I received a supposedly “funny” email that featured overweight/obese people shopping at Wal-Mart and made sport of the clothing these people were wearing. In most cases the photos were of women wearing clothing intended as hip, modern and fashionable. Unfortunately, this was not the image they projected. The attire would have been trashy and revealing on an underfed teenager and was completely undignified being worn by the 200+ pound women caught on camera. By the time I reached the end of the email I was not laughing, I felt mortified and angry.
Yes, we all need to accept ourselves and honor our bodies for where we are today; but, this does not mean we have to fall victim to the ideals that mainstream media portrays as fashionable and sexy. Dressing like an over sexed, underweight teenager is not the way for full-figured women to gain social acceptance or be seen as fashionable.
Are you aware that the “Average” woman in America is a size 12-14? Or that “Plus-size” fashions for women begin at size 16? These “Plus-size” women make up nearly 67% of the population.
Now closed your eyes and see if you can make this knowledge meld with the following.
-Most fashion designers don’t design women larger than a size 10.
-Plus-size models are only size 12-14.
-Major department store like Macy’s often don’t even place the few hundred square feet of retail space the spare for plus size fashions with the rest of women’s clothing; at the Cool Springs Galleria location in Franklin, TN these clothes are upstairs sandwiched between housewares and the children’s department.
The information I found does not make me feel hopeful that the polar opposites of fashion and size will meet anytime soon. I leave you with links to two very interesting articles from the LA & NY Times and an essay written by a college student. For those of you who take the time tor read them, I would be love see your comments. Please post your responses.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/fashion/MODEL.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/01/image/ig-size1
http://collegecandy.com/2010/01/15/stop-exploiting-plus-size-women-fashion-magazines/
