*Warning Spoiler Alert*

Although I was pleasantly surprised to see Whitney Thompson become the first plus-sized model to win ANTM; I couldn’t help but notice that public relations wise, the she was the better pick over her competitor Anya.

Whitney is student from Atlantic Beach, Florida, and she has spent her whole life battling stereotypes against full figured women. She proclaimed in the casting session that “I have hips and I have breasts and I am proud of that.”

Compare that to Anya, the Hawaiian native who seemed to do better overall in the competition, but came across as a ditsy blond with some sort of strange speech impediment. She had a great energy in her photos, but her TV commercial was pretty terrible.

As much as Producer Tyra Banks and her band of zany judges try to deny it, ANTM is about producing models that will appeal to the masses. Girls like Whitney are repeatedly chastised for being too “commercial,” and yet the prize is all about being commercial, and being the best role model. Girls are punished over and over for being “fake,” but every picture is taken in a ridiculously unrealistic situation and then retouched to the point where they look more like paintings than photographs. Whitney’s story is endearing and relatable and will make a perfect cover story for seventeen magazine.

With Dove’s Real Beauty campaign seeing huge success, it was the perfect timing for curvy Whitney to take the crown. Even Tyra herself has become a spokeswoman for healthy body image when appeared on the cover of People Magazine, after an unflattering picture appeared in the tabloids, with the caption “You Call This Fat?” Perhaps, after eight seasons of stick thin models winning, Tyra saw this as the perfect time jump on the “real women” band wagon.

What do you think? Does Whitney’s win change your perception of ANTM or the modeling industry?

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