"Real Women Have Curves" is a story about a significantly overweight Hispanic girl named Ana (America Ferarra). On the last day of senior year, as her classmates discuss their plans for their future education, Ana gets ready to join her mother (Lupe Ontiveros) and sister (Ingrid Oliu) in a sewing factory, or sweatshop as it seems to be.

Ana sees herself as ugly and with no real future; she resigns herself to working alongside her family, despite her deep seeded discontent that drives her to lash out at her family. But as Ana sinks into the grind of the sewing factory among the bitchy and gossipy workers, she is able to confront her self-image problems. With a little help from her high school English teacher (George Lopez), Ana secretly applies to college even though her family wants her to stay and work at home.

The women in the film are extremely well cast. Ontiveros plays the overly dramatic and critical yet loving mother, Carmen, with a stylish flair. Oliu and Ferrara are able to play their characters as reactions against their domineering mother, but they are careful to retain Carmen's ultimate stubborn nature. In a sense, the three women are all cut from the same cloth — pun very much intended. Ferrara, who makes her debut in this film, is especially charismatic and engaging.

What really makes "Real Women Have Curves" stand out against other movies that deal with the topic of physical imperfection is that director Patricia Cardoso doesn't trivialize or ignore the subject of Ana's weight. Rather than glossing over the subject like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" or trying to convince the audience that Ana is really Gwyneth Paltrow underneath her cellulite like "Shallow Hal," "Real Women Have Curves" treats her like what she is: an overweight woman.

It's much easier to reconcile the idea of intellectually beautiful when you get to manifest yourself as Gwyneth Paltrow or have Michael Constantine desperately in love with you no matter what shenanigans you put him through. The fact of the matter is that it is not easy being overweight, especially an overweight woman, in American society. It is not considered beautiful. Period. Cardoso demonstrates a lot of heart by having her characters work for acceptance of rather than strive to overcome their limitations.

Furthermore, "Real Women Have Curves" doesn't seek to criticize popular aesthetics. It would have been easy to point a scolding finger at pop culture in this film, but that is really avoiding the issue of how to be positive about oneself. This film offers more than just an analysis of why Americans view overweight women as unattractive, it tells an encouraging story of self-acceptance in the face of it.

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