Great books to order!

Plus USA Woman would like to introduce Leila Marimuthu as our featured model.

Leila is a twenty three year old female from Melbourne, Australia. A full-time IT Professional (a database administrator), she is in her final year of study of a double degree in Information Systems and Business. Leila is part-time student and currently majoring in Management and minoring in e-Marketing.

She is a singer, flautist, conductor and musical director and perform in amateur and professional orchestras, theatres companies and ensembles throughout Melbourne and Sydney.

Much of her time on the Internet is spent being an active member of an international organization called "Don't Tell Me What Size I Must Be". The club is dedicated to changing the current size discriminatory practices in fashion and the media. In Australia, "Plus size" is defined as size 14 and over, but according to the fashion industry, plus size models are women whose sizes start from 10-12! This is unrealistic when one considers that 70% of women aged over 18 are a size 14 and over. However, most fashion stores don't carry stock in sizes above 16. The plus size consumer is often ignored, despite the obvious financial benefits to be had by manufacturers.

Over the last year, she has communicated feedback to various fashion stores both in her country and internationally. It is their aim to make these designers and the public, more aware of the size of today's real women and start making clothes for us! In Australia, it is happening - slowly but surely. More magazines (on and offline) are featuring more plus-size models and more stories are being featured on size acceptance and body image.

Together she is working towards the vision that young people will no longer be pushed to the point where they are abusing their bodies due to the media's and fashion designers' pressures of 'thin is in'. These young people should know that 'healthy is in'.

Being a petite BBW, she is quite aware of the pressure on plus-size models to be tall. However, after entering a national modelling competition recently, she was chosen to model for a two-page spread in the newspaper! So many people recognized her and commented on how refreshing it was to see a true-size woman modeling! It was an extremely empowering experience. She plans to do some more modelling and continue spreading the word about size discrimination in the fashion and media.

All work and no play? Of course not! She finds time to chat to people on the internet. She is a bit of a 'motor-head' - a great passion of hers is imported Japanese cars.

And off the net? She enjoys aerobics, walking her 3 year-old labrador (who also has his own website!), weight-training and spending time with friends. Above all this, she never forgets those that she loves the most: her partner, her mother and her father.