JoAni Johnson, who
began her modeling
career in her 60s,
poses for a portrait
in New York City. She
has appeared on run-
ways and in print ads
for brands including
Fenty, Eileen Fisher,
and Tommy Hilfiger.
Advertising campaigns
characteristically have
been the domain of
youthful models.posed in her skivvies and a pair of white socks.
The lighting was flat, her hair slightly frizzed,
and her thighs dimpled with cellulite. There was
nothing magical or inaccessible about the image.
It was exaggerated realism—the opposite of the
Victoria’s Secret angel.
Every accepted idea about beauty is being sub-
verted. This is the new normal, and it is shocking.
Some might argue that it’s even rather ugly.
As much as people say that they want inclu-
siveness and regular-looking people—so-called
real people—many consumers remain dismayed
that this, this is what passes for beauty. They
look at a 200-pound woman and, after giving
a cursory nod to her confidence, fret about her
health—even though they’ve never seen her
medical records. That’s a more polite conver-
sation than one that argues against declaring
her beautiful. But the mere fact that this Uni-
versal Standard model is in the spotlight in her
underwear—just as the Victoria’s Secret angels
have been and the Maidenform woman was a
generation before that—is an act of political
protest. It’s not about wanting to be a pinup
but about wanting the right for one’s body to
exist without negative judgment. As a society,
we haven’t acknowledged her right to simply
be. But at least the beauty world is giving her a
platform on which to make her case.
This isn’t just a demand being made by
full-figured women. Older women are insisting
on their place in the culture. Black women are
demanding that they be allowed to stand in the
spotlight with their natural hair.
There’s no neutral ground. The body, the face,
the hair have all become political. Beauty is about
respect and value and the right to exist without
having to alter who you fundamentally are. For a
black woman, having her natural hair perceived
as beautiful means that her kinky curls are not
an indication of her being unprofessional. For a
plus-size woman, having her belly rolls included
in the conversation about beauty means that she
will not be castigated by strangers for consuming
dessert in public; she will not have to prove to her
employer that she isn’t lazy or without willpower
or otherwise lacking in self-control.
When an older woman’s wrinkles are seen as
beautiful, it means that she is actually being
seen. She isn’t being overlooked as a full human
being: sexual, funny, smart, and, more than
likely, deeply engaged in the world around her.
To see the beauty in a woman’s rippling
muscles is to embrace her strength but also to
shun the notion that female beauty is equated
with fragility and weakness. Pure physical power
is stunning.
“Own who you are,” read a T-shirt on the
spring 2020 runway of Balmain in Paris. The
brand’s creative director, Olivier Rousteing,
is known for his focus on inclusiveness in
beauty. He, along with Kim Kardashian, has
helped popularize the notion of “slim thick,”
the 21st-century description of an hourglass
figure with adjustments made for athleticism.
“Slim thick” describes a woman with a prom-
inent derriere, breasts, and thighs, but with a
slim, toned midsection. It’s a body type that
has sold countless waist trainers and has been
applied to women such as singer and fashion
entrepreneur Rihanna who do not have the lean
physique of a marathoner.114 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC