Facts and Figures: 10 Girls Tell the Truth About Weight
Since we’ll see billions more images of women’s bodies in media than we ever will in real life, then it’s no surprise we all have a messed up idea of what normal weights, sizes and shapes really are. Hollywood isn’t showing or telling us anything close to reality. No wonder weight is the No. 1 thing women lie about – even on official documents. When every actress or model we see weighs no more than 115, and even when they don’t, they claim unnaturally small sizes in the press (Kim Kardashian a size 2? Unlikely), the fact that most women are “disgusted” with their bodies makes sense. Normal, naturally occurring weights sound shameful when only the lowest numbers and smallest sizes are shown or spoken about. When the multiple-time “sexiest woman alive” Angelina Jolie weighs 100 lbs. at 5’6″ and almost all Miss America contestants and men’s magazine centerfolds are categorized as underweight according to the World Health Organization, our ideas of what it means to be the weight and size of a normal, healthy woman are dangerously skewed toward extreme thinness.
The Beauty Redefined project is all about bringing us back to reality. The reality that appearance shouldn’t determine worth, that our ideas of “healthy” have been distorted by profit-driven industries, and that becoming a sought-after sex object does not bring true empowerment. Now, we’re revealing reality by showing and telling some real facts and figures. Literally. 10 girls, 10 different figures and 10 honest facts about height, weight and size. If publishing these facts and figures seems like a surprisingly bold move, that’s because it is! The honesty of the following images and accompanying numbers is incredibly rare. These are unaltered, real bodies of real Beauty Redefined supporters, in regular lighting, with no stylists and no casting restrictions on any aspect of appearance, which is unheard of in media. Please help us reveal reality and normalize realistic shapes and sizes by spreading these refreshing facts and figures as far as possible!
Heather
Weight: 154.5 Height: 5′ 5″ Pant Size: 12
Michelle
Weight: 145 Height: 5’4″ Pant Size: 6
Sunny
Weight: 155 Height: 5′ 6.5″ Pant Size: 6-8
Molly
Weight: 120 Height: 5′ 8″ Pant Size: 2
Emily
Weight: 171 Height: 5′ 9″ Pant Size: 12-14
Brianne
Weight: 215 Height: 5′ 4″ Pant Size: 16
Chelsi
Weight: 125 Height: 5′ 3″ Pant Size: 4
Amber
Weight: 142 Height: 5′ 6″ Pant Size: 4-6
Di
Weight: 145 Height: 5′ 7″ Pant Size: 10-12
Hannah
Weight: 180 Height: 5’5″ Pant Size: 12
If you’ve been to one of our Beauty Redefined presentations in the past couple of years, you know we’re committed to helping women and girls reclaim their power by looking each other eye to eye. It’s not just about recognizing and rejecting harmful media messages, it’s about recognizing reality and using positive examples to help us redefine beauty and health for ourselves. Attainable, uplifting, realistic beauty and health that exists all around us, even if it doesn’t quite look like the images we’re force-fed from every other source. Since these are only 10 bodies, you might see that your own size or shape is not represented here – or anywhere else! If you’d like to fix that, please send us a full-body photo against a white or light-colored wall, along with your honest and accurate height, weight and pant size to takebackbeauty@gmail.com. Please help us reject distorted media ideals by spreading this link to anyone and everyone who could use a glimpse of reality!
I’ve been a man my whole life (joke) and in my opinion, a “real” woman’s body is so much more attractive than these “pretend” bodies I see in the media.
Love it! And I’m pretty sure more men agree with you than we ever get to hear about. Unfortunately no one makes money off women feeling like they’re acceptable as they are!
I would love to see you two leading the way in this great new movement, where are your pictures?
Great question! We discussed this idea and decided it is necessary for us to distance our own bodies- as the authors and researchers of this entire project – from this part. Including our selves opens all of our work up to criticism by making it too easy to dismiss our whole mission based on what WE look like and what others perceive about that. Especially in body image work, when the author’s own experience or appearance becomes a factor, people can be quick to judge the author’s motivations or their ability to relate to and understand people who DO or DON’T fit these ideals based on what they think about the author. We have photos all over the web, including thousands on Facebook. Feel free to look us up!
I love this. LOVE this. Because it isn’t about weight or the numbers or who is skinny and who isn’t. It is about reality.
If you gals ever want to cross post content on my blog or whatever, be my guest.
Thanks Natalie! Yes, reality. No commentary on who is what and who isn’t. We should definitely do some content sharing – your blog is fab. Thanks for the support!!
You are so right! Your synopsis really sums up our work – Beauty Redefined is about stepping back into reality and breaking free of normalized images that are not actually “normal” or even attainable in real life. Thank you so much for following us and for your thoughtful comment. We appreciate it more than you know.
As always, GREAT work being done here. I have loved this project since the moment I heard about it, and I think it’s fantastic that it’s growing and reaching more and more people. Sometimes it is difficult for me with a “societally accepted” body type (I’m a marathon athlete and I come from a genetic line-up of tall and skinny…that shouldn’t make me “worth” more than someone else) to try and be outspoken about these issues because of the “well why should you care…it clearly doesn’t affect you?” response.
What I love so much about this project is that it’s not about skinny, not skinny, etc; I feel like it’s about reality and beauty. Not “acceptance”. To accept someone is to imply something is wrong about and/or with them, and that’s not the case! This is an honest message, and the more people who hear it and see it, the better! Great work!
Couldn’t agree with you more – I hate hearing “you’re skinny so what are you so upset about?” I’m skinny and even I hate on my body sometimes. The problem isn’t limited to women with large pant sizes – the media and our cultural attitudes expect ALL women to hate themselves, no matter how close they are to the ideal. Unacceptable!
Well stated!
I know what you mean. I have the “classic” hourglass figure with large breasts and hips, and I get compliments all the time, but I have stretchmarks and cellulite and body issues just like everyone else. It’s about getting past what we might think is wrong and focusing on all the things that are right about us.
But if we focus on all the things that are “right” about us, then we’re dividing our bodies into what is “accepted” and not accepted. It is hard, I know, but I’d say just loving EVERYTHING about you, is what’ll make you content.
If we focus on “right”, we are ignoring what we perceive “wrong”. And there is NOTHING wrong with any of us.
Love what you’re doing. I’ve been an unofficial evangelist for this topic since I was in my 20′s. Women are hoodwinked – we’re tricked into thinking these images are the “ideal.’ Women hate themselves because of it. My biggest challenge is teaching my own young daughter that she doesn’t have to be perfect looking, and that attracting the opposite sex should not be her life’s goal. I’ve had a terrible time finding meaningful role models for her to follow in books. Most focus on teeny bopper stars! My hope is to someday create online stories for young girls with a feminist angle. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Suzanne, thank you for your comment! I’m glad we’re in touch. Your goals are fantastic, and I hope you get to realize them – for all of our daughters’ sakes! In the meantime, we need to overflow media at any angle possible with uplifting messages that help them look critically at the harmful messages thrown at them. You’re doing just that, and you’re helping us do the same. Thank you! ~Lexie
Some book recommendations:
Anything and everything by Tamora Pierce: who has kick-a$$ girls who wield swords, act as spys, and more! There are more good girl role models in fantasy-lit than in mainstream, or so it seems to me and my daughter.
The Tiffany Aching books by Terry Pratchett: she’s a witch in training who is armed with a mean frying pan. There are four books, starting with Wee Free Men. and they are hysterically funny, are most books by Sir Pratchett.
Most of the books by Robin McKinley … who retells fairy stories and wrote the Blue Sword, about a girl name Hari who gets to have grand adventures.
It’s so important to counter mass media campaigns of girls as nothing more than sex objects. These books are one way to do it!
LOVE THIS. Very beautiful ladies, indeed!
Thank you for your awesome research! I have been reading over some of your posts and I love what I see. I just wanted to add one comment to this post. I think the standards for who is “overweight” are ridiculous. I’m 5’5″ and 160 pounds, which gives me a BMI of 26.5 and puts me in the “overweight” category. I would have to be under 150 pounds at my height to be considered “normal.” I am about the same size as your first girl, Heather, who by the BMI standards would also be “overweight.” What a load of junk! She looks great, and she’s REAL. I’ve grew up pretty much my whole life thinking I was fat until 2 years ago, when I decided to stop worrying about it. At that point I weighed 190 pounds. I decided to start exercising more and eat healthy for my health and not my weight. It’s the only time “dieting” has ever worked for me. I ironically dropped 30 pounds in a year and a half because I wasn’t worried about my weight, but about my health. And I still ate, probably more volume than I did before, just healthier things. I’ve been maintaining my weight since then and I’m not worried that I’m still “overweight.” I feel great! Forget their “standards”!
Thank you for this comment! I know you mentioned you already found our research on the BMI and how profit-driven our current ideas of healthy body weight are, but I wanted to also link it here: http://www.beautyredefined.net/the-lies-we-buy-defining-health-at-womens-expense/
I love seeing reactions like yours to this work! It’s interesting to actually put pictures of real women with real numbers, and it reminds us of how UNrealistic our ideas about body weight and size sometimes are. Especially when we consider lies we hear in media, as we also wrote about here: http://www.beautyredefined.net/media-ideals-the-real-true-hollywood-story/
Thanks again! And way to go on changing your focus to health and not appearance-focused messages about women’s bodies. Love it!
Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it. I’m quite passionate about how the media influences body image. I love that you are spreading awareness of how messed up and distorted the media really is. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thank YOU, Kenzi! The support is much appreciated. Especially from a fellow Aggie! (Lexie and I are USU grads) And I saw the link on your beautiful blog but my computer wasn’t letting me comment – so thank you for helping us spread the word on messed up media and body hatred! You’re wonderful.
-Lindsay
This makes me so happy! Such a variety of sizes, shapes, weights, and heights, and all are beautiful and look healthy and happy! Goes to show that health, beauty, and happiness isn’t restricted to one height/weight range. Honestly, this makes me feel SO much better about my own body size and shape.
Meaghan, your comment makes US so happy! And you are exactly right – health, beauty, and happiness cannot be found in one size or shape, and when we look eye to eye with the women around us, it helps us realize that truth. Share this page with your friends – I often reflect on it for a little self esteem boost myself. Thank you for your thoughtful words!! – Lexie
Wonderful post with brave & beautiful women!
I love the pictures of real women. They are all beautiful. Their inner beauty is reflected in their smiling faces and confidence and that is the most beautiful thing. I love your positive approach Beauty Redefined!
Love this! Very thought provoking stuff.
I’m a dude and this post opened my eyes a little bit.
It’s true, we are being fed these images of “perfect women” by the media every day, yet we fail to realize it is not real.
All women are beautiful in their own way.
This is a great article! All of the women are absolutely beautiful! Thank you for this!!!:)
All of those girls are beautiful! I, luckily, grew up with a pretty healthy self-esteem. I was involved in gymnastics and cheerleading, and that kept me in great shape. However, once I grew up and became less active my body (obviously) started changing. I am now a 33 year old, mother of 4. I don’t know exactly what I weight, because I honestly don’t really pay attention to my weight that often. I have some I could lose, I would guess I am around 180ish. I am 5’4″ and I wear a 12-14 pant size. There are days when I kinda wish for my high school body (haha…who doesn’t!) but for the most part I’m fine with who I am. I think we as women need to focus on who we are, not who we wear (or in what size). Size is JUST a number, and a moving target at that. I could wear a 10 at one store and a 16 at another. It’s ridiculous! I think what you are doing is amazing! Please keep it up. Women need to hear this, and more importantly, they need to BELIEVE this! We are not meant to be objects; we are REAL women doing REAL things in REAL life. There is nothing fantasy about this world, including my body.
Amber has been Photoshopped. Poorly
Nope, she has not.
I was thinking she had been too. It looks like the background was changed at the very least. But other than that the pictures speak truth!
Nope, she definitely hasn’t! This picture was sent to me as a picture text from my friend in Virginia, immediately after requesting the shot! Her roommate took it on her cell phone. No manipulation here!
Thanks for the reply!
Speaking as someone who worked as a professional graphic designer for years and knows from experience what Photoshop can and can’t do, and how the results will look — and who is also an avid amateur photographer and very much aware of how camera quality, camera settings and lighting can affect the resulting photo…
I believe that the photo of Amber has NOT been Photoshopped.
I do see the features of the photo which could lead to the impression it was, however, so I’d like to address those:
1. Apparent dark outlining against the light background, particularly around her hands.
This is the result not of her having been clumsily selected and pasted onto a new background, but rather of the bright flash used. The stark outlines around her hands and parts of her legs are the result of her shadow being visible close behind her. This is easy to see if you view the image at full size.
2. Her turtleneck appears solid blue with hardly any shading or texture, like a “fill” effect, in contrast to her face and jeans.
In this case the camera is to blame. Most lower-end digital cameras use color sensors which are particularly bad at correctly rendering areas which are predominantly primary red, green or blue. It’s likely, in fact, that her turtleneck isn’t actually such a vivid royal-to-ultramarine shade of blue, but that the color intensity is rather an artifact introduced by the camera.
3. The transition from her hair and sweater to the wall behind her is too abrupt and suggests that she was pasted onto that background and/or that white was painted over part of her outline to make parts look smoother and/or smaller.
Back to the flash again. Due to the angles of the camera’s lens and flash relative to Amber’s position against the wall, the flash has actually backlit her while simultaneously lighting her strongly from the front. This creates the illusion — enhanced by how much more reflective the flat white wall is — of an unnaturally sharp border. But viewed at full size, the texture of the fabric is clearly visible, as are some stray hairs, none of which would still be there if there had been careless copy/pasting or typical retouching done.
4. That bright white background is completely fake-looking!
It does look pretty weird… because we don’t normally see anyone or anything lit this way for more than a split second. The way the pure white at the top of the photo subtly and gradually fades to the off-white visible above the molding where the wall meets the floor, however, shows that that pure white is not the result of a fill having been used.
A good way you (or anybody) can check whether my explanation is credible would be to try to create a digitally-altered image that looks Photoshopped the same way Amber’s photo appears at first glance to have been. There’s a free program called the GIMP which has nearly all the features Photoshop does, which anyone (it’s PC-, Mac & Linux-compatible) can download, install and play with. Learning how to alter photos digitally will be very helpful in learning how to reliably identify when — and how — a photo has been manipulated.
After reading this, I posted a similar article on my blog: http://mellysmusings.blogspot.com/2011/12/body-image.html
thanks for the inspiration.
You should win the Nobel prize for this!
I almost like this. There’s only one problem. You have a whole page about how people of color are underrepresented in the media yet every woman here is white. Hypocritical much?
Thanks for the question (?). These women were selected from among the people we know and associate with. We happen to live in a heavily Caucasian part of the country, and the balance skewed that way in this post as well. That’s exactly why we asked for submissions from other people who “do not see themselves represented” above. You’ll be interested to know a Latina and Asian woman are represented among these 10. We should also note that we asked several other women to be a part of this post who represented other races and ethnicities, including African-American and Pacific Islander, and they either declined or weren’t able to get a photo to us by the date we needed it. If you happen to be a woman of color and would like to contribute to this post or know anyone who might be interested, please do so by sending us a non-altered full-body photo against a white wall with your height, weight and pant size. Thanks!
Girls, let’s be HEALTHY for US, and not thin for them.
Nice article! I like how you included a range of body types. You might have already seen this, but your post reminds me of this website that shows people’s photos of themselves in a grid of height and weight: http://www.cockeyed.com/photos/bodies/heightweight.html