Last week, model Tess Munster signed a modeling contract with MiLK Management and it has become quite the topic on the Internet, because Tess Munster is the largest model to have been signed to a major modeling agency. She is a Los Angeles based model and is a body positive activist. Tess also wears a size 22. And as you would assume, a lot of people have a lot to say about the issue. One of the arguments that I thought was the most interesting was that she shouldn't be in the public eye because she is promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. 

And with that, I pose a question: What about the "skinny" models? Are they also promoting an unhealthy lifestyle? What number on the scale is appropriate for the media?

I think that Tess Munster is beautiful ... The same way that I think Karlie Kloss is beautiful ... The same way I think Naomi Campbell is beautiful. They are all beautiful women, and I don't think any of them are better than the other because of their dress size. Whether that size be a 00 or 22 — they are all beautiful just the same.

The average woman in America weighs 166 lbs according to the CDC, so should that be the standard for models now? Should all models be 166 lbs? Not only is that another impossible standard, but you would have people who are trying to gorge themselves or starve themselves to fit the mold that we as a society have created. This problem is really unavoidable and no number of "fat" or "skinny" models is going to fix that. 

What is going to fix the problem is trying to promote self-acceptance. If we teach young girls (as well as ourselves) to be happy with the skin they are in, there is no way that seeing a plus size model or a size 0 model is going to change the perception that they have of themselves. In looking up Tess Munster, I saw the start of a Twitter hashtag #EffYourBeautyStandards, which I also think is great and long overdo. 

I challenge you all to look in the mirror and find one thing that you like about yourself. Accepting yourself is the first step to becoming more body positive. After that you won't need the fad diets or care about having a thigh gap ... you will only care about being the healthiest version of yourself that you could possibly be, because you are all beautiful!