Pop-Ed: Gabourey Sidibe Shouldn't Pose for Vogue

By Jo Piazza Posted Mar 25th 2010 03:05PM

Pop-Ed: Let me preface this (and try to deflect at least a couple of the impending angry commenters) by saying that I think Gabby Sidibe is a wondefully gifted actress and an adorable girl. That said, I agree that she should not be on the cover of the fashion bible, Vogue magazine.

My Naughty and Nice colleague Rob Shuter proffered a challenge to Vogue editors earlier today, saying, "If Vogue is so buddy-buddy with all the designers, tell them make a dress for Gabby for the next issue. See? Problem fixed. That was easy! And for all of you magazine editors out there, normal people don't want to see all of these skeleton models -- give us the real girls!"

But there's a problem with that logic: Gabby doesn't represent real women.

Yes, real women have curves (I am personally a size 8) and they are beautiful, and I think that Vogue has begun taking steps to move away from only presenting skeletal size zeroes in their pages. In 2007, Vogue put real curvy, real gorgeous Jennifer Hudson on its cover. Yay for that! Hudson represents what real women look like. Sidibe generally does not. While Sidibe has never said exactly how much she weighs, in her star turn in 'Precious,' she plays a girl who weighs around 350 lbs. In real life, Sidibe appears to just about be pushing 300 lbs. The average weight for a woman in her twenties in America is around 140 lbs. I think it's safe to say that Sidibe more than doubles that.

If we want to argue that Vogue should stop including size zeroes in their pages because they don't represent real women, then we have to say they shouldn't include Gabby either, as she is no more representative of the average woman. We say that young girls are developing eating disorders because they see emaciated women in magazines. Well, obesity comes with major health problems too, so both sides of that coin have to be represented.

Everyone wants to be on the right side of the Gabby Sidibe weight argument because Americans are conflicted about their own feelings about weight. We don't like fat or fat people -- that's why we don't see many of them on TV or in movies -- even though a lot of us are admittedly overweight.

If Gabby is comfortable with her weight and her size, as she told Oprah she is, then good for her. But should we guilt a magazine known for high fashion into putting her on the cover just to make an example and to make ourselves feel better about our own conflicted feelings about weight?

And this isn't an issue of giving Gabby the recognition she deserves. Not every Oscar nominee makes it onto the cover of Vogue, plain and simple.

Let's not demonize Vogue if they opt not to use Gabby for a cover shoot. Vogue is a business and they're in the business of selling beauty and fashion. They shouldn't have to alter that mission to accommodate one person and America's guilt.

Tags: gabourey sidibe, vogue

Comments

(83)

Thursday 25 March

By nrwlbt

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THIS WOMEN HAS HER OWN ZIP CODE

By Elyse

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Wow that was real funny.....so funny infact I forgot to laugh. Grow up!

By liz

AND ENOUGH MONEY TO PURCHASE YOU AND YOURS

By Stephanie

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Jo, you state your position very well, and caused me to rethink mine. However, having a very real-sized Jennifer Hudson on the cover three years ago does not exactly prove that Vogue is getting away from only featuring scary-thin women on their pages. It would be nice to see more women, sized 6 to 14, represented in Vogue on a more consistant basis.

By Nancy

Some people would be offended if they saw anything over a size
6 in a magazine like Vogue...IMO, those people need to get a life.

By hd

Hudson was not "REAL SIZED" Real Sized is being in the normal weight for your height and FAT Hudson exceeds that by 40-60 pounds easily. She would avoid allot of health issues if she was within the guidelines and at the very most 10-20 pounds above it. Quit saying FAT is normal ... if you have a roll around your stomach or if your butt is ever over 40 inches you are FAT. (and 40 gives ALLOT of leeway from the size 0-4 at under 30 12 below 36 inches ... a 40 would be a "true" and not "desiner I will mark any size for your money" 16.

By Kristy

Wow the author is a size 8 what a big fatty. Please. I agree with you, one photo of a curvy girl 3 years ago does not mean change. I would like to see beautiful women on the cover period, of all sizes and Gabby is a beautiful woman. If anyone has ever seen her in an interview she is adorable. And why does fashion have to mean thin. Aren't there any designers who have enough vision to make clothes that look good on regular people and not just hangers? I think we all need to eat healthier for our own good health but I'm tired of people being judged by their size. I don't buy fashion magazines because everything in them is a ridiculous fantasy that no normal person can attain financially or by size.

Friday 26 March

By MandiP

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Enough of the hatred already! If Vogue wants to place this woman in thei mag, let them. She works. Can't say that about a lot of folks these days, including the ones who are very vocal about her.

By Noon-ez

If you're going to write this article about Gabby, you could at least spell her name correctly. A s s. I don't think writers should be dyslexic, because, as likeable as they may be, they can't accurately represent the average views of the non-dyslexic majority. Put that in your gnob and smoke it.

By Mary

????

The name is spelled correctly in this article (unless it has been corrected since).

By DEE

THIS WOMAN LOOKS LIKE SHES WEIGHS 450, NOT 350.

By kdwp

Vogue, as for a good majority of the entertainment industry, do not represent "real women". They celebrate women who could rival 10 year old boys in stick figure-ness. I don't feel that a person's "beauty" should be judge by the packaging but rather the soul of that person. To deny a vibrant young woman an opportunity that would be a fantasy had she not shown she was truly remarkable is insane. It is this mentality that keeps Hollywood and, by influence of Hollywood, the public stuck in an unrealistic, practically unattainable image of women. Women like myself are not obese but are not pencil thin and we are made to feel like we are obese because we are not pencil thin. The reason we are made to feel like this is that our society produces an unrealistic idea of what the human, or more importantly, the FEMALE body is supposed to look like. I hope for her sake she is able to lose weight for her health but I hope she doesn't buy into all the hype from the media and go to the other extreme either. All I have seen of her personality suggests she is a lovely young woman and she is extremely talented. If she were on the cover of Vogue, I would definately buy it!

By Lindi

she is simply too fat, the more we clap for her, the more we lie to her and tell her size doesn't matter, the less reason for her to look out for her health! She is MORBITLY obese....she is NO fashion model.

By asklej

The word is MORBIDLY - FYI

By Sarah

I'll bet she can spell morbidly.

By Tru

Not a great role model for the youth of our country! She is down right FAT

By nir6709

Who the Heck cares if she is overweight or not. She is a person who has feelings. God made us all different. Just live and let live....

By Dayna

Tru, I agree....she isn't a great role model for the youth of this country. But neither are the women who are routinely on the cover who spend all day with their fingers jammed down their throats after they just sucked the water out of a shred of lettuce. Let's be fair. Vogue goes to the other extreme as well.

By Lori

And I suppose you think that size 0 is a good role model for our youth? I am sure Gabby knows she has a weight problem all you evil people with your mean posts are not helping her situation. She knows what she needs to do and when she is ready to do it she will get healthy.

By John

She should be posing for House and Gardens, not Vogue.

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