Beauty is a tricky concept. I see it as the by-product of habitual behavior and social pressures. In other words, beautiful is what you are told is beautiful–skinny and tall. That is why I was so pleasantly surprised to see a a full-page photograph of a regular-size model in a mainstream fashion magazine. Bravo!

Media has built the image of female beauty–slim body, long hair and light skin. After all, magazines need to give advertisers loyal customers, and what better audience than the one soaking up images of skinny models like sunshine. You build products and find people to sell them to; as simple as that.

So what does Lizzie Miller think she is doing by showing her unfit, naked belly in Glamour? Is she opening a new page in the history of media? Or is she presenting, as The Sartorialist suggested, a healthy realization of the fashion community in times of economic crisis?

Photo Credit: The Sartorialist (scanned photo from the NY Post)