There is a good point here. If the desire is to be inclusive- it isn’t fair to call “voluptuous,” “curvy,” “chubby,” “plus sized,” etc- “realistic proportions.” What is realistic to a 90lb girl who’s a 5” vegan who doesn’t even walk stairs isn’t realistic to a 130 5” crossfitter or a 105lb 5” woman who doesn’t work out but is in decent health. People can fall outiside chart ranges and be healthy. People have different body types etc. We shouldn’t push the idea of “realistic proportions” or really any sort of “standard” on women or men when it comes to body image. “Realistic proportions” just means a figure that could actually exist. A waist and torso that has rooms for ribs and organs, a 5”5’ body that isn’t 5” of legs, a physique that matches their activities. Ever see an Olympic runner? A power lifter? A figure skater? What about an actual SOF operator? Male and female heroes very seldom resemble the “average” or even what would be plausible for their real life counterparts...
... the extreme size, the lean body fat and bulging muscles with the V tapered torso- male heroes often resemble a figure that MAYBE could be possible without steroids. Females likewise tend to have far higher body fat in certain places for “sex appeal” than they likely would, especially if they are active, and also have either no abs or flat abs and figures that almost any average person would need drugs and surgery to achieve and would likely get in the way of their activities (there is a reason you don’t see many elite swimmers/gymnasts/cyclists/etc rocking HH busts...) With super humans or supernatural beings we have some room to say of course they don’t look like what a “natural” and “plausible” human would- but there are plenty of examples of heroes where they don’t have these powers or origins, it’s all part of a larger issue though about body image. Is it any surprise so many who go to unhealthy lengths to “look good” on platforms like Instagram resemble these figures?
Chicken and egg sure- but to the original point- we need to stop telling people, and women, that there is one way to look. There are thousands of things we don’t think about from home structire to genetic tendencies for distribution of fat and muscle, the shape of our muscles and how they attach to our skeletons, our life styles and hobbies, so forth and so on- that shape what we look like. There are some things that even the most extreme surgeries and drugs can’t change about us, that no amount of lifestyle or activity will change. Some women are curvy and some aren’t. Selling the image that a woman needs to be anything but what she’s happy with is a problem. If your body is functional for what you do or want to do, that’s priority one. Be what you want and let people be what they want. It’s their life. But stop selling “normal” “good and bad” bodies. They’re all just bodies.
Tbh what gets me with the "realistic proportions" is how their lips, hips, and breasts are all suddenly huge, but their ribcage and waists stay tiny. Who the fuck are these women? The only ones I've seen that look remotely like this had implants in both their asses and breasts
So, I read this and I want to make a couple points:
1. Belle should by all rights be seriously underweight, but that is probably a worse image to send little girls. Especially if it's still presented as beauty when its actually malnutrition.
2. Mermaids couldn't actually survive as skinny white girls. They should need more fat to keep themselves warm. Also, mermaids who spend enough time near the surface should be darker skinned because if the effect water has on sunlight, it prevent sunburns.
1. Belle should by all rights be seriously underweight, but that is probably a worse image to send little girls. Especially if it's still presented as beauty when its actually malnutrition.
2. Mermaids couldn't actually survive as skinny white girls. They should need more fat to keep themselves warm. Also, mermaids who spend enough time near the surface should be darker skinned because if the effect water has on sunlight, it prevent sunburns.