The controversy of the 'curvy', another beauty standard that wants to vindicate the regulations

A few months ago, H&M bet its summer promotion for a most groundbreaking spot: Paloma Elsesser starred in the announcement of the new collection of sustainable bikinis and for all sizes of the clothing brand. The model, who is now among the signings of the latest Victoria's Secret campaign, has recently increased her popularity for being an icon of plus sizes or curvy calls.

With this announcement, the debate on the regulations on models has been reopened and, therefore, the canons of beauty implanted in young women. New words and concepts have been added to the sphere of the subject: large sizes, non-regulatory bodies, curvy, chubby, plus size... Some new denominations that only change the title to the permanent standard of beauty that limits and imposes on women.

Defining concepts

What is considered curvy? The activist against fatphobia Magdalena Piñeyro defines it as "a fat person who is not very fat with a very aesthetic appearance, very likeable, very model-like." The rest of the concepts come to say the same thing: everything that is not normative, a few sizes larger than those already established, a fat girl, but with the body of a guitar...

The positive reading that is extracted from these new denominations is that the beauty canon of extreme thinness has been left behind with the dreaded 90-60-90. However, at the same time, they try to promote another even more unattainable standard: lots of curves, lots of chest and lots of butt, something reminiscent of the Kardashian clan. Therefore, women are still anchored, again, to another standard of beauty; updated, but immovable after all.

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Canons and TCA

Piñeyro points it out in the same way: “A canon is a prototype of something that we consider beautiful at a certain moment, but it is a path for the rest; It is not that you have the right to trace your own path, but that there is someone who is marking it for you”. In the end, if society establishes a typical body, it does not matter if it is with more hips or less; many women will want to follow what is currently in fashion, she argues.

However, these unattainable standards can be a problem for young, growing girls. The psychologist specialized in Eating Disorder (Eating Disorder) Sara Ibáñez affirms that "beauty canons are especially important in adolescence, when young people want to be accepted by their peer group." That's when a possible eating disorder can develop. Although Ibáñez considers that "the pressure of fashion, models and canons are not the cause of the disorder, they can be the trigger, the one that awakens it or the one that maintains it".

Positive changes

To avoid this, the psychologist argues that campaigns like the latest H&M ad are very necessary for these types of patients to have a good relationship with food and their bodies. “The more normalized and accepted all the different body types are, the less this problem will exist,” she says optimistically. This regulation is also reflected in the world of modeling. Francina Models, the oldest modeling agency in Spain, currently works with 10 curvy models every day, while 10 years ago they only did one job a month.

A significant change that its CEO, Mireia Verdú, is proud of: "We no longer take a curvy model for differentiation." That is precisely what they aspire to in all areas. Piñeyro considers that the fact that the new generations see a "non-normative" model parading down a catwalk is "amazing" because many girls "will no longer feel excluded from the world" and will see themselves represented.

Possible solution?

However, the activist is critical of these terms and considers that even though "the norm is expanding a bit, it does not mean that we are free from beauty canons that exclude a lots of different women and bodies.” The psychologist Sara Ibáñez considers that the problem lies in the fact that "the fashion industry uses body dissatisfaction so that women associate happiness with having a certain body and size".

That is why they all agree that the best way to reduce this problem would be to regularize the sizes. Something that has already been done in Argentina recently and that the three specialists insist that it be done in Spain. "Brands have realized that the sizes that sell the most are not 34 or 36, but 42 or 44, with which they are now open to showing real models for these sizes," says Verdú. Ibáñez, for his part, points out that "all brands should have sizes for everyone, regardless of body type and age."

Unique and irreplaceable bodies

In the end, what is clear is that there are as many types of beauty as there are people in the world, so it is logical that “not all types of bodies are represented , since diversity is unrepresentable”, says Piñeyro. An optimistic and demanding vision of the uniqueness of bodies, whatever their size and characteristics. Unique and irreplaceable.