She’s Big, She’s Beautiful, and She’s Running Around in Her Underwear
posted at 7:58 am on April 24, 2010 by The Other McCain
[ Media ]
Say hello to 22-year-old fashion model Ashley Graham, whose exotic beauty was discovered in, of all places, Nebraska when she was a teenager. Ashley signed with the prestigious Ford Agency at age 15 and has modeled for such clients as Macy’s, Nordstrom and Bloomingdales. In an industry dominated by Ukrainian ectomorphs and Russian anorexics, all-American Ashley stands out as a pleasantly plump size 16 and – guys, did I say “pleasantly plump”? — she’s a natural 38D. Despite her beauty and success, however, Ashley Graham didn’t become a celebrity until last week, when two networks rejected this Lane Bryant ad featuring her in their new “Cacique” lingerie line:
Lane Bryant says Ashley is the victim of unfair discrimination:
It appears that ABC and Fox have made the decision to define beauty for you by denying our new, groundbreaking Cacique commercial from airing freely on their networks.
ABC refused to show the commercial during “Dancing with the Stars” without restricting our airtime to the final moments of the show. Fox demanded excessive re-edits and rebuffed it three times before relenting to air it during the final 10 minutes of “American Idol,” but only after we threatened to pull the ad buy.
Yes, these are the same networks that have scantily-clad housewives so desperate they seduce every man on the block, and don’t forget Bart Simpson, who has shown us the moon more often than NASA, all during what they call “prime time.”
The editors at the New York Post knew a sensational story when they saw it:
ABC is issuing a “fat”-wa against full-figured models, plus-size label Lane Bryant says.
The Disney-owned network refused to air the brand’s lingerie ad during its hit show “Dancing with the Stars,” saying it bared too much cleavage, a Lane Bryant insider said.
And Lane Bryant thinks the net’s executives are a bunch of prejudiced boobs.
“The cleavage of the plus-size models, they said, was excessive, and we don’t think that’s the case,” said the source.
“It certainly appears to be discrimination against full-sized women.” . . .
Fox had asked Lane Bryant to flash less flesh, the source said. But the label said no. . . .
“They sent the storyboards in late March to Fox to approve. Fox rejected them, saying it was too racy, too risqué,” the source said.
“We said, ‘Wait a minute. It’s no more racy or risqué than the Victoria’s Secret ads you’re running!’ They rejected them again, said, ‘No, no, no, edit things out!’ ”
If the label had heeded Fox’s suggestions, the spot would have shown the model’s face — and virtually nothing else.
The big fat irony here is that Fox is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, which also owns the New York Post, a tabloid that routinely features photos of cleavage-baring celebrities and in December hired Eliot Spitzer’s call-girl Ashley Dupre as an advice columnist. So Ashley the Hooker is OK for Murdoch’s print publication, but Ashley the Plus-Size Model is too scandalous for Murdoch’s broadcast network?
But don’t cry for Ashley Graham, who laughs when she tells WPIX-TV that, “when it comes to a little bit extra,” the network “just can’t handle it”:
Exit Questions: How much free publicity will Lane Bryant get when news networks — including Murdoch’s Fox News — endlessly re-run clips of the ad during their coverage of this important controversy? And when the ad shows Ashley getting a text message to “Meet Dan for lunch,” is she excited about Dan, or about lunch?
Blowback
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God, she is beautiful. Now that is what a healthy woman is supposed to look like.
Nine out of every ten men happen to agree with me. Despite the wailing of the feminazis it isn’t men who are pressuring women to look like scarecrows. At least not straight men. The only reason for the prevalence of anorexic looking models is the fact that the industry is run by gay men and twisted pervs who are trying to make women look like adolescent boys. If you doubt this then check out any Calvin Klein ad.
OlympicLeprechaun on April 24, 2010 at 8:27 AM
Completely agree. This is what women look like. This is what men want. Hint ladies. Men like curves.
Dark Eden on April 24, 2010 at 9:02 AM
WoW! she is beautiful. I can’t believe she is considered “large” of “full-figured” instead of healthy and normal.
To all the women out there starving themselves to look like some catwalk scarecrow: Most regular guys don’t find that very attractive. A burger and beer girl is more fun to be around than a carrot-munching bundle of paranoia.
Mord on April 24, 2010 at 9:29 AM
As a size 16 myself(until old age shrunk me to a 14), I am going to e-mail FOX and complain about this. Many plus size women, including me, fall well within the accceptable weight/height parameters for good health…just that there is ‘more to us’. Back in the day we were the definition of beauty–just look at the old painting and sculptures. I am more than a little offended.
jeanie on April 24, 2010 at 9:44 AM
Word, bro. The fashion industry is dominated by women and gay men, and it certainly isn’t us straight guys pushing the “heroin chic” thing with strung-out flat-chested chicks slinking down the runways of New York and Paris.
BTW, it’s not strictly a fat-vs.-skinny thing with me. From my perspective, beauty is beauty is beauty. What I really hate is the 21st-century aesthetic of artificiality, whether it’s women getting collagen injections in their lips, getting silicone implants in their breasts, or starving themselves to death to try to fit some fashion designer’s size-zero ideal.
Some people are naturally thin (ectomorphic, like me), some are naturally muscular (mesomorphic) and some are naturally plump (endormorphic). With proper exercise and nutrition, all three body types can be healthy and attractive — hey, even an ectomorph can muscle-up a bit — but people who buy into the media culture find themselves constricted by the very narrow and unrealistic ideals propagated by that culture. All guys are supposed to be tall and muscular, all girls are supposed to be thin and glamorous, and everybody’s supposed to be young and rich.
As much as women complain about the absurd tyranny of Size Zero, I think some guys are just as much tyrranized by the false media-culture dichotomy where guys are either winners — with a physique like an NFL first-round draft pick, a face like Brad Pitt and a bank account like a Wall Street CEO — or “beta male” losers.
Young people, especially, seem to unthinkingly accept these bogus media norms. About a year ago, I found myself talking to a guy in his late 20s who explained that he was taking Rogaine to prevent hair loss. Dude! Some guys go bald. Just go shave your head and get over it. And while exercise is certainly healthy, some people seem to have an obsessive-compulsive attitude toward hitting the gym that goes way beyond a mere concern for cardio-vascular fitness. Does everybody have to have washboard abs?
My personal theory about this phenomenon is that the trend toward delaying marriage (U.S. median age at first marriage has risen from 21 to 26 in the past 40 years) and the attendant rise of the sexually active “hook up” culture has caused many young people to think of themselves and their sexual partners as commodities in the marketplace. There is a market premium on those who exemplify the ideals celebrated by the media, and therefore those who wish to participate in the hook-up culture must strive to exhibit the status markers of “winners” — including the ideal body types of ultra-thin for women and ultra-muscular for men.
The influence of gay-male norms on this culture is not accidental. Despite the current push for legal recognition of same-sex marriage, research clearly indicates that, on average, gay men are phenomenally promiscuous in comparison to either heterosexuals or lesbians. (There’s a joke in the gay community: What does a lesbian bring on her second date? A U-Haul — i.e., to move in with her partner. And what does a gay man bring to a second date? Who ever heard of a “second date”? ) So this whole business of everybody having to look fabulous and sexy all the time is very much normative in that culture and, with the decline of marriage as the defining institution of “straight” society, it is hardly surprising to see more and more heterosexuals buying into the glamour ideals of gay culture.
Of course, most people involved in this kind of status game don’t think about it in such terms. Their minds are so completely dominated by media culture that they don’t even realize that it is artificial, or that there are people living happily in the real world outside that culture.
The Other McCain on April 24, 2010 at 9:45 AM
Have e-mailed FOX as promised. I wonder if anything will come of it. If you are interested, I’ll let you know the next time I see one of your Green Rooms posts.
jeanie on April 24, 2010 at 9:59 AM
This is why we love our MeggieMac, inspite of her annoyances. You can never stay mad at women with such curves for long.
BradSchwartze on April 24, 2010 at 10:16 AM
So the only women who can appear in bra ads are women who don’t really need bras?
DamnCat on April 24, 2010 at 10:18 AM
Lunch was great!
Love, Dan
ericdijon on April 24, 2010 at 10:24 AM
I bet it was!
The Other McCain on April 24, 2010 at 10:29 AM
Ashley Graham is absolutely gorgeous.
Agreed!
KSgop on April 24, 2010 at 10:31 AM
She is GORGEOUS.
Daggett on April 24, 2010 at 10:32 AM
You bring up an interesting point. If that’s the case, why is the number one insult leveled at her, especially on this site, that she’s “fat”?
I agree with you, by the way, and with commenters here. Voluptuous is the best word in the English language, and it’s the way a truly sexy woman is supposed to look.
MadisonConservative on April 24, 2010 at 11:32 AM
MadisonConservative on April 24, 2010 at 11:32 AM
Because those who make the “fat” comment @MeggieMac know they can’t have her:D
Much like I can’t have Ashley Graham, but I’ll never utter anything improper toward her.
BradSchwartze on April 24, 2010 at 11:39 AM
Christina Hendricks
Crystal Renn
Chloe Marshall
Actually, I’m all in favor of other guys calling them “fat” and walking away. Less competition.
MadisonConservative on April 24, 2010 at 11:48 AM
Despite what the liberals say, Murdoch exercises very little control over the regular Fox Network (or FX), as far as ideology goes. Which is why the Post or the London Sun can luxuriate in champion cup sizes in letter ranges on the ‘No. 3-and-up’ keys of your cellphone, while Fox TV shuns it, while at the same time Fox has no problem with their Sarah Palin/Ann Coulter/Dick Cheney/name your conservative jokes on shows like “Glee” and “Family Guy” while Fox News dominates their demographic by deliberately going against the normal liberal bent of the big media.
jon1979 on April 24, 2010 at 11:49 AM
Don’t they teach reporters in journalism school to finish asking their question before they move the mic away from their mouth?
Mark1971 on April 24, 2010 at 12:39 PM
I’m behind her and, support her 100%.
Jeff2161 on April 24, 2010 at 1:01 PM
Can’t believe I missed this. Real classy, RSM.
MadisonConservative on April 24, 2010 at 1:16 PM
“And when the ad shows Ashley getting a text message to “Meet Dan for lunch,” is she excited about Dan, or about lunch?”
This is such a typical S. McCain line I had to laugh, but it really is what some folks think when faced with a bigger gal. After all, she MUST eat like a pig since she’s so big, right?
Believe it or not, large women (and some men) are the last group that is routinely the butt (snicker) of jokes by just about everyone. I think that stinks. I think EVERYONE should be open for mockery. After all, we’re ALL human therefore occasionally stupid. More than occasionally for some.. *ahem* lefties.. *ahem* Obama.. nevermind..
Mad Mad Monica on April 24, 2010 at 1:55 PM
She looks beautiful, and that has less clevage in it then the Kim Kardashian/Paris Hilton Carls Jr commercials. I don’t have any idea why networks wouldn’t air it except because they are invested in that ‘beauty’ standard
Defector01 on April 24, 2010 at 2:08 PM
Lunch was Great
And the food wasn’t bad either
-Dan
Defector01 on April 24, 2010 at 2:23 PM
Can we see more cleavage?
Tim Burton on April 24, 2010 at 3:52 PM
Hell, can we motorboat her?
Tim Burton on April 24, 2010 at 3:53 PM
Nice. Very nice.
Dan is a very lucky man.
Midas on April 24, 2010 at 4:23 PM
“She’s a perfect 10, but she wears a 12,
Baby save a little two for me.
She could be sweet 16, Busting out of the seams,
But it’s still love in the first degree.”
Theophile on April 24, 2010 at 4:54 PM
That’s why they pay me the medium bucks, man.
The Other McCain on April 24, 2010 at 6:35 PM
It is generally an error to accept beauty as an all-purpose excuse, or as a substitute for other qualities . . . like musical talent, for example.
The Other McCain on April 24, 2010 at 6:39 PM
I love big girls. Married one, in fact.
Women should have curves, not straight lines and right angles.
tsj017 on April 24, 2010 at 8:14 PM
She’s been modeling for Lane Bryant and Cacique for a long time – the lingerie line is not new, but there are some new pieces. I love her, she’s just beautiful. And personally, she’s about the only one that really fits into LB’s clothes – they’re cut really weird at times.
I want that red bra now too.
Anna on April 24, 2010 at 8:19 PM
Come on, R.W. – How many teeny boppers read the New York Post? On the other hand, they do watch shows like American Idol.
Buy Danish on April 24, 2010 at 11:10 PM
Er, I meant “R.S.” not “R.W.”…
Buy Danish on April 24, 2010 at 11:11 PM
I think Ashley is fine!
uknowmorethanme on April 25, 2010 at 8:28 AM
That’s a great set of New York boobs!
uknowmorethanme on April 25, 2010 at 8:31 AM
Would love to see the trend for more natural women instead of flesh hangers. Ashley is gorgeous. And nobody ever wags their t*ts on Dancing w/the Hasbeens, right?
di butler on April 25, 2010 at 8:52 AM
I love Lane Bryant bras. My bust size, it is assumed you are either egg-shaped or a stripper. If not, I need to go to a specialty store and spend $100 for a white elastic steel-girdered thing nuns would reject as “too much on that modesty thing.”
At Lane Bryant, I can get cheap, comfortable bras.
Sekhmet on April 25, 2010 at 11:57 AM
I may be wrong, but I think I have seen Playtex bras with larger women advertised on Fox. It seems to me that more and more women are not those skinny bone gals any longer. I can not for the life of me understand how a man would want a pile of bones in the bed! This lady is lovely and as a lady if I would buy a product she advertised (if I had her chest size that is). I hope she make gobs of money with whatever she does.
L
letget on April 25, 2010 at 3:05 PM
I don’t mind a woman being a little on the heavy side. It’s proof that she knows how to cook.
But not too heavy. I want proof she shares the food.
AaronGuzman on April 25, 2010 at 9:40 PM