( CNN ) -- Robyn Lawley , an Australian plus-size model , is getting a cyber-standing ovation for posting unretouched and makeup-free photos of herself on Facebook in protest against the pathological airbrushing we 've grown accustomed to in professional photography . It 's a bold move for the 25-year-old , who was also a vocal critic of the recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue . Her message to women everywhere is clear : Beauty comes in many sizes . The problem is , Lawley is not what average people would call plus-size . In fact , when I initially saw her unretouched photos , I kept scrolling through the gallery looking for her unretouched photos . Her natural beauty is undeniable , but if her body is what the fashion industry is calling plus size , that world is more screwed up than we know . Like , seriously , what kind of hallucinogen do you have to take in order to look at Lawley and think she 's on the heavier side ? At worst she looks like a fitness instructor at one of those gyms where the women show up in full makeup . I 've been to Australia . There are plus-size women there . Lawley , for all of her bravery , should not be considered among them . It 's the body image distortion that crammed her into that category , which , for actual plus-size women , ca n't be a good thing . If a size 6 , or even 8 , 9 , or 10 , is the industry 's idea of a plus-size woman , then how should the average American woman -- who weighs roughly 165 pounds and wears size 12 or 14 -- describe herself ? Morbidly obese ? Of course not , which is why size designations have been massaged over time . Many women apparently do n't want to know their true size , so what was a size 14 or 16 in the 1950s is an 8 today . Vanity sizing , they call it . This ridiculous shell game is how Lawley , who is a size 12 , can be both a plus-size role model and on the thin side of average at the same time . And while this sickeningly unrealistic idea of what we should look like is something mainly inflicted on women , men are not immune . The receding hairline of England 's Prince William was infamously resurrected as an issue on a 2010 cover of Hello magazine . Tennis great Andy Roddick 's arm grew by 10 inches for his 2007 Men 's Fitness cover . Cosmopolitan compiled a hilarious gallery of Photoshopped male celebrities like Jon Hamm next to pictures of how they actually look . Earlier this year male model CJ Richards , talking about photo enhancement , said , `` Why would you watch a movie without special effects ? You understand that this is n't real . There 's Photoshop in magazines and special effects in movies . I mean , it happens . So accept it and know that this is actually a real person underneath all of the computerized effects that they 're adding in . '' Are we really ready to take a look at 'real women ' ? Fair enough . But then recall the fat-shaming of Prince Fielder after he posed nude in ESPN the Magazine 's Body Issue . Or notice such things as the increase in steroid use among young men ; global sales of male toiletries other than shaving products surpassing purchase of shaving products for the first time ; and popularity of the painful sounding `` Brozilian '' waxes . That 's when you see it 's not just women who are spending money and risking their health to try to look like a picture in a magazine . So , while it 's puzzling that Lawley is considered plus-size , I guess we can say good for her for putting herself out there a bit . In an industry with such crazy ideas about what 's fat , it 's brave , I suppose , to put on a bikini and publish an unedited photo . Hopefully the attention she draws will shed light on how stupid it is to listen an industry that labeled her plus-size/fat in the first place .
LZ Granderson : `` Plus-size '' model gets cyberapplause for posting unretouched pix . LZ : If she 's `` plus-size , '' it 's bad news for average women , who run about 165 pounds . He says America 's distorted views of beauty , appearance affect women and men . " TL;DR The New York Times Magazine is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a special issue on the magazine's iconic cover featuring an exclusive interview with author Barbara Ehrenreich. Maybe Lawley 's brave photos will raise awareness of how crazy our beauty image is .