I was so happy to see an article recently that Nike now have curvy sized mannequins! After all these years of mannequins with bodies that we cannot even try to have, it is a refreshing change to see this. Women‘s bodies are all different, yes, hate to break it to you, but we all come in many different shapes and sizes. Some of us have hips, some do not, some are top heavy, others are not. Our weight is distributed differently and while yes I am all for eating well and exercising trying to attain an unattainable body is an awful lesson to teach girls today.
The average women in the US wears a size 16! So making mannequins to look at that are straight with not hips and butt and a size 0 is not a great lesson for anyone, especially impressionable teenagers. With the increase of social media which is constantly bombarding people with their flawless physique, it is refreshing to see models such as Ashley Graham live her life with complete acceptance of her self , complete love of herself and with incredible confidence. She works out, she is healthy yet she is representative of a typical sized person.
As I have aged, I understand that my body is the way it is. All the bumps and wrinkles and rolls are a part of me. My stretched skin on my stomach is a testament that I carried three human beings at once inside me! What an incredible miracle!They carefully nested inside me .I nurtured my body for 32.5 weeks and they were all born healthy. So if I have some stretched skin, it is skin I am proud of. Do I wish I was taller and my legs longer, absolutely, but at 51years old, my legs ain’t growing anymore! So, I have learnt and I am learning as it is a process, that accepting me and my body and focusing on my strengths and keeping myself healthy and strong is worth way more than being a size 2. Learning to dress to feel confident in the body god gave me.
So I congratulate all the companies who understand that responsible body image and confidence is in part is due to their advertising and messages that they are sending out to the public. The best we can do is to perpetuate this confidence by teaching our children and teenagers and young adults to love themselves, accept themselves , the good with the bad and that kindness and health are way more important than having the body of a mannequin.
Would love to hear what you think about in store mannequins and Nike’s new ones.