But for just a few cents a day, we could adopt the second girl and give her some good, nourishing food... someone call Sally Struthers!

Not that I disagree with anything that's been posted here, but where did that photo of Berglund come from? You'd think she'd at least smile and pose a little -- it's a somewhat unfair comparison the way the two photos are done, one posed and smiling and made-up, and the other not -- but it certainly does make a point about how good a normal-weight woman really looks compared to what's considered model-weight. I think it would have made a better point if Berglund had been smiling, posed and made-up just like Hunter -- what is the journalist afraid of anyway?

One picture looks like a woman.

The other looks like a boy.

Even if the skinny girl smiled, she would still be skin and bones.

I know some people are naturally skinny, but it's unrealistic to expect women to be boys. Women are women. They are supposed to have some fat on them. If some people think fashion looks better on a boyish figure, why not just put some women clothes on a boy? That way young girls don't get the wrong idea.

I know there are many men who prefer womanly figures, but there are actually plenty of men out there who like figures like Marianne Berglund. The reason is that when we are bombarded with images like Marianne Berglund, in time we perceive that as the ideal beauty. Convince yourself enough and you will see Marianne Berglund as beautiful. Look at the female movie stars. Most of them are underweight.

Body aside, she looks like an albino vulcan. Someone do something with her eyebrows.

An older article with pics.

Are these any better?

She still looks like a skeleton, no matter how ya pose her. YUCK!

I thought I was thin, that is way too much. People should give a bit more respect to others around here though, thats what I think. In another article the other model considered a good lifestyle to be eating chips and smoking...

ditto, ditto, and ditto again. her poses just make things look worse.

you know, for as much as i whole-heartedly agree with everyone on the thread, i have to wonder if some of it isn't the bathing suit she's in... it's a bad cut for her frame, the metallic material calls attention to her protruding hipbones and ribs, and the color washes her out. on the other, curvy model, it's perfect.

Yes, on the other, curvier model, it is perfect...BECAUSE she doesn't have protruding hipbones, ribs...

The excuse we hear from the fashion industry is that the models HAVE to be very thin to display the clothes in their best light... um... I'd have to say the model that doesn't make the swimsuit look like a bit of foil over a lollipop stick makes the suit look much better.

Models don't get to pick the clothes that flatter them and make them look less, well...DEAD. They have to wear what they get handed.

Wow.

I'm surprised that people in the audience voted the really skinny girl as runner up. Surely there were some choice in-between.

That's not going to happen until people stop poking fun at others at the other end of the spectrum -- the overweight people. Let's remember that BOTH of these extremes are unhealthy, and ultra-thin is not the "lesser evil".

After looking at what I wrote, I think Whoa is right in a sense about the words I used. It isn't any better than looking at someone's photo and calling them a lard-ass or a fat pig. And I know I always hated that, so I shouldn't practice it on another. She's obviously got issues just like I do. The only difference is that she is a public person who specifically uses her body to make her living and to sell things. She can expect more criticism of herself as a result.

However, having been on the bad end of hateful behavior, I ought to know better.

I still find her not sexy in the slightest, but perhaps I'm not the demographic they are interested in. Most fashionistas aren't too concerned with what 43-year old middle-American guys think.

When ultra-thin stops being seen as "better than" the rest of us, there won't be so many hard feelings, either. I get so tired of skin and bones being held up as some sort of gold standard (swimwear nothwithstanding ) and being told how ugly, weak and inferior *I* am for not being thin, how women shouldn't love themselves and be proud of themselves regardless of the size of their backside... well, I'm going to fight back a bit.

Even on a support forum, fat isn't seen as acceptable by many.

I'm not even looking at the bathing suit. I'm looking at her stick thin legs and that ridging on her chest, typical of anorexic women. I'm looking at her drawn and tired face. Sure, different colors and different outfits would make her look better, just like the proper clothing will always improve anyone appearances.

However, isn't the point of a model is that she can look good in any outfit? Or least that's the excuse they use.

After having seen those extra photos, I remember having watched one episode on that show. I remember the judges berating the skinny model for anorexic type behaviors. I was sure she was going to be kicked off and to my disappointement she wasn't. I'm saddened to see she made runner up.

Not that I have anything against this girl, just that I think anorexics don't need the extra validation of seeing one of their own being runner up in a modeling contest.