The Big, The Bold, The Beautiful

by Dana Schuster

Americans fork over $50 billion each year into the dieting industry, despite an overwhelming 98% failure rate (Psychology Today, 1997). Society’s misconceptions about food has led to a trend where people are more likely to diet to lose weight, than eat to remain healthy. Our culture, while continuing to grow increasingly favorable of thin, almost sickly looking bodies as representations of the "perfect woman," has instead developed a battered body image for the average American woman... until now. Women everywhere are beginning to counter the stereotype, pushing for more proportional and healthy looking body images to be displayed.

A leader in this new frontier is Emme. Selected twice by People magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" in 1994 and 1999, Emme was also chosen by Glamour as "Woman of the Year." Ladies Home Journal honored Emme twice, first as one of their "Most Fascinating Women of the Year" in 1997, and again as one of their "Most Important Women in America of 1999."

Emme is a model. She ranges in size from a 12 to a 24, and yet, (gasp) in person, she is one of the most beautiful women anyone is ever apt to meet. She looks, well...healthy, and while curvy, she shows off each and every curve with the spunk and respect all women would be grateful to have for just one day a week.

"We, as a society, need to reevaluate what is really beautiful," Emme explains. "Within each body type there is a good and a bad range. We can’t become fanatical about losing weight!" Keeping true to this mantra, Emme remains sane about keeping healthy and never lets pressure stop her from having that coveted desert. She knows that her body is her temple, and strongly feels that you have to take care of it, just as you would take care of a machine. Dogs are treated better than humans, Emme feels, contending that people wouldn’t let their dogs go without a walk for three months in a row. That’s why Emme is so shocked when women tell her they don’t exercise at all. "Whether it’s a brisk walk or playing with our kids, you have to get out there and exercise on a regular basis," she explains, "not necessarily to lose weight, but to feel good."

Ahh, but that’s what we love about Emme. She is able to provide a calming sense of reason in an industry where psychotic behavioral habits concerning dieting and exercising have become the norm. And, while slimming down may be appealing to many people, "There can be a time when thin is too thin, just as there’s a time when big is too big. If you are a large woman, you have to make that large the best it can be." But the first step is for women to become comfortable, accepting of who they are.

Emme

Emme and her models show off the clothes