Port Orchard Woman Aiming To Become Miss Plus America
July 25, 2005
By John Sharify
She wants to help get the word out that she's proud of her 'plus' size figure, and that America shouldn't obsess with a thin image.
PORT ORCHARD - Everyone's heard of the Miss America Pageant. But did you know there's actually a Miss 'Plus' America Pageant as well?
It's this weekend in New Orleans, and size 6 women need not apply!
We caught up with a size 18 woman who represents Washington State.
And Carissa Daniels wants the world to know she's proud of her 'plus' size figure. That's not all she wants the world to know.
"I think we need to be healthy," Carissa Daniels says.
Daniels is troubled with the images of perfection that bombard us every minute of every day; super models in magazines with super bodies on television, and in reality shows.
Never mind it's not all real. The pictures in magazines are touched up, to make the women look even thinner.
What is real, this year's Miss Washington Plus will tell you, is the effect America's obsession with thin has on our body image. It's that feeling that our bodies don't measure up. Carissa Daniels felt that way for years.
"I have actually been anorexic and bulimic and that was part of the reason I made the decision that in order to be healthy, what I needed to do was throw out the scale," says Daniels.
"Weight is not important to me, but I'm a size 18," she laughs.
A size 18 and proud of it. For this 48-year-old Port Orchard woman, it's not about winning the title, it's about sending a message we don't get in the magazines. It's a message she wants her 11-year-old daughter Dani to hear.
"In fact, there have been times when she's looked at me and said: 'Mom, am I fat?' And I've looked at her and tried really hard to stay calm at that point," says Carissa Daniels.
That's one reason Carissa Daniels wants to be crowned this weekend as Miss Plus America, because she wants to spread the message: Thin isn't in!
For more information about the Miss Plus America Pageant go to www.MissPlusAmerica.com.
http://www.komotv.com/stories/38165.htm
July 25, 2005
By John Sharify
She wants to help get the word out that she's proud of her 'plus' size figure, and that America shouldn't obsess with a thin image.
PORT ORCHARD - Everyone's heard of the Miss America Pageant. But did you know there's actually a Miss 'Plus' America Pageant as well?
It's this weekend in New Orleans, and size 6 women need not apply!
We caught up with a size 18 woman who represents Washington State.
And Carissa Daniels wants the world to know she's proud of her 'plus' size figure. That's not all she wants the world to know.
"I think we need to be healthy," Carissa Daniels says.
Daniels is troubled with the images of perfection that bombard us every minute of every day; super models in magazines with super bodies on television, and in reality shows.
Never mind it's not all real. The pictures in magazines are touched up, to make the women look even thinner.
What is real, this year's Miss Washington Plus will tell you, is the effect America's obsession with thin has on our body image. It's that feeling that our bodies don't measure up. Carissa Daniels felt that way for years.
"I have actually been anorexic and bulimic and that was part of the reason I made the decision that in order to be healthy, what I needed to do was throw out the scale," says Daniels.
"Weight is not important to me, but I'm a size 18," she laughs.
A size 18 and proud of it. For this 48-year-old Port Orchard woman, it's not about winning the title, it's about sending a message we don't get in the magazines. It's a message she wants her 11-year-old daughter Dani to hear.
"In fact, there have been times when she's looked at me and said: 'Mom, am I fat?' And I've looked at her and tried really hard to stay calm at that point," says Carissa Daniels.
That's one reason Carissa Daniels wants to be crowned this weekend as Miss Plus America, because she wants to spread the message: Thin isn't in!
For more information about the Miss Plus America Pageant go to www.MissPlusAmerica.com.
http://www.komotv.com/stories/38165.htm
