The Great Gemma Ward Debate (Or, is this really fat?)

Hello there everyone,

I've got a bone to pick this morning, after The Boyfriend linked me to a rather disturbing article - Gemma Ward has apparently quit modelling due to attacks on her new shape, following recent weight gain. I don't know what disturbs me more. The fact that this young woman has been attacked so vehemently over her changing body shape, or the fact the she is considered too big to be a conventional model. Pictures from one of Gemma's last modelling jobs have been posted under many different headlines - from "A not so itsy bitsy teeny weeny Chanel bikini" to "Chanel Spring 2008 Embraces the Big Girl". But is this really fat?

All I see is a perfectly healthy, attractive young woman. She's just changed from a waifish 16 year-old girl into a 22 year-old woman - boobs and hips tend to come with the territory! But you know, God forbid that women modelling clothes for the masses should actually represent normal women. It's better for sales if we all hate our bodies, and will try anything to look like a little boy, right? It really saddens me, because I feel like fashion is a industry that has so much potential to build women up, yet it wastes so much time tearing them down. Why not celebrate all the different body types in world instead of condemning all but one of them? Why not advocate being happy and healthy, rather than being skinny at any cost? And why, why berate young women over the bodies that they are growing into? I'm sick of seeing people look at the female body through warped eyes, and I'm sick of hearing girls like Gemma being called "obese".

So I just want to say, to Gemma, and to all the other young women out there - don't listen to the people tearing you down. If you love yourself, and you love your body, then no naysayer can take that away from you. You are all beautiful, no matter what shape your body happens to be. You all deserve so much more respect than Gemma has been shown in this situation, and you don't have to take this shit. How about this time, instead of doing what they expect, we throw them for a six and love our bodies unconditionally? Don't worry, I've got your back.

Until next time, xo.