The Problem With the Not-So-Plus-Sized Calvin Klein Model

The “average” size of a typical model has changed so much over the years. A normal model’s size went from 6, to 4, to 2 and now size 0 (yeah, gag). Designers tend to want to showcase their clothing on a thin body type. And with the average size of models steadily decreasing, the average size of a plus size model has started to begin to change as well.

The phrase “plus size” in itself is very broad, and can be open to various interpretations — what exactly makes a “plus size” woman anyway? Where is the distinction? Kate Upton made a splash in the modeling world because she actually has a “normal,” womanly figure. She isn’t stick-thin like all of the other models out there today, but she is just as beautiful and successful.

Recently, Calvin Klein introduced their new plus size model, Myla Delbasio. She's a stunning 27-year-old model, and also just so happens to be a size 10.

Delbasio told Elle.com, “I'm a bigger girl... I’m not the biggest girl on the market but I’m definitely bigger than all the girls [Calvin Klein] has ever worked with, so that is really intimidating.”

The fact that in today’s day and age, a woman who is a size 8 or 10 is actually considered to be plus size is just absurd. It’s sad, because Delbasio falls in the awkward in-between range in terms of model’s sizes — she’s not thin enough to be considered a regular model (because she’s not a size 0), but she’s also definitely not heavy enough to be considered plus size. I find this just offensive to the average American woman.

Average women who aren’t models are not stick thin. Very few women are a size 0 or even a size 2, so why should that be the norm in society in terms of modeling? In short, it really shouldn’t be. Delbasio’s body is more representative of the typical American woman even more than any other model out there. She is healthy, curvy, and beautiful. She is certainly not obese or even overweight.

Calvin Klein should be ashamed for promoting her as a plus size model. She is not fat. She is beautiful and has a body so many other women have as well. The concept of what plus size should be considered will probably constantly be debated for a long time to come, but it is something that needs to be seriously considered. Because it is scary to think our idea of what is “plus size” keeps dropping lower and lower to scary, unhealthy sizes. Seriously.