Womb to Grow, Pages from a Curvy Mom’s Life
 Society, Weight and Pregnancy
by Monica Rasso, Regular Contributing Author at Elegant Plus Magazine

Pregnancy is one of the few times in our lives that it is “acceptable” to be overweight. Or is it? When browsing through pregnancy magazines, maternity catalogs, and TV commercials, do any of those models really seem overweight (besides the tight, yet bulging belly)?

It seems there is an underground movement to ‘stay thin’ while pregnant. Last month I was flipping through the channels and became temporarily hooked on a show called Life & Style. This show is hosted by four well-known women with a format similar to The View and a goal of informing viewers on how to live life with style. The particular segment that caught my attention focused on women who are attempting to stay fit and thin while pregnant. The discussion focused on sacrificing the health and growth of an unborn child just to remain thin.

Pregnant, yet still thin, photos of stars such as Gweneth Paltrow and Sarah Jessica Parker grace the pages and covers of popular magazines giving readers the false idea that these goddesses of the big screen are not gaining any weight, except for that in their baby belly. Host Kimora Lee Simmons pointed out that ALL of the stars that she knows personally have gained 25-60 pounds during their pregnancy. She explained that the photos taken in these magazines are shot when the star has professional hair, makeup and styling that makes them appear thinner. Even if the women do gain weight, the thin images we see, are those that many readers aspire to imitate.

As a professional model, I hope to model maternity clothes during my pregnancy. Although I am proud of my body and have a great self image, I find myself questioning whether or not plus models are accepted in the one area of modeling that I thought we would FOR SURE be accepted. An area where it is all around acceptable and favorable to be chubby and cute! But look in the maternity catalogs and pregnancy magazines. Beautiful, yet thin, models grace the pages in all the editorials and advertising. Is this yet another area where the real, curvy woman is unaccepted?!

I contacted the premier agency for pregnant models, Expecting Models. Twice I sent in my best headshots, full body shots, and resume. I did not hear anything. As I perused the pages of their website, my heart dropped as I saw that there were no plus models represented. I called Brian, an agent at the Expecting Models, and asked if my photos had been received, but more importantly, since I assumed they were not interested in my look due to their lack of response, to discuss the use of plus models in maternity modeling.

As we all know, any successful business becomes that way by providing their clients what they ask for. It seems that the advertising companies rarely look for plus models to show their maternity products, thus the maternity agencies rarely have a need to sign a plus model. Until the companies that sell maternity products acknowledge that over 60% of their customers are plus-sized individuals that relate better to Plus-size images, the modeling agencies will continue to hire thinner, high fashion models because that is the smart thing to do financially!

In all fairness, there are companies such as Fashion Bug that primarily use plus models in their advertising. I LOVE their ads! The most recent publication of Figure Magazine had a terrific 5-page editorial spread featuring a curvy model with a general softness about her. She looked like she could give a great hug! Someone we can relate to! The loving neighbor next door! In summary, although our society has welcomed the real woman into many aspects of advertising, film, music, and TV, there is still a great lack of acceptance in the pregnancy advertising area. It is such a small area of advertising, but pregnancy is such an important time for us to feel beautiful and accepted at our size. Let’s all do what we can to further the acceptance of curvy, real women in maternity advertising. Send emails and letters to companies such as JC Penney , the rest of the companies listed in the Elegant Plus Maternity Clothing Directory and any other companies where you feel that the real woman should be represented in advertising.

Since the initial publication of this article Brian Marggraf of Expecting Models has responded that “we do embrace women and models of all sizes, from petite to plus-size, and we, Expecting Models, would love to see the industry expand in that way… we have represented Plus-size models in the past, but not so much lately. If the industry was more interested in Plus-size models, we would definitely sign and promote them… to fill that need…” (April 2006)

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