discovered plus-size modeling, they found a place where they embraced