What does a runway model look like next to a plus size model?

Every time we flip open a magazine, or turn on the television or wait for a bus, we are presented with images of impossibly thin women. Photoshopped women, gleaming with so-called perfection, a standard we are all supposed to want but will never achieve without some form of extremely unhealthy behavior. This isn't anything new. We are all aware of it, yet all of us still feel like we have "fat days" which proof these messages and images have secured a nice, cozy spot in the back of our brains. It sucks.

But in the last few years, the return of the "plus size model"--arguable because a size 6, which is below average for the American woman, is considered plus-size in the fashion industry--has changed the fashion world. The pioneer beauty is Crystal Renn, who has had the same, if not more, success as her thinner counterparts and sends a new message while being photographed.

In the January issue of PLUS Model Magazine, plus-size model Katya Zharkova (who you may recognize from ANTM) is shot nearly naked in heels and pearls, alongside modelling facts and figures. Half way through the photos, Zharkova is suddenly hugging a small female human, naked too. Plus-size model vs. runway average. It's a weird combination. By introducing us to Zharkova first as the body standard, and having her face prominent, the other model becomes the freak, not the larger girl.

Interesting shoot. What did you all think?