Tyra Banks Looking For Plus-Sized Teens
Posted on January 26, 2010 at 3:13 PM
Tyra Banks is continuing her crusade to make teen girls and women feel more confident about themselves. She announced the requirements for her latest modeling competition: it’s for teens between the ages of 13 – 19, they must wear dress sizes between 12 – 20, and they have to be between 5’9″ – 6’1″.
“I’ve always felt it was my mission to expand the narrow perceptions of beauty,” she told Us. “Through America’s Next Top Model, True Beauty and The Tyra Show, I challenge industry and universal standards by featuring and celebrating non-traditional beauty, and stressing that true beauty is both inside and out.
“I want young girls to realize that what’s considered plus-sized is the average American woman,” Banks said. “That woman is healthy, fit and beautiful. Adolescence is such an impressionable time in a young woman’s life, and I hope this contest helps teen girls discover their own beauty from the inside out.”
AVERAGE?! Okay, the average woman’s clothes size is between 12 – 20, but since when is the average woman at least 5’9″ tall???
Well, I give her credit for not making these tall girls starve themselves to be size twos or fours, at least.
What do you think of Tyra’s latest competition?
Photos by INF
Leave a Reply
Must- See PHOtos!
19 thoughts on “Tyra Banks Looking For Plus-Sized Teens”:
i think this is good coz girls who r skinney always get the moddeling job but now its going to show if your not skinney you still can look good
its so crazy that people support discrimination,i totally here what you guys are saying that too skinny and too fat is unhealthy. but who are any of you to judge ,if Tyra wants to have a show with plus size models then so be it.But dont say that she’s promoting “fat”,its deeper then that, its being proud of who you are no matter shape size color height.its sad be proud that these plus size girls are happy with who they are and not killing themselves .im sure that they want to lose but are not gonna go to the extreme to lose it.if you dont like the way they look then close your damn eyes and if you have such a problem why are you following up on these subject?
Healthy? I’m sorry but how many women are a sie 20 and have a bmi below 25? What about women who are within their healthy weight range? They are not represented. I’m actually underweight, but I have a GI disease that prevents me from gaining weight. I’m 5’9 and 115 lbs, looking to gain at least 15 lbs. I would love to be a sie 6-8. Are they not healthy? Are they not beautiful? Women are not devided into either plus sized or emaciated. Why don’t you promote sizes that are actually healthy, like size 6-12?
I completely agree with you. While being overweight is unhealthy, I’m sure that isn’t even the reason why people have an issue with overweight people. If being overweight wasn’t a big health issue people would still have an issue with overweight people because they don’t look attractive. This isn’t about health, it’s about showing that you don’t have to be super thin to be beautiful. I’m 5’2″ & I weigh about 130 pounds, I’m overweight but not EXTREMELY overweight, & I know I’m attractive. I’m not overweight to where it’s detrimental to my health yet people still make a big deal about me not being 110 pounds.
Who said there was anything wrong with it?
Whats wrong with being short? I’m 5’2″ as a teenager wanted to be a stewardess couldn’t too short, same with modeling. I’ve been told you’re too small all my life. Well screw you giants! They even made a song about short people got no reason to live.
Ah no sorry you’re wrong. I am 5’9 and size 8 is not underweight for us. size 8 on us is a size 6 on a shorter girl. Size 12 on us is like a size ten so it doesnt make us over weight but it does make us thicker. its a difference between us and shorter people but not a HUGE difference.
I’m 5’9 and at size 14 I’m overweight. So size 12 sounds right. Size 10 would be better. Just because we americans are turning into fatties doesn’t mean that’s okay.
Sounds like you have an eating disorder yourself and are just afraid to say it. Think outside your perfect scrawny body and know that there are girls that are a size 12 because that’s the way they are. They don’t have the same genetics you do hunny. I’m thin but i got some big bones and muscle and that’s why i’m a size 12. And proud of it!
weird…..
just because “average” is considered 12-20 does not mean that it is healthy. it is just sad that overweight is now the standard all the while ppl keep shouting about eating disorders…….OVER EATING IS A DISORDER!!
I was really excited when I heard about this, Ive always wanted to go into modelling, and always felt far too big for beign size 12, bigger than most models and most of my friends. But when I read the requirments of 5″9 I was shocked and annoyed, as this isn’t an avergae height at all and I am a mere inch short of this requirment. IF she’s lookign for real women it should be a lower height requirment at 5″9 is even over what “normal” modelling agencies would ask for.
If you’re 5’9″ tall and a size 4, you’re incredibly underweight, you know. Even at a size 8 you’d be awfully slim. Size 20 is overweight, but 12 I’d imagine would put at 5’9″ woman at average weight.
I totally agree with what you said!
Just like the standard size 0-2 models, plus-sized models is a niche market. Why represent something that is potentially equally unhealthy? Just because this is the average size or a large number of women are this size does not erase the unhealthiness or the effects and illnesses that can come with being overweight. Additionally, what about the ACTUAL healthy women? Why are they constantly under-represented? I am talking about sizes 4-8, who neither over-eat nor under-eat. Why must this industry always be about the extremes?
I’m a little confused by the requirements. It’s for girls 13-19 and they have to be at least 5’9″?? How many 13 years olds have you ever met that were 5’9″??? Average for most WOMEN is probably only around 5’6″ so I can’t imagine that many teenage girls who haven’t even finished growing yet will be able to fulfill a requirement like that. 17-19 I can see but any younger than that…. ridiculous.
Inner beauty trumps outer beauty, but let’s not kid ourselves – being fat is unhealthy and nothing to be proud of. Just as being super skinny isn’t an ideal either.
i truly think that just because your big you should be represented because the skinny girls out there are represented for what and who they are why cant we stand for something.i am a overweight teen and i want to be a model but its people out there who just dont believe that we can do it thats why i hope i can be on the tyra show since so people can see how normal and how beautiful we are in and out.
I personally believe that her requirements still consist of a narrower road. I’m very pround that she will be the bigger person and embrace inner beauty to even thos who don’t make it on the show. I’m also a teenager heading towards tht and am very proud of tyra! Someone has to appreciate them when no one else will! Thx tyra! I’ve always and will remain in love with ur sismplicity and grace.
Well, 5’9″ and over is the standard in the fashion industry. Maybe that’s what she meant? I don’t know… I guess there is a market for plus size models, but these models shouldn’t get their hopes up too high because although it’s a niche market, there is no way they would be able to make the amount of money a regular model makes.