By Tatiana von Tauber
Confidence is the biggest motivator of hotness there is. I’ve been trying to figure out why exactly confidence is so enduring, sensual, erotic and empowering not from the standpoint of having confidence but viewing others with it. It’s just sexy when in its right doses. I think confidence is like a musk, a pheromone likeness that ignites the brain’s attraction zone. The ugliest people can be very attractive if they’re confident in their own skin (a sense of humor and reasonable intelligence helps too). I think the same for fat chicks.
One obstacle I face in attracting women to have erotic and boudoir photos taken is most of them think they’re fat. For those who are, convincing them that weight has little to do with sexual and erotic confidence is like convincing a tween that the pimple on the face isn’t as big as she thinks it is. The horror is all relative. It’s hard to run from external imprints especially with beauty magazines doing everything to make the average (and healthy weighted) woman feel like a fat pig.
Now a plus size model, Crystal Renn, used to be “too thin for a size 0” before the modeling industry broke her down into an all out eating jamboree after years of eating less than 1,000 calories a day. She’s now a healthy size 12. For many women, size 12 is fat (for the modeling industry it nears obesity) but if a size 12 woman can look hot and an even larger woman (“Largely Lovely“) edge, if not pass an erotic look, then the answer to the puzzling question of why fat chicks are hot seems only imprinted in the level of confidence they hold with respect to body image.
Renn and the “Largely Lovely” model I photographed exhibit a this is me and I love it attitude. When a fat chick* can get into a bikini or naked and be proud, that’s confidence and even those who don’t find larger bodies sexy seem surprised that for a moment their mind gave large women more credit than previously. That’s appealing because it has good potential for women. It’s a stepping stone for breaking down the barriers society – mainly modern media – has created about what constitutes an attractive woman. If capitalism gained on the enterprise of good character opposed to good body, most women today would feel more sexually confident and everyone would strive for better character. Ah. I’m such the failing idealist.
With the American porn industry saturated with Barbie dolls and European markets drenched in “barely 18” girls, mass media creating young adults out of teens and actresses role modeling plastic surgery to fit in, there’s a slice of the pie that’s missed and it’s the sex appeal the average to large woman can have. Clearly it’s possible but just as for thin women, looking hot takes some effort. There’s a clear line between the fat woman who possesses confidence in her style and one who just looks like a blown up beach ball with lots of large Hibiscus prints, respectfully. Looking good and feeling good ignite confidence and all three require conscious effort.
While it would progress both genders, large women really ought to open up to new meanings and visions of what is and can be sexy and become it. That’s where confidence sits. Perhaps that’s why find it so appealing. It’s nothing short of sexy. As far as I’m concerned, it’s always nice to see a sexy and confident woman no matter what her size. They’re few and far between right now. That makes Renn and others like her healthy role models for the socially indoctrinated, which is basically everyone.
* fat chick is, of course, relative as well
