Lizzi Miller, Glamour Magazine, MSNBC
I am THRILLED at the news of Glamour magazine’s photo of model Lizzi Miller nearly nude in their latest issue. Why? Because this gorgeous 20-year-old, 5’11”, 180-pound blonde beauty has a belly. It’s enough of a belly to hide the top of the little panties she wore during the shoot. And you know what? So do I. More than that, I even have thighs and hips that I was self-conscious about until I discovered the accepting and body-affirming attitudes of nudism. Imagine that…a woman who’s concerned about the way her body appears to others! (Note irony.)
Miller’s appearance in a 3”x3” photo all the way back on page 194 of the September issue of the magazine has delivered an unexpected shock to the fashion world. Response to the photo has been stunning and garnered enough attention to prompt an interview of Miller by Matt Lauer of NBC’s Today Show (a link for which is available at MSNBC.com) While Miller called the photo “not the most flattering picture” in which she’s been shown, she casually and confidently claims to simply have been caught in a moment relaxing and being her “natural” self.
This photo and accompanying article prompted me to think back to my first visit to a nudist resort (Turtle Lake in Union City, MI.) I was petrified. What would others think of my imperfections? Would they whisper behind my back as if I’d worn last year’s fashions? Would they think my husband unlucky for being attached to someone in less-than-ideal shape?
The fear was replaced by comfort and quickly by happiness when I found the opposite to be true. I was brought into their group like an old friend. I felt good about the way I looked, and moved, and felt. To me, this is what nudism is all about.
The serious shame of it all is that the size 2 supermodels make many of us feel so inferior that we don’t venture into the very place that makes us lose those feelings. Let’s hear it for Lizzi Miller, Glamour magazine, and every media resource that makes people feel good about who they are – inside and out.
Comments
Thank you for going back to body positive reporting.
Oh how we love these kind of inspiring photos. It makes women feel empowered and sexy in their own skin. Thanks for sharing this article! :)
stellabellafashion (dot) blogspot (dot) com
Interestingly, men also have body shame issues. I too, was petrified to be seen by others in the nude when I first visited Turtle Lake Resort. I have since realized being nude helps you accept yourself..which in turn helps others accept you. We don't need to be held to the artificial Playboy (or Playgirl) stereotypes. We only need to be who we are..and surprise, people like us anyway.
Because women are more pressured to conform to standards of beauty, body and bling my experience is they have a harder time trying naturism. But once experienced, my sense is their liberation is that much greater than men's.
Bill - How right you are! I spoke to a man at a resort during a trip to Alaska last year who had an obvious physical deformity. He said that the freedom from gawkers and unspoken (and sometimes spoken!) criticisms that he saw and felt in the general public were absent at the resort. It was the one place he could feel good about who he was and he was learning to generalize that to places outside of the resort as well.
Nudism and the practice of nude recreation is not about how I look to you or you to me, it is all about freeing your spirit by freeing your body. It doesn't matter one bit what your physical attributes are or what time and life has done to your physique, in fact, that is as much a part of your character as your sense of humor or the accent you have. This young woman is beautiful as we all are.
The belly is so sexy!
None of us have the, so called, "perfect body". We are all normal everyday people. The media and advertising that we are constantly bombarded with, has created a stigmatism, of what people should look like. They constantly tell and show us how women and men should look. But how many people do you know that look like the people in the adds on TV or in magazines? Not that many. You will not be judged or looked at differently for how you look. naturists come in all shapes, sizes, races, ages, and physical conditions.
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Enjoy our clothing free lifestyle!
www.naturistspace.org
hloh horyo
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