Full-figured women: Swedish mannequins on display

[RainLover]

Some folks, including myself, are of the thinking that this is awesome, and should definitely spread like wildfire. While I don’t suffer from the media driven “norms” for women in regards to beauty, I know what kind of woman I’m attracted to and hungry looking is definitely not it. The typical mannequins look like they need to eat a sandwich!

A clothing retailer from Sweden got a virtual round of applause from Facebook users this week after a photograph featuring two fuller-figured mannequins rocking nothing but purple-hued boy shorts and matching bras went viral. Women's Rights News posted the picture to their Facebook page earlier this week with a message for fashion retailers here in the U.S.: "Store mannequins in Sweden. They look like real women. The US should invest in some of these."

2010-10-23 Becka.nu - Swedish mannequins - 101023-003.jpg (107.23 KiB) Viewed 808 times

The original photographer said this about her photo:

My photo above received international attention in middle of March 2013 after the Facebook page Women’s Rights News somehow found the image and posted it on their Facebook wall. Several Facebook pages followed, and in total, the photo of the Swedish Mannequin from department store Åhléns has been liked over 1,4 million times on Facebook by now! It has also been mentioned in news articles around the world. I was interviewed by Swedish TV and radio, German radio and I have been contacted by magazines and press from around the globe. Swedish newspaper Expressen even wrote that I was now “world famous” as their headline, haha! But this is not about me. It is about body image and ideals and how women (and men) are portrayed in our public spaces.

Åhléns is in Malmö, Sweden. Rebecka has set up a website to handle the ongoing publicity which has resulted in over a million "likes" on Facebook, among other metrics of the story and photo's popularity:
http://www.swedishmannequins.com/