14 DAY TRIAL // Jennie Runk is average-sized but, in the fashion industry, she’s plus-size. Just recently, she became the first plus-size model for H&M swimwear, and her photos have long gone viral. Today, she speaks for the need of body acceptance, both in the industry and in real life.
Jennie, for those of you wondering, is 24 years old and a US size 12/14 (somewhere between a UK size 14-18).
She is also incredibly gorgeous and, she says, healthy.
In her BBC editorial, she explains that, just as not all skinny girls are healthy, not all plus-size ones are unhealthy. She talks about acceptance and inclusion of all body types (and all sizes) because that’s the first step towards eradicating bullying and other traumatizing experiences.
In her beautifully worded piece, she recalls her own, extremely awkward teenage years and how she always felt like she didn’t belong because she wasn’t like the girls she considered the cool kids, “perfect.”
It wasn’t until recently that she realized that there is no such thing as a “perfect” body because each individual is perfect in their own way.
If fashion – and the world at large – don’t recognize that, it’s all of us who stand to lose.
“I was given the option to lose weight and try to maintain a size four (a UK six or eight), or to gain a little – maintain a size 10 (a UK 12 or 14) – and start a career as a plus-size model. I knew my body was never meant to be a size four, so I went with plus,” Jennie writes.
“People assume ‘plus’ equates to fat, which in turn equates to ugly. This is completely absurd because many women who are considered plus-sized are actually in line with the American national average, or a US size 12/14 (somewhere between a UK size 14-18),” she says.
The negative connotation attached to plus-size translates into negativity towards all regular-sized women in real life, women who, most often than not, are perfectly happy, Jennie points out.
“There’s no need to glamorize one body type and slam another. We need to stop this absurd hatred towards bodies for being different sizes. It doesn’t help anyone and it’s getting old,” she concludes her editorial.
For the full piece, please refer here: it’s worth a few minutes of your time.