Loving Large (2012) - full transcript

(electronic music)

- [Voiceover] In an age where thin is in

and counting calories has
become a national obsession,

a counter-culture movement is brewing

behind the idea that big
can indeed be beautiful.

From plus sized beauty pageants.

- There are quality women in
every single shape and size.

- Growing up, I didn't feel pretty enough,

so a beauty pageant was the
farthest thing from my mind.

- [Voiceover] To full
figured fashion shows.

- We always designed something
that is flattering to women.



- I never thought I had
the body to be a model.

I never thought it would happen to me.

- Popular culture is trying
to establish what's pretty

and what's not, what's
handsome and what's not.

And society's fighting that.

- And I love that cookie dough ice cream.

(bleep) cooking it,
let's just eat the dough.

Are you okay, skinny bitch?

You haven't had anything to eat today.

Please, please, just a
half a sandwich, please.

I've gotten a lot of letters.

It's so nice to see
someone embrace their size.

There's always this turn towards
being proud of being big.

Adele, Monique, Melissa McCarthy.



- [Voiceover] However, there
is a serious health risk

to this growing acceptance of size.

- I see four year olds
with high cholesterol.

- [Voiceover] And a larger desire

can turn into a dangerous obsession.

- They wanna watch a
big man eat a big meal.

Gives them some sexual pleasure.

- [Voiceover] But for many,
it's all about the freedom

to fully express a bigger love.

- Larger women should be appreciated too.

They are beautiful.

- It is kind of like coming out twice

that you like larger people.

It's against the norm.

- I've never been attracted to skinny men.

I like to have something to grab onto.

- I have a lot to grab
onto, it's fantastic.

LOVING LARGE

- My name's Latasha Raines.

I am 31 years old and I
live in Auburn, Washington.

I was Miss Plus America,
so I have a national title.

So many women who were
inspired by what I was doing,

who were like, it's so nice to see

a beauty queen that looks like me.

I started the Washington
State Plus America Pageant

and I'm hoping that what I'm doing here

will not go against being smaller,

but saying that you still can represent

what's important to you and
you can be a role model,

you can be a leader, regardless
of what your size is.

- [Voiceover] Four,
five, six, seven, eight.

- The average woman's size
is not this two or zero

to six that's being
portrayed as what beauty is.

There are other pageant
systems that project that.

The average American woman can't relate.

- Danielle Mitchell, Miss
Seattle Plus America.

My platform is empowering and
teaching you through theater.

I wanted to show that beauty does not

have a dress size attached to it.

One of the comments that a
lot of plus sized girls get,

you have a pretty face.

It's like always about our face.

It's never about, like, our body.

From head to toe, I look great.

Just coming to terms with, I'm sexy.

I'm a woman, I'm powerful,
but I'm plus-sized.

(rock music)

I was just doing color guard routine

cause I started doing it in
marching band in high school.

Those girls can move and
dance and do the thing.

- Jennifer Tindell, Miss
Pacific Plus America.

My platform is treasuring our troops.

I decided to attend this
pageant as a self-journey.

Bringing light to the fact that

just because a woman has
curve and is plus sized

doesn't mean that she doesn't have

the commitment and heart
to get things done.

(electronic music)

- Kristin Wood, Miss Bothell Plus America.

My platform is eliminating child obesity.

I wanted to compete
because when I was younger,

I always watched the
pageants and I was always

really excited and enchanted
by all of the beautiful clothes

and the makeup and just how
elegant everyone looked.

I did not do other pageants because

I did not fit the size criteria.

(upbeat music)

- Ephesia Williams, Seattle Plus America.

My platform is the A21 Campaign

for teen girls in human trafficking.

There is a picture for
beauty, skinny, definitely.

I am in this pageant because
it's such a good opportunity

for me to get just my point
across that big is beautiful.

- [Voiceover] Big men
are also staking claim

to a counter-culture movement
where XXL is becoming

a proud tagline for many
clothing companies and customers.

Big OI' Boy is an Oklahoma-based company

hoping to cash in on the trend.

Shane Hale is a model
and company spokesman.

- There are a lot of
people who are getting

more comfortable with themselves.

They're stepping out of, I
have to be a certain size.

I should be ashamed of this size.

Gives them something to be
proud of, to be boisterous of.

They tailor the shirt to
design for bigger guys

so that when you bend over,
you don't expose yourself.

We've got a line of polos that are out

that anyone can wear.

I think popular culture is
trying to establish what's pretty

and what's not, what's
handsome and what's not,

and society is fighting that.

Attraction to the bigger guys
is, it's a more inward beauty,

it's more genuine, it's a gentleman,

because they're not out their trying

to dress the best, look the best.

I was surprised that I was being chased

by the smaller athletic guys.

I didn't think that they would
be accepting of the big guys.

I have a partner, and he
met me when I was a big guy.

- [Voiceover] Gay culture
is where big old boys

were not only accepted, but revered,

earning nicknames such as bears and chubs,

and drawing thousands
of admirers or chasers

to conventions like this
one in Dallas, Texas.

24 year old Michael Walker
from San Antonio, Texas,

knows exactly what he's looking for.

- Yeah, I've always found myself wanting

to be friends with the chubbier kid.

Alright, well, I'll catch you around.

You got my number and everything, so.

- Have fun.

- You too.

- It was probably about
junior high when I had

my first girlfriend, who
happened to be chubbier.

It's just who I am, what I'm attracted to.

Something about larger guys'
chests, it turns me on.

It wants me just to be around them.

- What's up, man? How've you been?

- Good, how are you?

It wasn't until junior year of high school

that I actually found out that I was gay.

Don't be a stranger, okay?

You have my number.

Being gay is something you're born with.

What you're attracted to is
something you're born with too,

and it has been difficult
accepting it over the years,

but it is who I am, it is part of me,

and you like what you like.

It is kind of like coming out twice,

because first of all, coming
out as a gay man is not easy.

Second coming out is just
you like larger people.

It's against the norm.

I've been attracted to men
that are over 500 pounds.

People like the whole
softness factor a lot.

People like how big guys are cuddly.

They're nice and warm, of course.

- We met on a website for chubby guys

and thin guys who love them.

- He's pretty much exactly
the kind of guy I'm into.

Smart, handsome, funny.

- Make me blush.

- We've been together
four and a half years.

I started to realize,
probably around 15 or so,

that I was into chubby guys.

I thought Santa Clause was hot.

- Sometimes he makes me wear the beard.

- Able to say, like, what is it.

Just so foreign to a
lot of people, you know,

just to think, to like somebody
who's large in general.

Some people say they like
a little junk in the trunk.

That's very different than liking somebody

who's just full figured in every aspect.

- I weigh over 400 pounds.

For some people, the
bigness of a chubby man is

about strength, and for some
people it's about comfort.

- I love him just for who he is,

and that's what's most important to me.

(electronic music)

- [Voiceover] A plus
sized change is coming

to the fashion industry as well.

With the average woman
now wearing a size 14,

there's a growing market for fashion

tailored to their needs.

Not just any fashion, high end fashion.

Since 2010, there's been an
annual Full Figured Fashion Week

and it's becoming more popular every year.

Leading the revolution
on and off the runway

are fashion designer Adolfo Sanchez

and model Jennifer Purviance.

Adolfo was well-established
in high end fashion

with an avant garde style, when he decided

to turn his talents to
the full figured market,

launching his Queen Grace Collection.

- I think it's needed.

A lot of women in the plus
sized community want it.

There's a big lack of really tasteful,

fashionable pieces in the market.

There can be a bit of
snobbery in the world

of fashion towards the
plus sized community.

There's a bad stigma that
they can't do the same things

that they do with plus sized fashion.

I think it's actually not true.

Once more people start
to see that there is ways

to do plus sized fashion,
the more high fashion feel

that it will actually be more accepted.

Ever since I got involved
with Queen Grace,

it really has opened my
eyes to a whole other world

that I did not know about and a movement

that's happening that I
think is really great.

With Queen Grace, we no
longer use the words plus

and we no longer use
the words full figured.

We always design something
that is flattering to women.

All the fabrics that we work
with are all stretch fabrics.

Just do some gathering on an area where

maybe you wouldn't have
to worry about creating

too much volume, so we
added it down below.

Makes everything really fitted

and then still gives the design detail.

Three quarter sleeves,
sleeves are really important.

This is our finale evening gown.

We created a deep V to make it sexy

without actually showing a lot.

Inserted like these panels in ways that

really does create this hourglass figure.

This dress is the Serena.

It's from our spring-summer collection.

Wanted to do like a modern
take on a wrap dress,

which is really great
for all different types

of women and different shapes,

and then we accented like
a little shoulder detail

by adding the pleats and the satin,

and then we added some slight
detailing and pleating to it

so you can actually see that it works

really great, has a little bit of volume

without actually adding too much.

- I love this dress because
it flatters my curves.

It accentuates my waist
and it's a great length

and I'm comfortable, so
that's really important to me.

I never thought I had
the body to be a model.

I never thought it would happen to me.

There are so many girls
that dream of being a model.

Who knew that it would happen to me?

Think of a model walking down the runway

and being small and not me.

I never even knew what the
plus sized world existed of

until I stepped my feet into
it and it just opened my eyes.

- [Voiceover] However, Jen
says a controversy is stirring

over whether some plus sized models are

as full figured as they appear.

- I know a lot of models
that wear fat suits.

They pad up and they go out to castings

and they actually get jobs.

As a designer, a lot of them do hire

women that wear fat suits because it gives

like the illusion that you're still...

That your collarbone's out
and your still really slender

but you just happen to
have these voluptuous hips

and you know, these curves on your body.

I wish that everybody would
just model for who you are

and not wear fat suits,
because there's so many girls

out there that are beautiful and a size

that you're trying to imitate.

Why not just hire the
model that's that size?

- [Voiceover] Jen was
discovered in the mall

by a representative for
Torrid, a store chain

specializing in plus sized
fashion and accessories.

- [Jennifer] I recently did
a model search in New York

with Tyra Banks and Seventeen Magazine.

It's a great way for me to boost

my confidence through modeling.

I met my husband in the small town

where we're from just
through mutual friends,

and we've been together for seven years.

He's in the United States Marine Corps.

He got injured in
Afghanistan, brain damage.

He got hit by a roadside bomb.

He's okay; it could've been a lot worse.

Did you have fun, Kinsey?

- [Kinsey] Yeah.

- I liked everything about
her, I liked her personality.

I mean, she's obviously beautiful.

I try not to judge people
for what they look like,

what everybody thinks that
everybody needs to be skinny.

She's a role model for younger girls.

It's alright to be bigger and be a model.

- I know a lot of girls that look down

upon myself and other
women in the industry

because they think that you're
just embracing being fat

and eating all the food that you want

and being so unhealthy and just loving it.

That's not what we're saying.

We're saying as long as you are healthy

and you have a healthy lifestyle,

if you're a little curvier and you have

some meat on your bones,
embrace who you are.

Don't go throw up and make
yourself into something

you're not just because that's cool

and that's what you're supposed to be.

Even some parents you see on TV

are telling their kids
you can't be who you are.

It's not acceptable.

- I don't like going to school cause

all the other kids pick on me.

It hurts my feelings.

- [Voiceover] This public
service announcement

raised one disturbing fact, the bullying

and discrimination suffered
by plus sized kids.

- I grew up in Bowie, Texas.

It's about an hour and a
half northwest of Dallas.

Population of about 4,000 people.

My grandmother, she had
one pan in her kitchen

and that was a cast iron
skillet, so everything was fried.

I faced discrimination
because I was a big guy.

They made fun of you, the
size of pants that you wear.

You know, they give you
wedgies and stuff like that.

- I never have been a skinny person.

I wore a steady size like 12, 14.

I did struggle accepting me.

I wanted to shrink,
change the way I walked,

and I wanted to wear black all the time.

It was tough, you don't wanna
be around people socially.

- I didn't feel beautiful
when I was younger.

When I was growing up,
I was made fun of a lot.

- I did see her deal
with it, and it was hard.

I mean, being a little
kid and being different

as far as your size,
it hurts and it's hard

and it hurt me to have to
see her deal with that.

- I didn't have any other
defense mechanism than my size.

If you're gonna make fun of my size

and I'm bigger than you,
then you better be prepared

to handle all of this in your face.

- Growing up, I didn't feel pretty enough,

so a beauty pageant was the
farthest thing from my mind.

Always seeing all of my friends
around me being so skinny,

none of them ever getting
into a double digit dress,

I was pointed at, made fun of.

Got so bad that I stopped
wanting to go to school.

Finally, my mom agreed
with me my sophomore year

that home schooling would be the best.

It really lowered my self-esteem.

- I am a freshman in high school.

There's a lot of people
that make fun of me.

They won't talk to you,
they usually call me fat.

They'll just talk about
you behind your back.

Kind of made me feel really bad.

- Being in an environment
where she was being degraded,

it really sucked the life out of her.

- I learned to, you know, move on.

- Since my teenage years, I've
always been a larger girl.

At the end of high school, I
went over 200 pounds to 220.

I'd get off the Metro
bus on my way to school

and people would ask me if I was pregnant,

and that was tough to deal with.

My self-esteem has always been really low.

When I was going through school,
I didn't talk to anybody,

and I didn't talk to boys especially.

- [Voiceover] That all
changed when Kristen met Cory

while working at a movie theater.

- I thought he was attractive
when I first saw him,

and that was the first thing
that I was like, oh, hey.

But then the more I talked to him,

he was just really funny and
I was like, well, we'll see.

- I've always been
attracted to bigger women,

ever since I found out
that women were attractive.

I've always gravitated
towards the more curvy women.

I like a voluptuous woman.

When you look at a plus sized woman,

you make the connection
that they're more nurturing

and a little more real.

- My boyfriend, I met him in high school.

He loved me for who I was.

- She's gorgeous, her curves,
has really nice curves.

- Especially the lower
curve on my lower half.

I'm not gonna say he
doesn't like my curves cause

obviously, he does, we've been
together for over two years.

- When she's facing me,
it's the silhouette.

Larger women should be appreciated too.

They are beautiful.

She's just full of life and energy.

Her personality is just, I dunno,

beyond anybody that I've ever met.

She's a great person, inside and out.

- I just like hugging her
and I like holding her

and we've been together three years

and within the first year, we
were expecting our first baby.

Right after that, we were
expecting our second one,

so I have a very strong sex life.

Plus every day, I'm so happy
to have her in my life.

- I have a loving fiancé
who, not a day goes by,

that he doesn't look at me
and he doesn't have to say it,

but I can see it in his
eyes, how much he loves

and cares for me and that I'm beautiful.

- My name is Hal Raines.

I've been married to Latasha
for about a year now.

You can see her and tell
there's a plethora of things

to just enjoy about my wife.

I definitely learned my wife's body.

I like the curves.

I grew up in a family of large women.

Didn't have a whole lot of skinny.

For me, I like to hold onto something.

I'm a big guy, I'm pretty strong.

You get excited, you get excited.

Sometimes, you might think
that a skinnier person's like

so fragile, you don't wanna hurt them.

- When you go home and you're in bed,

you wanna be like, you know, creating fire

with your bones rubbing
together, but anyway...

- I've never been attracted to skinny men.

I like to have something to grab onto.

I don't want that to sound...

- I have a lot to grab
onto, it's fantastic.

- I do face discrimination
for liking larger women.

When we go out, people
tend to stare and look,

but I think it's because
of the difference in size.

- Well, it doesn't hurt me, babe.

That's what you say to them.

I feel that it's hurt him
more in our relationship

than it has me, and that's the
only thing I feel bad about,

is that me being a plus sized, hurts him

and there's nothing I can do to stop that.

He just has to know that I
know he thinks I'm beautiful

and I don't care what other people think.

- She reassures me emotionally.

It shouldn't bother us
what people's opinions are.

- There is a line between
what guys say they want

and then what they actually want.

There's a lot of pressure to accept

the normal ideal of beauty.

- I definitely say men, if you see a woman

that you like, whatever size she is,

don't worry about what your friends think,

don't worry about anybody
thinks, you know what.

You'd be missing out on the
best woman of your life.

- Where do the magazines get off thinking

that you have to have
models that are super small?

I don't see guys wanting that.

(electronic music)

- When you see something
that you're supposedly

aspiring to be like, and it's
getting smaller, the hope

that you could possibly achieve
that also becomes smaller.

I'm never gonna get there, I'm never gonna

look like that woman, so why try?

Instead of maintaining a
healthier, fuller figure,

they might let themselves go all the way.

There's so many celebrities
that became famous

and amazing, and then you
have people running after them

to get them to lose weight,
and then all of a sudden,

now they're a better singer
and now they're better

because they've lost weight.

That's what's pounding in, subliminally,

into these women's heads.

Not until recently, until
I actually was introduced

to pageantry, that I fully was
like, whether I lose weight

or I gain weight, I'm okay where I'm at.

- [Voiceover] However,
health is an important point

of caution in this growing
acceptance of plus sized beauty.

According to the Centers
for Disease Control,

42 percent of American adults will be

obese by 2030, up from 36% today.

Doctor Rami Awad specializes
in weight reduction surgery

and hosts an obesity run and exercise camp

in Palm Springs, California.

- We know that obesity
is strongly correlated

with type two diabetes,
high blood pressure,

cardiovascular disease, high
cholesterol, infertility.

There's a strong link between obesity

and almost every type of cancer.

- [Voiceover] Children
are among the hardest hit.

- Mom, why am I fat?

- [Voiceover] This public
service announcement in Georgia

did raise one alarming statistic.

Dr. Malina Jampolis has made nutrition

and medical weight loss her specialty.

- 30 percent of kids born in the year 2005

are going to be diabetic
as a result of obesity.

I see four year olds with high
cholesterol in my office now.

- [Voiceover] A lot of the blame is placed

on all the processed food available today,

and people's desire to
eat quickly and cheaply.

- Foods are now formulated for
maximum eating satisfaction.

Intense flavor, multiple levels of flavor,

high fat, sugar and salt
act like drugs in our brain.

Trigger these addiction
pathways, very similar

to sex addiction, drug
addiction, alcohol addiction.

People can't stop.

- I gained about 50 pounds
during my sixth grade year

due to my father having a massive stroke.

The stress of not knowing what
the outcome of his illness

was gonna be, food was a comfort zone.

Ice cream calmed you,
calmed all of us as kids.

I would love to lose 60
to 80 pounds; I weigh 280.

I've already cut a lot of my sodas out.

It's back to chicken, constantly walking.

- I try to eat the vegetables

and I try to eat a lot of fish.

- We did blood tests for the first time

and I had high cholesterol.

I was up to 285 and
I've lost 52 pounds now.

I feel a lot better about myself.

I have a lot more energy.

I'm just a lot happier
with my body in general.

My cholesterol and everything
is also really good now,

so that plays a role in it too.

- This is my before and after shot.

This is a kilt that's a size 48,

and I'm selling it for half price.

It's half of me, so...

I lost weight because doctors

told me diabetes runs in my family.

I was becoming, had a higher risk for it.

I just started paying
attention to what I was eating.

Don't eat a large pizza when you come home

from the bar at night.

After losing the weight, I feel amazing,

both physically and mentally.

- A guy will, you know, wanna date you

and then they'll wanna take
you out for a big meal.

They wanna watch a big man eat a big meal.

It somehow gives them
some sexual pleasure.

If someone looks at me and says,

oh, you'd look so much
better at 500 pounds.

You'd look so much better at 600 pounds,

they don't want me, they want a pillow.

To be in that sort of
relationship with someone

who's trying to make you get
bigger and bigger and bigger,

then they're infantilizing you,

then they're putting you
in danger physically.

- I know chasers that say
I like guys 500 pounds,

only 500 and up, I will date.

Well, if you ask them,
what about the health?

Oh, I don't care.

What if they die?

I'll find another boyfriend.

My attraction has gone down from

the 500 range to 300-ish range cause

I've also realized
health does play a role.

If I wanna date a guy, I want
him around for a long time.

- I love him as he is right now.

He's very, very physically
attractive to me.

I wanna be there with him
and I wanna be with him

for a long time, so we're
gonna do whatever it means

to be together for a long time.

He doesn't need to lose
a whole bunch of weight.

- I feel fantastic, I definitely know

that I need to be much lighter.

- [Voiceover] Despite
their best intentions,

Americans are losing their battle

with the bulge in a big way,

even with the help of a $55
billion a year diet industry.

The Centers for Disease Control say

most dieters will gain back the weight.

- If somebody wants to lose weight,

they have to commit to a new lifestyle.

More physical activity, less
fast food and more whole food.

Being constantly
bombarded by unattainable,

unrealistic images, is making
it more difficult for us

to lose weight because it's
setting us up for failure.

- [Voiceover] It also raises the question,

what is a healthy weight?

- People feel like they have
to get back into their jeans

from high school or they
haven't been successful,

and that's just not the reality.

If this entire country
could focus on losing 10%

of their body weight, that
would probably do more

than penicillin has done for
the health of our country,

and you can be fit and larger.

- I went through testing to see if

I was at risk for heart disease,

and you know, we went through everything

and it was crazy cause they
were like you are pretty much

the healthiest fat person I've ever seen.

- It's funny when I go to the doctor

because they're like, you're
actually really healthy.

I'm like, yeah, I know, I'm
a pretty healthy fat chick.

No, I have no issues.

I have a goal, I wanna be a size 16.

That's like two sizes
away from where I am now.

I'm like a size 20, 22.

- The idea that you can be
overweight and beautiful

and take care of yourself and
look good and feel empowered

and feel in control, but if you're obese,

I'm not so sure that that's the
right message to be sending.

- [Voiceover] For some people, weight loss

is a matter of life and death.

Many are turning to gastric
bypass surgery for help

in overcoming years of bad eating habits.

- The stomach is restricted,
and you reroute the intestines

in such a way that not all
the intestines see food.

So if the intestines are not seeing food,

they're not absorbing food.

You eat less, you're not as hungry,

you're not thinking about food constantly.

- [Voiceover] After each reaching a weight

of more than 300 pounds,
Victoria and her husband, Israel,

decided that gastric bypass
surgery was their last chance.

- [Voiceover] One day, you just wake up

and you're just like, how
did I gain all this weight?

- [Voiceover] You don't realize it.

You stop looking in the mirror.

You just go buy clothes that are bigger.

I never owned a scale.

- [Voiceover] You're eating larger meals.

Super size it, super
size it, super size it.

- You get so caught up in the weight gain

that you don't wanna exercise.

Three weeks after surgery,
I had lost 55 pounds.

Over the next six or eight months,

I was losing three to five pounds a week.

I've lost a total of 150 pounds.

I weigh 143 now.

- Now I'm 183.

I was diabetic, type two diabetes.

Sleep apnea, high blood pressure.

I was taking medication for all those

and as of like a week after the surgery,

like that quick, it was gone,

and now I feel healthy, energetic.

I feel like I'm in my 20's.

My appetite is pretty much
non-existent after the surgery

that you have to remember to eat.

- Now if I overeat, I
don't feel good anymore.

I feel gross; I don't wanna overeat.

- [Israel] And it makes you wanna get up

and go do something after you eat.

Not like before, when I was heavier.

I'd eat and then I'd be in a food coma.

- Being able to cross your legs is huge.

Being able to, when you're going

through an aisle in a grocery store

and there's another person
with a cart, get around them.

We always had a good sex life.

That was always good for us.

He's always liked thicker
girls, bigger girls.

He even said, a couple weeks
ago, I thought you were

the sexiest when you were about a size 16.

And I'm all, that's about 40
pounds heavier than I am now.

And he's like, that's when
you were your sexiest to me.

What are you trying to say to me?

- I've always been
attracted to a thicker girl.

Maybe it's a mother thing, I dunno.

But the most important
thing to me is personality

and kindness and heart,
and she has so much of it

that throughout all our weight loss,

there's never been a
point where I've been,

oh, wow, like, I'm not attracted to her.

Now, she feels better about
herself, so you feel sexier.

Now I'm kinda radiating a little bit

more self-esteem and
feeling better myself.

Since we've lost the
weight, we've also noticed

we get treated a lot differently.

People smile a lot more now.

- Nobody'd ever hold the door for me.

They'd walk in front of me into a store

and the door would close in my face.

Now, they hold the door.

Somebody I was dealing
with at work or a customer,

now they make eye contact and
they engage in conversation.

I could walk around with
a piece of chocolate cake

in my hand and nobody
would probably even make

a second glance at it, but
if it was when I was heavier,

I would've got stares all day long.

Well, should you be eating that?

- [Voiceover] Actress
and comedian Jen Kober

comes down on each side
of the weight divide.

- And I love that cookie dough ice cream,

not just because it's so tasty, y'all,

but because I know it was
invented by a fat woman.

Yes, only a fat girl would
say (bleep) cooking it.

Let's just eat the dough.

Are you okay, skinny bitch?
Are you taking this all in?

You alright? Cause you
can't stop me right now.

You haven't had anything
to eat today, have you?

Please, please, just a
half a sandwich, please.

I had a skinny girl come up to me

and she's like, that's not fair of you

to make fun of me cause I'm skinny.

Fat women are jealous at the ease

of which skinny women go through life.

- [Voiceover] However, Jen's been riding

a wave of plus sized
acceptance in Hollywood,

padding her resume with roles in

the American Pie: Reunion movie,

HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Treme.

- I don't want the fat
people to feel left out.

We also have stickers that
say, "Hard to kidnap."

I've gotten a lot of letters.

It's so nice to see
someone embrace their size

and I'm a hard to kidnap kid too.

Whether you're big or you're small,

I feel like you have to
just appreciate the person

and I think that it's nice
that that's finally happening.

I feel like I've gotten
cast in a lot of roles

that maybe they didn't see
a bigger person playing,

but because I can do the work.

There's also this turn towards
being proud of being big.

Adele, she makes no
apologies about her size.

Monique, who's such a talent.

She'll tell you, I'm big,
that's the way I do it.

Melissa McCarthy, she's
just a delightful person.

When you see bigger women
that own their size,

that's very attractive.

- [Voiceover] Danielle hopes
to be part of a new generation

of full figured women making it big

in show business after competing

in the Washington Plus
America Beauty Pageant.

- I've been cast as the big,
black funny woman and I feel

that that's something that
also need to be changed.

I should be a part of this positive change

for plus sized actresses not
being just a funny sidekick.

- [Voiceover] Beauty pageants
may seem like a lot of fun,

but they are serious
business to Latasha Raines.

- We are gonna be elegant,
we are gonna be classy.

We are gonna be (indistinct).

We're aware of our bodies.

So these side conversations look better.

Some of them feel like I'm
a little tough, and I am.

Just as tough as society
has been on women of size

and basically silently
saying you are not accepted.

You know, you are not
the vision of beauty.

Bend your knees, arms, okay?

So like, I don't want that
or you know, like that,

cause that's what I see.

You don't want to flip your hair up.

We want you to still look elegant.

Don't hide the fact that you're

in a cocktail dress and heels
on a stage that is elevated.

There can be that mindset
of that's so cute.

Those big people are getting together

and they're gonna make
themselves feel good,

and not taking it seriously,

like maybe they would
a mainstream pageant.

I don't want my contestants
to go through that.

It is tough and it is the
lack of understanding.

Wow, I am blown away,
you guys are phenomenal

and you're smiling and
you're poised, so beautiful.

- [Voiceover] More than
45 women took to the stage

in the first Washington
Plus America Beauty Pageant.

The contestants aim to show

that big can indeed be beautiful.

Washington Plus America Teen

(upbeat music)

- I was shocked and excited
and proud of myself.

It wasn't just people I
know, making decision,

and they were looking at me,
at more of an all-around person

rather than just my looks.

I hope that the pageant
will show other girls

who may not be plus sized
that we too are people

and we have feelings and
we can make a difference

just like them, and we don'
have to be pushed aside.

- Seeing other women like me

and getting to know them better,

through them, my self-esteem is boosted.

I've had so many people tell me

that I'm completely different
than what I was pre-pageant,

pre meeting all these beautiful women.

- Size really doesn't mean anything.

When it comes to beauty and
confidence, anyone can have it.

I already signed up for the
next pageant, next year,

so more pageants, more
fun, more appearances.

- I did for a long time and like cared

about what other people thought of me

and like, really wanted
to be like everybody else.

And I was like, what's the point of that?

Why do I need to be like somebody else?

Like, I'm just gonna do me.

- [Voiceover] Danielle is also determined

to send a bigger message in
this counter-culture movement

of plus sized beauty and acceptance.

- I'm not saying skinny women are not

as beautiful as plus sized women.

Women are beautiful, period.

The media needs to get it right.

- I know for a fact since
I've started modeling,

I've made a lot of women
comfortable in their own skin

and shown them that they
can love who they are.

My hope is to see plus
sized high end fashion

keep going in the industry,

just embracing everybody's
natural body type.

- In a really short period of time,

we have really gained
a lot of recognition,

a lot of growth and it's
been going fantastic.

It shouldn't be a section
where you have to go

and shop if you're a certain size.

I think it should all
just be blended together.

- You wanna have the
ripped abs, work at it.

If you wanna be a husky
guy, be a husky guy.

It's all about what you want as a person.

You shouldn't let society
dictate how big you wanna be.

- These women went in kind of like,

oh, I don't know if I can do this,

I've never walked in heels,
I don't wear dresses,

I don't like to show my arms.

You know, all these things
that we're told to hide

because we're bigger, to wow,
I just got a cute dress on.

I'm wearing heels, I'm ready to do this.

When's the pageant gonna start?

You know, totally different attitude.

Seeing these women transform,

so many of them have said, even if I don't

win the crown, I've won so much.

I actually wanna go out and do things

where before, I was just sitting at home,

commiserating over what I look like.

And now, I can actually say, okay,

I'm gonna make the best of what I got

and if I don't like it,
I'm gonna change it.

LOVING LARGE