"Plus Size" - Why we could stop it slowly
If my feeling is not totally deceptive, we are on a really good way. Here are just three observations from the past few weeks that speak in favor of:
- Molly Constable became the first dress-sized woman in Playboy to show the (men's) world how sexy her curves are.
- At Instagram, we now see a lot more luscious cracking and curves than Thigh Gaps and Bikini Bridges.
- Missguided shows as the first label finally unretuched photos of models who may also have cellulite and bacon rolls? and they are beautiful.
Slowly it's rumored: We can find each other nice - no matter what dress size we wear
With more and more women, the penny falls, that we do not constantly diet and in size 36 must fit to make us feel good, beautiful and to show our body. Because as long as we are healthy, fit and okay with ourselves: Who cares if we have a few extra pounds on our ribs? We need our strength and energy to live our lives? not to count calories.
In short, the body-positivity movement is in full swing, and women like Molly Constable are rightly celebrated for causing pennies to fall on others and for the movement to take over world domination. ??
"Plus size" suggests special status
But very often when we talk about women like Molly Constable, it shows that we still have a long way to go. Because when Molly Constable is considered a "plus-size model" in dress size 44, and Instagram favorites who do not hide their cellulite are considered "brave," it shows that body-positivity is not granted as a matter of course.
Why are women called Size 0? So size 32? run over the catwalks, just "model", while women from size 38 are already called "plus-size model"? This suggests that size 0 is the norm (at least for models) and everything from 38 (size 6) the deviation, the "oversize".
But in fact, only a small percentage of women in a healthy lifestyle will fit in a 32 or even smaller size dress. The majority are now 38 and older, and are usually in a BMI range that doctors classify as "normal" or "healthy" (between 18 and 28 if you include all age groups).
Ideal fashion show: At least one model for every size
If we really wanted to differentiate one of the other models linguistically, we should rather talk about "zero-size models" and "six-plus-size models" or something like that. But what speaks against it, just anyone who presents clothes, underwear, beauty products and Co., to call "models"?
The best we should always see women with all sorts of body shapes on fashion shows, in catalogs and magazines anyway. How about at least one model for each size? No woman needs courage to show off her body, whether she is fat, thin, short, tall, bald, or scarred.
Better "thick" than "plus size"?
And speaking of "fat" and "thin": When did these two terms actually turn into insults? Sure, it's not very charming to describe people based on body shapes. Instead of "the fat over there" one can say something like "the man with the blue jacket".
But if the statement that a person is thin or fat is already understood as shaming, the actual shaming is done by those who talk about shaming. To be fat or thin is no reason to be ashamed.
Basically, "Plus Size" is even more of a discrimination than "thick". For if we assume that there is no ideal body shape, "thick" is merely a description, while "plus size" implies a rating: that a human is somehow "over it".
It's time to get used to bacon rolls
Of course, it does not mean evil when someone calls a model a "plus-size model". The word is even often rather positively occupied - because it has somehow surrendered in the course of the body-positivity movement.
But if we are serious about empowering and body positivity, it's about time we got used to models in dress size 44 and take it for granted that they showcase their bodies on catwalks, Instagram accounts, fashion magazines, and catalogs , When we are serious about empowering and body positivity, dress size is soon no longer an issue - at least not one that divides people and separates them.
