Hilda: Why the term 'plus size' needs to be revisited...

We're all about living healthy, but we also understand that being healthy means living well, and living well does NOT mean obsessing over a number on the scale, the size of your jeans or any socially dictated measure of attractiveness. This is why we love Hilda - America's (sadly) forgotten pin up girl. This buxom beauty was the creation of artist Duane Bryers. She was one of the very few more zaftig pin up girls to adorn the pages of calendars in the mid 1900's. In an interview with Toil, an online gallery that showcases pin up girls, Bryers says that while he had a smattering of models for Hilda over the years, Hilda was primary, "a creation out of my head." The gallery's curator, Les Toil, comments that Bryers, "had the chops to have been one of the greatest pin-up artists in America, but possibly his lust for ample-sized women prevented that." Toil isn't trying to say that Hilda isn't sexy - he readily says she was very able to inspire, "strong sexual sensations in any red blooded woman-lover", but he believes her being larger could very well have diminished the ecumenical appeal of Bryer's work. It's hard to tell how things have changed for the better since Bryers first created Hilda. Sure, we have 'plus size' models, but the very term 'plus size' in this society seems to indicate an excess of something. Something unnecessary, and on some level, unwanted. Looking at Hilda, it's hard to imagine her being any sexier any other way. Hilda is vibrant, happy, fun, delightfully curious, active, nimble and to top it off, a total knock out. But there is no point in trying to defend Hilda. She's not a person. She doesn't actually exist. However there are women just like Hilda out there, and like Hilda, their spark, strength, sensuality, complexity and confidence make them damn sexy. The size of their pants is totally irrelevant. See more of Hilda at ToilGirls.com.