This past summer, the cover of “Women’s Running” magazine featured Erica Jean Shenk, an eighteen-year old plus size model. According to the magazine’s Editor in Chief, Jessica Sebor, the decision to spotlight Shenk arose from a desire to dispel the misconception that thinness was a requirement for running. Sebor explains, "Runners come in all shapes and sizes. You can go to any race finish line, from a 5K to a marathon, and see that. It was important for us to celebrate that.”The widely-read running magazine’s move to be more inclusive of all body sizes has been received by an overwhelmingly supportive public, who have primarily relied on Twitter as a platform to applaud the magazine's decision.The broad support is due to the fact that Shenk’s appearance on the cover of “Women’s Running” is an exception to a very powerful norm in the United States publications industry. For years, the American media has worked to exclude from the definition of healthy any body type that has fallen outside the range of sizes zero to one. As of last year, the average height and weight of models in the United States was 5 foot 10 inches and 107 pounds respectively. When compared to the average height and weight of non-model females in America (5 foot 4 and 166 pounds), it’s clear that there is a significant discrepancy between the vast majority of the American public and the individuals we see idealized on magazine covers. Over the past several years, public outcry against the media’s equation of thinness and health has increased dramatically. Despite this trend, magazines that are littered with “health” tips feature only extremely thin women on their covers--just open up any issue of Seventeen, Women's Health , or US Weekly magazines. This continued occurrence has placed immense pressure on women to squeeze into smaller and smaller sizes in order to maintain an image of “health” in society. Most of us have heard the prominent arguments against the media’s persistent warping of a healthy body image--models are shrinking and eating disorders skyrocket with each passing generation. While most models in the United States qualify as anorexic, more and more women are categorized as “plus size”--simply because the “plus size” label has in itself grown to include all sizes above a size five.The media is composed of businesses and nothing else--they publish what sells. For years, the hyper-thin models have splashed across newspapers, magazines, and televisions shows because they received little public resistance. This is changing. As the American public gains more power of its own publications, whether through blogs, websites, or hashtags, prominent magazines and television networks have become forced to acknowledge the public’s demand to feature a wide range of healthy body types and realistic, relatable models. Some companies, like “Women’s Running,” have caught on quickly. Dove has gradually transitioned to include a variety of women of different shapes, sizes, and skin colors as models for over ten years, and the magazine Verily refuses entirely to photoshop models.These companies’ promotion of healthier body images has also paid off--literally. Since the launch of its campaign ten years ago, Dove sales have jumped from 2.5 billion USD to over 4 billion. After the clothing brand American Eagle stopped retouching their lingerie advertisements, sales grew by 9 percent in one quarter.Meanwhile the globally-recognized lingerie company Victoria’s Secret has recently come under scrutiny after refusing to include plus sizes among its merchandise. At the same time, the company has been losing its grip on the lingerie market to less expensive and more inclusive companies. In Denmark, a popular magazine has faced strong backlash and has been forced to apologize after issuing a magazine featuring a severely underweight model. Despite the attempts of high end fashion media outlets to narrow the definition of health and beauty, the public has grown to identify instances of warped body image with increasing accuracy and frequency. It has long been established that companies possess the power to redefine healthy body images for the general public--but now there’s also a strong economic incentive to do so. As media consumers, we hold the power to identify and reject platforms that promote a warped definition of health, as well as to support companies that do feature a variety of body shapes. To do so is not easy--the equation of extreme thinness to health is prevalent in television shows, books, advertisements, and movies across the world. However, if we remain conscious to reward companies that do encourage a healthy lifestyle and reject those that do not, we are likely to witness a massive shift in body type portrayal across all facets of the mediaSources: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/womens-running-magazine-puts-plus-6127210http://www.today.com/health/womens-running-praised-curvy-cover-model-runners-come-all-shapes-t32521http://mashable.com/2015/07/23/running-magazine-plus-size-model/#dn6lcs.rOGk6http://thoughtfulwomen.org/2014/03/19/average-woman-vs-average-model/https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/get-facts-eating-disordershttp://www.takepart.com/article/2014/01/30/10-years-after-doves-real-beauty-campaign-brands-are-fighting-female-formhttp://www.upworthy.com/look-at-these-beautiful-women-then-see-how-much-photoshop-this-fashion-magazine-chose-to-usehttp://www.businessinsider.com/aerie-lingerie-ads-without-photoshop-2014-11http://www.styleite.com/features/why-victorias-secrets-needs-to-address-its-plus-size-problem-the-right-way/http://www.businessinsider.com/adoreme-raises-85-million-2013-7http://www.thelocal.dk/20150219/danish-magazine-slammed-for-ultra-thin-model This article was written by Lizzy Leclaire. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Konrad Krawczyk