Plus Size Bodies, What Is Wrong With Them Anyway?
In the January 2012 issue of PLUS Model Magazine, plus-size model Katya Zharkova is featured in an explosive editorial where thought provoking statistics and statements are revealed.
*Check out all the images here*
- Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today, she weighs 23% less.
- Ten years ago plus-size models averaged between size 12 and 18. Today the need for size diversity within the plus-size modeling industry continues to be questioned. The majority of plus-size models on agency boards are between a size 6 and 14, while the customers continue to express their dissatisfaction.
- Most runway models meet the Body Mass Index physical criteria for Anorexia.
- 50% of women wear a size 14 or larger, but most standard clothing outlets cater to sizes 14 or smaller.
If we continue to ignore and rely on others to decide what we want to see, change will never happen. We have to be vocal and proactive, patient and realistic.
Tips on how we can help create change:
- Support the companies who market to you.
- Use social networking sites and email to let brands and designers know how you feel about clothing, options and the use of straight sized models (thin models) to market to you.
- Your dollars count! If you stop buying at “Store A” and let them know you will not be purchasing clothing until they market to you, this will raise concern.
- Use every avenue and opportunity you have available to you for your voice to be heard.
- Indie designers need our support.
The answer to the question is this, there is nothing wrong with our bodies. We are bombarded with weight-loss ads every single day, multiple times a day because it’s a multi-billion dollar industry that preys on the fear of being fat. Not everyone is meant to be skinny, our bodies are beautiful and we are not talking about health here because not every skinny person is healthy.
Don’t forget to check out the entire feature by clicking HERE!
So, having an opinion based on logic – it appears that many of the women who find issue with this article base what they’re saying on logic – and consideration for both sides of a debate, means she’s a Republican, and being Republican is the same as being a rapist, pedophile and drowner of kittens? That explains a lot about our government! Don’t tell that to the Republicans!
In all seriousness, I also came to this website after seeing praise about this article. I applaud all you women who love yourselves enough to strive for a healthier and more comfortable life! It’s wonderful. Unfortunately they are overshadowed by the ugliness some of the women who are insulting those who are thin for being thin. I am a thin woman and did not come here to insult the plus size women yet it seems like I came here to be insulted. Am I lesser because I am thin? Is that the message that is intended to be sent by some of the plus size women commenting here or even by the article? It’s a shame that there is so much animosity on both sides of the fence.
Mary, you seem to be in the center of much conflict and yours is one of the first comments I saw when I arrived at this web page. To be honest, it was disconcerting. First, disagreement does not equal trolling. Trolls don’t waste thought on being understood and they don’t mention sympathy for anyone. It does not seem that Disturbed, Scarlett or the other women you have directly responding to were trolling this website. It seems to me they were thin people who don’t agree with the article and/or were upset by the insults directed at thin people. Second, you appeared to take great pleasure in comparing them to the most deplorable types of people in existence, including rapists, pedophiles and murderers. That you set loose such nastiness onto the internet only after people withdrew from the discussion speaks very poorly of your character and invalidates your arguments regarding respect. I saw you attack thin people who you felt were being offensive but I did not see you attack the plus size women who were being offensive themselves. If you want equality and want to be heard, I suggest you work on your social skills as you seem to see in peoples’ text only what you wish to see and end up responding inappropriately.
When I listen to Adele, I don’t think of her weight. I hear beauty in her voice. When I read your words, I see ugliness and it is not due to whatever size you may be. There will never be equality until both sides of the war raise their white flags. Why not be the first?
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It may be unusual to have a man speak on a topic or website like this, but I had to say something. 2 years ago my wife entered a treatment program for Anorexia. At the time she was a size 4, moving into a 2. She was sick, unhealthy and in danger of dying. 2 years later she struggles to maintain a 6. I must confess my vanity, wanting to look nice is important and that use to mean “being thin”. Today, I long for my wife to wear an 8, even a 10. For her body to have curves and look and feel “healthy”. Shouldn’t that be our goal as individuals and a society? Health? For some ladies that will be a size 6, for others a 10 or 12. Health looks different on different people. I had to come to grips with that myself, a 6′ man weighing 215 in the “obese” category on the weight charts. Really? Obese? With 2 girls being raised in our home, we are striving to create an atmosphere of health, not weight. Inner beauty enhanced by clothing and the outward, not defined by it. 6 now a plus size? Please, visit my home, live my life. Shame on the fashion industry that promotes this unhealth and good for the Plus Magazines that celebrate health and beauty as it was meant to be.
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Mary:
Where does politics enter into this? As wrong-headed as Disturbed’s comments were, I didn’t see anything from her that espoused or slammed any political viewpoint whatsoever. For you to try to bring politics into an argument that you otherwise were accurate on only diminishes your own argument.
People nowadays are dragging politics into all kinds of places where it doesn’t belong. (Remember when the weather used to be safe and non-controversial to talk about?) Leave politics out of this discussion, please.
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Awesome article and also posted it on my blog!!! Congrats!!!
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@Mary: So you think you won the argument by comparing Disturbed to a puppy-killing psycho? Her arguments are well-formed and rely on reason, not on “what I think is right or not right because it’s not nice to tell fat people that they’re fat”. I don’t care that much about fat people being fat, but like Disturbed, I do care about inaccurate statistics (one would have to be a pretty poor thinker to be fooled by the statistics in this article, when it is obvious that a very important part of the equation is missing, as has already be pointed out repeatedly). I also do care about the worrying tendency that people show to “accept” everything and condemn any criticism. Failing at school is OK, being fat is OK, we’re all intelligent and beautiful in our own way. There’s a difference between accepting one’s body even though it’s not “perfect” according to magazines and movies (I’m short and live with it very well) and being plain thick about health issues. Yes it’s fine to be slightly overweight, no it’s not fine to give one’s kids bad habits because “they’re beautiful”. I’ve been working in a cinema for a while, and considering the number of parents who thought that it was “healthy” to give their kids hotdogs and nachos for breakfast, and to give them loads of sugary drinks and sweets, I’ve stop wondering why Britain was the fattest country in Europe. I’m not saying kids shouldn’t have sweets, I’m just very worried about the quantities that they have. And about parents who think that flavoured water is one of your 5 a day, etc. This type of behaviour is on the rise, and it’s only normal that people should say something about it. Because the result is kids who have no idea what they should be eating, are hyper and can’t concentrate on anything, and WILL have weight and health issues later because they don’t exercise that much. While it is normal for a lot of women to put on some weight as they age (my 24 year old body is bigger than my 17 year old one, and I don’t have a problem with this), it is NOT normal to see loads of fat kids. And you may want to differenciate between the health issue and the fashion issue, but it simply isn’t rational. People don’t just judge fat people because they LOOK fat, they judge them because, in a lot of cases, they’re being overly unhealthy. I don’t claim to be particularly healthy, but whenever I see the consequences of my poor diet ON MY BODY, I understand that it’s time to do something about it if I don’t want to die of a heart attack at 45. Now of course not everyone’s the same and it’s harder for some people to lose weight, but I think it’s a massive mistake to tell people who are VERY overweight that it’s OK. Also, if one wants to make a difference between health issues and fashion ones, why would they not make one between perception issues and simple commercial strategies? A lot of people are getting tired of the “fat is beautiful” mentality, not because it endangers their own conceptions, but because, if the intention is good, the results aren’t. We don’t need anyone to promote the “let go” mentality, it’s already hard enough for us to fight our lazy tendencies. Telling people that it’s ok for them not to be bothered about their health (or their kids’ health, for that matter) is hardly helping them. Way to bring up a society of people who can’t be arsed about anything, too. I know people who are overweight and beautiful, but who wouldn’t think of saying that being overweight is a good thing in any way, so please drop the “thin hating fat” discourse, you’re only blinding yourselves. AND yes, I’m all for changing the average size of some models, I’ve seen a “petite” dress being modelled by a girl who was 5foot7, which I found just as ridiculous as sizes 6 modelling Plus sizes. I’m also all for voluptuous women. But if you’re a size 20, you’re not voluptuous OR healthy anymore.
I have been considered overweight for over 15 years and in the last 10 morbidly obese. I have a terrible time with body image and self esteem. I am married to a man who is nearly underweight so the disparity when you look at us as a couple is extremely obvious, which makes me want to hide even more. My husband married me heavy and loves me because he looks inside the body to find the ‘me’ I try to protect. I have never learned to love myself.
I thought it was bad enough that I had weight issues; but when I had my children, believe it or not, it affected their doctor’s perceptions of THEM! When I took my boys, who are built like my husband, to their well-child visits, the doctors warned me to not over feed them and gave me information on good nutrition, implying that I didn’t make nutritious meals. The doctor would tell me my boys were going to be heavy as they grew if I didn’t keep an eye on them. I was very angry at these comments because my boys are NOT overweight; they are both well within the medical norm. But the doctors succeeded in making me feel like a bad mother because of My personal problem with weight. My boys are very active and I give them balanced meals for the most part–who totally gives up McDonalds for a once-in-a-while treat?
BUT, if my tall, thin husband took the boys to their well-child visit, the doctor would tell him that the boys were doing just great as far as their weight was concerned. It became very apparent to me that my children were now being painted with the fat-brush just because I accompanied them. The medical community wasn’t just looking at the individual child and seeing where he, specifically, sat on their little chart; they were judging my children by how they perceived me!
This is the first magazine that I’ve seen that shows the major disparity between what sizes models are actually waring compared to the women they represent. The first time I’ve seen in print a magazine that promotes good health and acceptance of what you look like. A magazine that emphasizes that women are more than a bloody number and have more worth then what size dress they wear; that plus size women have feelings and aspirations for success just like the slimmer women. It gives me hope that woman can learn to love themselves as they are instead of trying to achieve a certain acceptable clothing size at the expense of their health and self-esteem. Thank you for doing what you do.
I am really stunned by some of the comments here. First of all, to the women that do not consider themselves plus-size, why are you here? What makes you think that your opinion has any importance or meaning? Passing on your unsolicited negative opinion is childish and self-centered. Do you size 0-4 women really believe you are attractive with the artificial body parts? The narcissism of the self-righteous finger pointers is disgusting. I have an idea, if you find someone unattractive, don’t look at them and keep you mouth shut.
Second, what is this HUGE epidemic of obesity? Are we not living longer as a race, women included?? An epidemic would lower the life span, not continue to see it rise. So some scientist and specialist have determined that the BMI is the single most important thing to pay attention to. Virtually every professional athlete falls under the obesity level on that scale then. Please stop the generalities, especially when you gear them toward the negative. There is a big difference between a woman that is morbidly obese with severe health issues and a healthy woman that is a size 16.
I find it amazing and contradictory that the societal/cultural elite will stand around in a museum and marvel at the art that is hanging on the wall, sculptures, etc…, donate millions of dollars in endowment to the museums in sport of the arts, yet they do not criticize the “masterpieces” that include rubenesque women. How about we all keep our negative opinions to ourselves. The world is a big place and there is room for everyone. If 50%+ of the population is a size 14 and up, how can the majority be in the wrong? It defies logic and common sense. Should we come out with a government advised standard for height? Eye color? etc… Some of this “epidemic” is genetics. I agree that obesity is a serious issue when health is compromised, but just because someone is above the “ideal” does not in fact constitute a wrong or danger.
If someone finds anyone they see on the street unattractive, be an adult and show some class. I can promise you that there are many looking at you and finding you unattractive. Lastly, if you think someone is attractive or a quality member of society based on a weight, size or BMI number, then YOU are suffering from the epidemic of stupidity and should remain under supervision.
For the record, I am not close to obese, but since I work out regularly I am in the obese range on the BMI index. I also am attracted to the curvy feminine form that is spoken about throughout this magazine. That most certainly does not give me a right to judge or critique the women that are curvaceously challenged.
There are probably very few guys posting here. I just ran across this by accident. So here’s a guys’ perspective, FWIW. I’ve always thought runway models looked just awful. Skin and bones. Who thinks this is attractive? None of the guys I know. So it boggles my mind that the fashion industry pushes this look. Does ANYONE like it? Women don’t seem to, most guys don’t either. I just don’t get it. In fact, I have always preferred women a little on the Rubenesque side.
My wife put on some weight after she had kids, and i thought she looked pretty good! (I think she looks great either way.) But it bothered her a great deal. It got kind of strange when I would tell her I still thought she was sexy, and she would take it as some sort of consolation, like i was just being nice, though perhaps not quite honest. In actuality, i was being completely truthful. Regardless, it was clear that her struggle wasn’t primarily grounded in being attractive to me or anyone else, it was about her own self image. And it made me feel bad for her.
That said, I think obesity is a turnoff, and there are some major health risks associated with it too, so i don’t really buy the “I’m fine no matter what I weigh” argument. It’s not that it makes you a bad person, of course, but political correctness should not get in the way of acknowledging a real problem that needs to be addressed. You wouldn’t accept that reasoning from an anorexic, so why does it make sense for someone who’s morbidly obese? Both extremes pose significant risks, and I just can’t get my head around celebrating or accepting a look that is itself a symptom of poor health. But morbid obesity is very different than someone who carries an extra 20 or 30 pounds. Tell me if I’m wrong here, but haven’t studies suggested that this in itself isn’t going to shorten your lifespan, and may even have some survival benefits for the elderly?
The good news is that we are gradually seeing an increasing acceptance of heavier women in pop culture, and i think much of it is due to their presence in hip hop videos, lyrics, etc. One benefit of hip hop (about the only one, IMO!) is it’s celebration of well-built women. It’s no longer quite as embarrassing for a guy as it used to be to express a preference for curvaceous women, especially when music stars unashamedly tout their (admittedly crude) desire for more, not less. But when the guys are hangin’ out watching the game, talking about this and that, it can still draw some strange looks to say this, as if it’s a fetish, not a simply personal preference. Yet, these same guys would drool over any good looking buxom woman. There is a gap between what people prefer or accept, and what they’re willing to say out loud in public. I blame the fashion industry. And although I applaud magazines and retailers for catering to the plus size crowd, things will really be better when it’s no longer considered a niche market, but mainstream. Which it should be, since this is closer to how most women really are. And more power too ‘em.
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“Do you size 0-4 women really believe you are attractive with the artificial body parts?”
…what? It’s these kinds of comment that IMMEDIATELY invalidate your own mission and goal – to strive for acceptance of all, regardless of size. Plenty of people have already said this, but it repeatedly gets ignored. You can’t respond to anyone who disagrees with you with militant hatred and disgust.
This is why I am fairly OPPOSED to all of these feminist movements and black-power movements and plus-sized movements. In their extreme states, their goal changes from equality to superiority. You aren’t superior to anyone because of your weight (though, I suppose you may be superior IN weight.) You’re tired of industry and society treating you like a lesser form of beauty. We’re all tired of that. Responding by vilifying thin people doesn’t make you any better, though.
I dated a girl once who was 5′ 9″ and maybe 120 lbs. Yes, I thought she was very attractive. Got a problem with that?
I am currently dating a girl who’s more like 5′ 6″ and 150 lbs. She’s very attractive as well.
Let’s get down to brass tacks here. We all judge, and we all have the RIGHT to judge, despite what people all say – we have every right to judge as we do to speak and think! We also are a very aesthetic society. A vain one. There’s nothing wrong with that. We are also, however, a very complex society. On one end, our concept of beauty gets smaller and smaller (literally.) On the other end, our concept of normality gets larger and larger (also literally.) We can NOT live thinking that either of these are okay, because as much as it’s not good to continuously starve ourselves to be ‘beautiful,’ we also can’t convince ourselves that it’s okay to get bigger and bigger just because it’s more socially acceptable. Body size should not be a self-esteem issue – it’s a health issue. Obesity is a topic of mortality, not beauty, and we shouldn’t convince ourselves otherwise.
You’ve all nailed the concept of attractiveness – that it’s a subjective term and that we shouldn’t immediately conclude that the only way to be attractive is to be thin – no one is arguing that. We’re arguing that it’s only okay to to be “plus sized” up until you start to incur negative health risks, in which case you should stop kidding yourselves.
I am healthy. 5’11 and around 160. and yet I feel fat almost all of the time. This didn’t come from my family- we are all athletic and tall and “sturdy” healthy people. It doesn’t come from my friends or my boyfriend- they always tell me i’m beautiful. Its almost a desperate feeling I sometimes get about weight-loss. Whenever I have been down to 140-150, I am told by friends and family that I look too thin. But I get more attention and standard clothes fit me so much better- but I literally feel like I am starving and I become obsessed with working out. Obviously, this is not healthy. It is definitely the clothing and fashion industry and celebrity culture that does this to me. I get very discouraged when I see women trying so hard to be perfect, younger, thinner- throwing their bodies around just for people to look at them. I just want to feel happy and in love with my body and my skin and everything else about me. It is definitely not an easy thing to do when you are consistently told by media that you are “fat” just because you have some stretch marks, a little fat roll here and there. I don’t understand how we are all imperfect yet we are obsessed with being perfect?
There are a lot of comments here that really go off the deep end….
The essence is this – 50% of American women wear a size 14 or larger. If you go to the mall in downtown Indianapolis, there is only 1 store. Just 1, that sells clothes for over 50% of the population of women.
I have a large bone structured, even at my peak of being an athlete – running a 100yds dash in 12 sec., riding my bike 400 miles a week, playing ultimate Frisbee for hours – I was a size 12. As anyone seen Hope, the goalie for the US Women’s soccer team – she’s beautiful, she’s in great shape – and I promise you she’s not a size 6. She’s the same size as her DWTS partner Max.
It really begs the question; Why would companies give up 50% of the market and the revenue? Pretty stupid!
As a man reading these comments, I am impressed with the forethought put into this article and comments but troubled by the premis. I have long struggled to make sense of the marketing techniques and societal pressures that have undervalued women of all sizes. Historically the expectations of women have been ever changing and largely unattainable, there was even federal money contributed to help get women back into the kitchens in the nineteen fifties. However, I cannot recall a time where the vast majority were so openly told that they were substandard physically.
I understand the marketing aspects involved. By telling one that they are in need of improvement, you lend credence to the point that your product has value. In that it by using this product you will be better than you were before which was flawed. That being said, it would appear to me that there is an over abundance of this technique in most media. Moreover I don’t understand why most prominent publications seem focused on helping women make others happy, and not themselves. This opinion stems from my very limited knowledge of women’s reading. However with my limited knowledge (and acess) of women’s literature, there would appear to be a stark contrast to publications marketed twoards men.
There is a obesity epidemic in the United States, however I believe that this is a socio economic as well as health issue. Moreover even if one disagrees with my premis, it would serve no good to vilify a group as slothful or lazy in order to get them to conform to an unattainable standard. In addition there appears to be a false corellation between weight and health. Yes body mass index, cardio respiratory fitness etc. are important aspects of health. However these are not all of the aspects of health and don’t favor the skinny anymore than the obese.
As a man I am aware that I am not subjected to the same pressures as women when it comes to fashion or appearance( I can get away with wearing Chuck Taylor’s in almost any situation). However that being said there appears to be a false correlation between skinny and sexy(much the same way as with wealth and intelegence). The great thing about sexy is that it not singularly attached to anything not age or weight not hight nor hairstyle. I personally have always been drawn to curvier women, but it isn’t a preference of one size or another I just like hips breasts legs butts and above all confidence. I think that the most attractive trait of any potential partner is confidence, someone who is comfortable in her own skin. However the thing that really draws my attention is a women who looks powerful, and not in a business scence necessarily. Women have have the ability now more than ever to be everything a man is and more without being a jerk. You can go anywhere and see a pretty girl, but a powerful woman commands attention. A woman who obviously has her stuff together (or creates the appearance of so), someone who doesn’t need to be noticed but still looks amazing in jeans and a white tee or dressed to the tens.
Lastly, it scares me as a father to consider what world my daughter is going into. Yes it is not the pre Gloria Steinem anti a women’s lib era, or the hull house textile mill era, but now there is higher expectations and harsher judgements. Luckily my beautiful girl is only three and there are plenty of woman warriors still breaking down walls and pulling society along with them. I don’t know if my shining star will be a soldier like her father or a doctor like her uncle or perhaps an explorer like her favorite show, but what I do know is that I will do my utmost to help her feel confident in her choices.
I work in the medical field. Factors like smoking, drinking excessively, and poor diet are all the main causes of poor health. For better or worse, most chronic health problems, including high cholesterol and heart disease are largely due to genetics. Mild obesity is not a major risk factor unless a woman has high blood pressure and a strong family of diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, etc.
I have to laugh at people who identify themselves as thin, fit, “normal”, non-fat, etc but claim that they are so very worried about larger women’s health. I don’t see the same concern for underweight women to stop smoking, doing drugs (cocaine, heroin, and meth are guaranteed to keep you skinny!), or binge drinking (there is a high rate of co-morbidity between alcoholism and eating disorders). I don’t think anyone bothers lecturing models about nutrition or the dangers of muscle wasting. You don’t care about anyone’s health; you are offended by the site of larger women. At least be honest about it.
I am a size 16/18, proud, confident full figured woman. God made me the way I am for a reason. However, it is up to all of us to take care of our temples…so to speak. It is deceiving, for example, to see a size 8 model in a Lane Bryant Magazine. I have complained to them in the past, but no one ever listens or acknowledges your complaint. I used to full-figure model years ago….It was discouraging to constantly compete against the tiny models for a job in a FULL FIGURE magazine/contest etc…. Needless to say I gave up. I always believed I wasn’t a quitter…but they proved me wrong. I pray that someday they advertising world will figure it out. A size 8 model showing clothes that come in a size 12 to a 26 will NOT look the same on us. Just an observation folks!
I totally agree with all the other women who think PLUS SIZE models should actually BE PLUS SIZE. I also think like many other clothing stores, that the Plus Size stores should have curvy mannaquins and curvy employees….just because we are a little big(or a lot big) we still enjoy shopping and we value the opinion of the EMPLOYEES in these Specialty stores. Are many of us overweight? Yes….most of us BIGGER WOmen are over weight in some way….12 lbs over to 80 lbs over…..we still NEED TO BE CLOTHED!!! IF I had the right tools, I would make my own clothes. I have written to WAL MART< TARGET and other stores who use to carry a boat load of PLUS SIZE clothing…Over the last few years, I noticed that the WOMEN'S DEPT in both Target and WMART…shrunk….I asked my friend if the store went on JENNY CRAIG or something?? SLIM pickens at both stores…K-MArt has a better choice that those other 2…but NOT always a KMART around…OR a FASHION BUG for that matter. BIG women need to try the stuff on….we like to know if it is gonna fit before we get it home….so not all of us shop the internet. WIth all that being said….having a curvy body is NOT a bad thing…..I think if more us write to these companies….maybe they will get the hint..I can't be the only one who wrote walmart and target….? I am all for PLUS SIZE WOMEN gracing the pages of ANY magazine…or ads for clothing, shoes, whatever……
OK, let me get this straight . . .
Ultra-skinny, almost anorexic size 0 models are “straight sized”
Average sizes, curvy, size 14 models are “plus size”
Yeah, right.
Katya Zharkova is a gorgeous woman and there is nothing at all wrong with her body — airbrushed or not. But only in the alternate universe of modeling is she a plus-size. Out here in the real world, she’s a quite average straight-size.
To answer your question, there is nothing wrong with a plus sized body. Only your definition of what that plus sized body really is.
~ a petite plus who is hoping someday the fashion industry will get a clue and I’ll be able to buy clothes that fit!
I’ve been reading all your comments, and felt the need to put my 2 cents in.
I currently qualify as “morbidly obese” – I wear a size 24/26 (US), and stand at about 5’7″. I have struggled with my weight my entire life; I’m currently 27, and haven’t been below a size 18 since I was 16. Almost 10 years of raging sleep apnea (inherited from my father, who has suffered with it for 30 years or more) completely and totally screwed up my metabolism and I ballooned by approx 150lbs in just under 7 years. At my heaviest, I tipped the scales at 345lbs. So, I suppose the sleep apnea qualifies as a medical condition – which I first had surgery for at the age of 4.
Otherwise, I have the great misfortune of inheriting my maternal grandmother’s frame. She has been large and in charge for as long as I can remember – and struggles with diabetes and a heart condition to go along with it. Thanks to diabetes also coming down from my father’s side of the family, I just know I’m next in line.
My mother, on the other hand, is a military veteran, whose wedding dress was smaller than todays size 0. She never had to struggle with weight until she got pregnant with my youngest sister. She weighed in at approx 200lbs at her heaviest, and it stuck around until my sister was about 5 and then, to my eternal jealousy, it just melted off. For years, she made rude comments about what I ate, despite the fact that she only saw what I ate at dinner and the occasional dessert, until I finally got it through her head that all her twitting and nagging was not helping and instead made me want to find myself a trough of ice cream just to spite her.
When I was 13, I developed Shin Splints (which felt like someone was taking a chisel to my shins with a sledgehammer) and thus turned gym class from the 3rd Circle of Hell to the 7th. It’s better now, but there are still days when I could cry because it hurts so much. I have been trying to change my ways with some limited success, but with all that working against me, do I still deserve to be degraded and marginalized, told to eat salads and find a treadmill (which I did and I GAINED weight), even though my insides, apparently, are remarkably healthy? (For the record, my last set of blood tests was less than 6 months ago and everything reads as “normal”, including my cholesterol.)
I don’t know how it is in the UK, but here in Canada plus-size clothing shoppers have basically have 2 options if they can’t make a trek to the US: Penningtons and Addition-Elle, which are also both owned by Reitmans. The clothing they offer has been of increasing price and decreasing quality over the past several years, but I literally have no other choice. There are no other “plus-size” boutiques in my city that offer clothing larger than a size 20 (most only go up to 18). So, while I am trying to lose the weight, and it’s bloody freaking hard, what am I supposed to do until then? Do I go to work and job interviews in a sweatsuit because I can’t find anything that fits and doesn’t make me look like I’m smuggling beach balls under my shirt? (By the way, whoever decided to give fat girls horizontal stripes and skinny jeans was seriously deranged…)
Even if I’m not a size 4, I have the same right to feel beautiful as every other woman out there, whether she’s 105lbs or 500lbs. Watching those super-skinny models doesn’t fill me with zeal to look like them. I feel depressed and sad and hopeless, knowing that no matter how hard I try, I am NEVER going to be able to look like them, or even any of the actresses in the movies. I don’t resent my thinner friends because they’re thin – I resent the fact that they can wander into any clothing store they please and can find something that will fit them and look good at a fraction of the price that I pay for clothing that has better odds of falling apart in a few years. I’d love to boycott the stores until they increase the quality of their clothes, but where could I shop in the meantime?
Either way, take my comments as they’re meant or ignore them altogether, this article was not intended to promote fatty-ism or coddle the obese people, it’s about trying to give them a role model, a image, that they can actually look up to and want to emulate. And that IS healthy, my friends.
Im sorry but the woman in this picture is not considered plus size in the real world! you say plus size models are between size 6-14? Thats funny because plus size clothing is size 16-32 so how does that work? No regular store like H&M or Wetseal sale anything over a size 14. I don’t really understand how a model who don’t shop in a plus size store can model for plus size clothing!!! I think this is crazy!! That girl in the picture is about plus size as Lindsney Lohan. Come on!! Plus size should be 165lbs + size 16-32. I would love to see a beautiful 5’2″ 200lb woman model clothing. In the fashion industry today plus size means “TALL” Not “overweight” That is what is sad. You aren’t really considered plus just because you are 5’9″ and weigh 175lbs. You are just tall and your weight distrubutes differently! I mean really take the 5’9″ 175lb woman in the size 6 and a 5’0″ 175 woman who will wear a size 22. Come on stop insulting us big girls!! I am 5’2″ and 272lbs I wear a size 20 pants but a 3xl shrt because I hate my tummy showing from having three kids. Now I am Plus size.Whats ever sadder is I go into Lane Braynt and Avenue and but clothes with no problem, the 20 pants fit perfect and the 30/32 shirts and 26/28 shirts fit fashionaly over my 40D breast but I see a woman walk into these stores weighing 400lbs and I know in my heart there is no way in hell any of these plus size clothes are going to fit her if they fit me perfectly. That is sad. Even the designers are now making the clothes in plus to only fit the body of a size 6-14 model. Not us real plus size women. The world needs to change and the only way that is going to happen is by us making a change. Lets use real women in ads not these aneroxic ones anymore!! Plain and simple
I Just have to say I am 26 and I am MORBIDLY OBESE 5’6″ weighing in at 271 lbs. I Am a mother of 4 and I am married to a wonderful Man he is 5’6″ Weighing in at 260 lbs. who is also MORBIDLY OBESE As the Doctors say and I agree we are! It is not the Fashion Industries Fault it is Our Fault but I do not have health Issues Neither does my husband that can stop him from losing weight. He recently found out that he has Diabetes and High Blood Pressure and when the doctor told him he had it he smacked his stomach and said this is why (mind you him and his Dr. are very close) since then he has stopped drinking soda and lost 20 lbs we excersize everyday and his blood pressure is down and his sugars are normal! I agree that 80% of the world is just lazy sometimes because that is what I was, up until about a month ago! There are more and more ways to lose weight everyday they come up with something new and you never know what is going to work I agree the best way to lose weight is to walk if you are too embarrassed to walk outside get a treadmill or go to a gym! Whatever it is just get out and Do something IT really makes you feel better I know because I am doing it! Don’t say I can’t Just do it! It is not about the Losing weight either it is being healthy! I know God Made butts to sit on but not all the time LOL!
I Agree the Fashion industry is not at Fault and II DO NOT agree they should make bigger clothes because If that happens then we tend to NOT want to lose weight i Should know because I am a size 24 pants now and I went to Fashion Bug and Found some hella cute pants and I was telling myself I don’t need to lose weight just find cute clothes but they are expensive one pair was $43.00 why do that when you can lose a few pounds and not be completely skinny and still get cheap Pants? I was 96 lbs at age 16 and I was way underweight as my mother never bought food because we were poor when I got pregnant at 16 and had my son I went from a size 12 to a size 18 Now I was still skinny but my hips were wider.. Sometimes it does not matter about your weight but your shape and this includes men also! Then I had My Second Child and went from an 18 to a 24 Then after that I had my next two children and stayed the same I regret not doing more with my kids but I am making up for it now! I Just recently went to the Dr. because I had gained 20 lbs in one month (I was up to 280) I thought I had a thyroid problem or something because that runs in my family… Which I do not have any problems and Lucky me I do not have diabetes!!!! But I was told that I need to stop drinking soda and drink more water and excersize I AGREE!!! My husband is overweight because of his Medications he had to take for seizures when he was younger and has a hard time getting out to go walk the treadmill but I am there to help him I push him and he Likes it but he will be even happier when we start feeling better!!
I do not blame anyone for me being Obese NOT JUST OBESE BUT MORBIDLY OBESE I blame myself because I became Lazy after I had My kids, BUT I do blame other people for making fun of me and My husband No one has the right to Judge us Just as no one has the right to Judge skinny Women/Men Work hard to make their bodies the way they are! I Mean Look how hard it is to lose weight imagine how hard it is to keep it off!!!!!! I just think No one should let anyone get to them and be who you are as long as the Dr. Says you are Healthy it should not matter! Being overweight does not feel good you start having so many problems, besides Diabetes and High Blood Pressure!!! I have Varicose Veins that I did not have before I gained so much weight and I have back and Neck Problems as does my hubby! IT is hard for me to bend over and Sleep and SEX is not the greatest because we can not do more than one position! I do Believe that More Commercials should have heavier set women not obese but a little heavier!
Bottom Line No one Has ANY ROOM To Judge! NOT EVEN ME!
@Disturbed.
I think you missed a REALLY big point in regard to your comments. You say you suffer from anxiety, which is a sort of mental disorder. Are you, at all, aware that overeating can ALSO be a mental disorder? Why people eat when they are NOT hungry is a constant question fat people ask themselves all the time.
Addictive behavior is not limited to just alcoholics, drug users or gamblers. Addictive behavior CAN ALSO be attributed to people who overeat. Unfortunately, unlike alcoholics or drug addicts, I cannot go to a place that PAYS for my treatment. I need to pay for it myself. My insurance does not pay for gastric bypass or I would have had it. Yeah, maybe that is the ‘easy’ way out, but I would take it if I could.
PLEASE allow yourself to at least consider that overeating is ALSO an addictive behavior that one cannot easily assume is TOTALLY up to the person overeating to stop. Can you stop your anxiety by yourself? You may know what triggers it, but perhaps you cannot totally control those triggers.
I hate being fat and not being able or willing to make modifications that will help me lose weight. Why? I am not sure. Most people are not sure about their addictive behaviors. I KNOW what I have to do and I have been on Weight Watchers several times, but I hate the restrictions. Do I choose being fat instead? Weight Watchers would probably say yes, but I say no. Somehow, mentally, I am unable to do what I know it takes to lose the weight. Do I make excuses? No. Am I depressed about it? Yes. Should that depression be enough to make me do what I need to? Apparently not.
I am not going to get into all the other stuff in the article. The ONLY point I wanted to make is that, just like your anxiety, being fat has a mental cause to it as well.
Wow! There are a lot of opposing views on here. All I can tell you is my opinion. I will start with quoting my mom. She always says “You can’t fight heredity”. This applies to many things, such as personality, facial features, and eye color, but it also applies body type. As with most people, I took after my dad’s side of the family. I look like most of the women (those with children) on that side of the family, which is large to obese. It just so happens that the few that are petite never had children. Anyway, as a result, I have struggled with my weight my entire life, and was alwasy viewed as fat, which did a number on my self esteem as an adolescent. I look at pictures of myself back then, and I WISH that I looked that good now! I started to gain a lot of weight in college, after I stopped starving myself, and it only got worse after having kids. I gained the most after my third (and last) child, after having had a c-section, since it took me a couple of years to completely recover from the surgery. I don’t enjoy being obese. I never have. But I don’t sit around all day eating junk food. I may not exercise as much as I “should”, but the bottom line is, I AM healthy, whether you believe it or not. I have had many doctors tell me “You MUST have diabetes”, and when I get tested, guess what? WRONG! The same thing happened with my son, when the pediatrician was a royal bit**, telling me that we both must have diabetes. WRONG! I don’t have high blood pressure either. And I have known thin people who had both diabetes and high blood pressure. The reason some people comes right down to heredity. Insulting someone for weighing more than you care to look at is no different than saying that “I don’t want to look at you because your skin color is different than mine”.
Wow! There are a lot of opposing views on here. All I can tell you is my opinion. I will start with quoting my mom. She always says “You can’t fight heredity”. This applies to many things, such as personality, facial features, and eye color, but it also applies body type. As with most people, I took after my dad’s side of the family. I look like most of the women (those with children) on that side of the family, which is large to obese. It just so happens that the few that are petite never had children. Anyway, as a result, I have struggled with my weight my entire life, and was alwasy viewed as fat, which did a number on my self esteem as an adolescent. I look at pictures of myself back then, and I WISH that I looked that good now! I started to gain a lot of weight in college, after I stopped starving myself, and it only got worse after having kids. I gained the most after my third (and last) child, after having had a c-section, since it took me a couple of years to completely recover from the surgery. I don’t enjoy being obese. I never have. But I don’t sit around all day eating junk food. I may not exercise as much as I “should”, but the bottom line is, I AM healthy, whether you believe it or not. I have had many doctors tell me “You MUST have diabetes”, and when I get tested, guess what? WRONG! The same thing happened with my son, when the pediatrician was a royal bit**, telling me that we both must have diabetes. WRONG! I don’t have high blood pressure either. And I have known thin people who had both diabetes and high blood pressure. The reason some people get sick and other do not comes right down to heredity. Insulting someone for weighing more than you care to look at is no different than saying that “I don’t want to look at you because your skin color is different than mine”.
What it boils down to for me is that regardless of my size, I have a decent amount of money to spend. I have a decent job and life and I want to dress like I give a tootie about myself. It is very hard to find clothes over size 14 that don’t make me look like I escaped from the circus or belong in a nursing home. However, find them I do and believe it or not, I am complemented frequently. Yes, men have even flirted with me. Shock! Having said that, the issue should be decided by our money. I would love to see those tutu-making, polyester-having designers of plus-sized clothing burned at the stake! I am a huge fan of certain labels and refuse to squander my hard-earned funds on some mess they think we’re so desperate to buy. For me, I really don’t care what the model looks like because with my body shape, I try everything on. So what if they use a size 6 model? My decision to buy or not ultimately comes down to what I see in the mirror. The industry is fooling no one. My size 8 friends are just as ticked off about it as I am. So I spend my money on quality, save up for the classic pieces, and hopefully sometime in the future the junk that they try to peddle to my category will melt down into a synthetic, stretchy ooze and go away forever.
No wonder this went viral! Such eye-opening info. Definitely agree with using your dollars and social networks to voice the need for more REAL women in media!
Guys points of views are great! Some of these comments were so long and DRAWN out, I’ll admit, I didn’t read em. I honestly think some of you are seriously misreading the whole “plus size is ok” idea. I don’t think they want you to go out and buy a big Mac and keep the fat on! I do think they are saying, we have a way to make you feel better and look good, but doesn’t mean HEY keep eating the fried stuff!
As a person who is overweight, and who has been skinny, get up and take a walk! Saying you have a gland problem,( oh by the way I work in the medical field) as an excuse for being overweight is an excuse! There are very few real reasons why a person is heavy and can not lose weight, but there are many real reasons why a person is overweight and chooses not to lose the weight. Hashimoto (thyroid,) can be brought on due to being heavy! It can be hereditary, most likely its not. Some medications like prednisone can cause you to gain weight, temporarily. Just a couple examples.
Anyone can choose to be healthy either way,skinny or fat. if you have blood pressure issues and your dr says lose 20 pounds, why would you be offended? He’s your doctor! If you don’t think it’s the reason your bp is high prove em wrong! Or not and have a stroke! It’s not attractive when your backside looks like it needs a bra more then your front side, So they are inventing clothes for us to wear to look more attractive and flattering then a pup tent! I don’t think they are saying stay fat forever it’s healthy for you!
My sister is super skinny, her bp is sky high, she eats very little smokes and drinks a lot, she gets offended when the dr says, stop smoking and stop drinking. She uses the same excuses I have read here. That’s not why my bp is high, I try to slow down, I ate more today.
It’s not a one day thing, it’s an every day lifestyle! We eat too much, excersice to little, and we are an example to our kids. Wether it makes them do the same as us, or the opposite of us.
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I am frankly puzzled at the vitriol & filth I am seeing spewed out in these comments AT women BY women. Am I the only one who sees the feminist issue here, that the women who are self described “thinner” women are coming here specifically to victimize other women who do not measure up to the thinner women’s standards? I thought that most of us, at least those growing up in THIS society on THIS planet, agreed that the fashion industry throughout history, certainly for at least the last two hundred years, victimized ALL women and expected us all to fit into a perfectly sexualized standard few women could ever meet without cosmetic surgery. I was certainly the victim of an unenlightened mother, as most of us probably were depending on our age. I have three sisters, all perfectly petite and thin despite childbearing. I was told I was too skinny, too ugly, too tall. At 18 I was 5 foot six, ninety eight pounds, size two or four. Pregnant with my first child at 21 I gained 70 pounds with my first pregnancy. My family’s tune changed, now I was not only obese, I would never be thin again. About a year later back to 105 lbs. Back to skinny, ugly. I was accused by my family of being anorexic. Same thing at 28 with 2nd pregnancy, gained 72 lbs, had new husband, very supportive, told my family to go take a flying leap! Then I became sick with a chronic illness. After losing the wight, I was put on steroid injections and pills. Back up to 150, which for my frame made me a size 12 or 14. Still a big fat pig according to my family. As of today I an a size 6 or 8, but that fluctuates with whatever my current medical treatment is. My point is, I was never good enough for my critical family. Even though I must have at some point, for one day, maybe just one hour, been at the perfect weight, they never noticed. Even though we don’t all have that family, society has always put that voice in our heads as women. We are never good enough, thin enough, beautiful or young enough in this society. As soon as we are old enough to drink we are terrified of aging. When we get pregnant we try to hide it as long as possible,and pregnant celebrities show off their “baby bump.” Baby bump? Really? Truthfully though, we all are beautiful enough. at any age, any size. Except for these women who take up society’s torch of torturing us about our bodies. I was a little shocked to see one post on here that said if you weren’t PLUS size you had no business posting here. I disagree. This article caught my eye from a link on another website, and I found it to be a wonderful article that celebrated the beauty of all women. Am I wrong?
I have a question for all of the people on here who say that obesity is a health issue and that what you dislike is not that people are fat, but that they bring it on themselves with unhealthy habits and lifestyles. The question is this: Why is it that one of the places where fat people face the most ridicule and criticism is when they go to a health club or gym? I can testify that this is the case, from my own experience and from stories told to me by other fat people, both male and female. If animosity toward fat people is due to their unhealthy habits, you would think that people in gyms and health clubs would be very accepting and approving of a fat person who has taken the step of joining a club and making a real, concrete effort to exercise and improve their condition. But this is not the case, quite the opposite. Fat people who go to gyms are subjected to snickers, nasty comments, mooing, oinking and other animal noises, nasty notes left in their gym lockers, and general shunning and unfriendliness. If thinner folks were REALLY concerned about the health aspect of obesity, they would welcome a fat person to their gym with open arms and encourage them instead of bashing them and doing things to make their workout living hell so they don’t come back. Please, one of you thinner people who are down on fat people because we promote unhealthiness, please explain this to me? Sasha? Beavis? Disturbed?
I absolutely loved the photo of the plus sized model embracing the very thin model. It was a real eye-opener as to what we’re fed as the norm, compared to what is really real, outside of the fashion industry. In a day and age when we’re so brainwashed to conform to so many different ideologies its refreshing to see something that speaks the truth in a very honest and beautiful way.
Seriously. Disturbed is right, you guys. Mary, you can scream “hate” and “Republican” and “puppy killer” all you want, but that doesn’t change the facts that have been laid out in a logical, reasoned way by the eloquent lady.
This is coming from a young, athletic, male Political Science major. I have no authority to speak on this topic, and very little bias when it comes to the female form (due to personal lifestyle choices which I am under no obligation to reveal). From an outsider’s perspective, Disturbed makes some very valid points.
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Recently looking through a plus size catalog, I was frankly appalled to find that they started at size 6. Even 15 to 20 years ago size 6 was considered a healthy weight. It just boggles my mind. Whether the fashion industry wants to admit it or not, even a size 6 isn’t an average size for women. For bodies that small, you’re marketing to the pre-teens and teens. The average adult woman is a size 9. So what, that means that the mass majority of women in the US are plus size women now? Give me a break. It’s delusional, unhealthy, and offensive. Frankly, it explains why those manufacturers offering only zero to size 4 clothes are so expensive: they’re marketing to a ridiculously small corner of the american clothing market.
somewhere in the middle the truth lies.
there’s no doubt that today’s models…many of them are grossly thin. there’s also no denying that thin-ness is generally promoted as the standard of beauty in this country, and that designers don’t put the same energy and attention to quality into making clothes for thin women, as they do for larger women.
but at the same time, we can’t pretend that the huge chasm in the BMI of models and what is now the AVERAGE weight of american women, is all owed to the fashion industry promoting anorexic models. The fact is that the AVERAGE american has gotten fatter, due to a more sedentary lifestyle and less of a focus on healthy home-cooked meals, and instead opting for fast food.
So not only does the fashion industry and clothing designers need to correct themselves and stop holding up thin-ness as the ideal but ….Americans also need to admit and accept the fact that on a whole, they have become heavier, and not in a good or natural way, but because of a negative lifestyle
ps to site administrators: you need to make that CAPTCHA code field more obvious, or FORCE people to enter it in order to submit a post. I submitted a post earlier (or so I THOUGHT) and then wondered why it never appeared. I never got an error saying ‘you must first enter the code’. So I typed all of that for nothing. Most other well-run sites will TELL you that you didn’t enter the captcha code, and will give you another opportunity to post what you ALREADY took the time to type.
Ive been a plus size person since i was in highschool. I hate it when the store saids they carry my size when they dont. In some walmarts there are only a little section for plus size woman. Goodwill they say they have a plus size section but when i look there they dont have enough plus size clothes or there not big enough to be plus size. We are beautiful too and can be fasionable its whats on the inside that counts people.
I like the girl on the right. Shes a healthy, realistic weight – far better than the girl on the left. That said, applauding obesity just because its “the norm” is wrong as well. It shouldn’t be the norm, it should be fixed. This is coming from a guy who likes thicker, curvier girls. But thats a difference between being a little curvy, or less like the girl on the left… and being obese and unhealthy.
I’m not a fan of being told that I am flawed for not living up to the super-model standards. http://www.science3point0.com/themothergeek/2012/01/11/you-are-flawed-or-so-the-tv-tells-me/
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