The Woman on Page 194

Who would have thought a photograph of a beautiful woman with a "normal" belly would prompt a flood of emails to the editor of Glamour Magazine, including one from a reader who exclaimed that it was "the most amazing photograph I've ever seen in any woman's magazine."

It's a lovely photograph, but still far from what I would call a "normal" body. Aside from the slight pooch belly, this is a stunning looking woman. The problem is that these women's magazines have presented such an unrealistic, airbrushed and photoshopped vision of the female body for so long, that when a photograph like this one of model Lizzi Miller appears, it's a shock to the senses.

At least it's a step in the right direction, and the overwhelming response from readers should send a message to editors that real human beings need to see images of other real human beings, otherwise we are perpetuating a body image that is not only unattainable, it's damaging to the human spirit.