Oh, Hello Kate Upton. So Nice To See You!

I am late to the game in discovering Kate Upton. Probably because I’m not a guy, so I wasn’t on the active hunt for attractive females to ogle, but I just saw her spread in Vogue (which I’ve learned is actually her second Vogue spread this year) and…wow. I had to check multiple sources before believing – reluctantly – that this girl is only 20 years old. She has the most realistic-looking supermodel body (“realistic” as in not anorexic, but just curvy enough in all the right places) I’ve ever seen, but with the confidence of a woman in her 40s who spent the past 20 years searching and discovering herself. How can one girl, at the tender age of 20, exude all those through mere photographs? Needless to say, Miss Upton impresses me.

While browsing her current Vogue spread, the first thing that catches my attention is the similarities between Upton and Marilyn Monroe. Her blonde hair, dark eyebrows, and impressive hourglass shape. Not to mention, their faces actually look alike. A quick Internet search shows me that I’m not the first to think this, as Upton has done an entire photo shoot dresses as the iconic sex symbol. Well, I may be late to the game, but at least I’m at the same game as everyone else.

Or am I? The same Internet search also brought up articles where Upton’s weight and curves are criticized. My eyes actually bugged a little when I read that Victoria's Secret casting director Sophia Neophitou told The New York Times, "We would never use [Upton]. She's like a Page 3 girl. She's like a footballer's wife, with the too-blond hair and that kind of face that anyone with enough money can buy."

What?! Are we looking at the same girl? Yes, Upton has…ample assets…but unlike many of the women featured in Victoria’s Secret and other, more “traditional models,” she is very clearly not surgically enhanced..

Upton addresses this criticism of her in her Vogue interview, declaring, “I don’t want to starve myself. I still want to hang out with my family and be a normal girl. You have to be confident, and that doesn’t mean starving yourself."

Hell, yeah! As a woman in this society filled with ridiculous expectations of what “beauty” should look like, I can’t express how stoked I am to see a gorgeous woman who looks real getting the exposure she is (most of it is very positive exposure. There’s always jealous females – I mean “critics”) and not killing herself to obtain it.

"I think it’s important to look at magazines and think a healthy lifestyle is attainable. Now that the fashion industry likes the idea of me, I’m happy if I can have an influence," Upton added. "Now, whenever girls come up to me saying they’re happy to see I am confident about my body, it makes me feel good that I am contributing in a way among people my age."

Thanks, Kate! I’m looking forward to seeing more of you around. I have a feeling I’m not alone either.