Meghan Trainor has been quiet lately, which is nice because she’s a little ditzy. Her management must have told her to chill out and let the tunes talk for themselves. Now that Meghan has a fashion collaboration to promote, she’s doing interviews and spoke with Elle. She’ll be working with FullBeauty, but she very much dislikes the term “plus-sized.” Meghan feels this is an insult to full-figured ladies, yet she’s paired up with a label that caters primarily to size 12 and above, so I don’t know. Meghan’s entire brand is built upon not looking like a typical pop star. She has dissed “skinny girls” in her lyrics but backtracked when called out. Meghan even praised thigh gaps, so I think there are some mixed messages with her. Here’s what Meghan had to say about her clothing endorsement:
On being a “confidence idol”: “That never was a decision. It kind of just happened. I hate seeing when people blow up about a model because she has a little extra skin. I hate that it’s like I have to be a big diva, but I like that we’re talking about it, and those people are speaking up.”
On sizing terminology & labels: “I’ve always hated the word ‘plus-size.’ It bugs me. When I first signed up with FullBeauty, and I talked to them. I was like, ‘I don’t want to be labeled as this plus-sized girl coming in,’ and they said, ‘Absolutely not, we don’t like that term either.” Which is why we like to say ‘full beauty’ [and] why I was immediately excited to work with them. Everything Melissa said is completely accurate. [They’re] a big part of our society, women who are size 14, and how are you going to criticize us? The word ‘plus-sized’ should be gone.”
On internet criticism: “I’ll try not to read the comments, especially on YouTube – YouTube has the worst comments. On Instagram, I’ll scroll down and see what’s going on, and I have little warriors now: These little fans that are yelling at anyone who criticizes me. It’s cool because it’s not all hate, you know? But there are those comments that are like, ‘Fat whale, go away,’ pretty brutal stuff. I just try to not read [it] … and my family really helps me out whenever I’m feeling down about comments. My mom talks me out of being sad.”
[From Elle]
Well, no one ever deserves to be called “fat whale,” and Meghan is correct in that YouTube commenters are the absolute worst ones on the internet. I can’t read those comments either and don’t even have to worry about being a target for them. Does Meghan have a point about the term “plus-sized“? She’s working with a company who uses another distinguishing term for over-12 sizes, so maybe she feels their term is not as discriminatory. I sorta feel like both terms equally call out the same thing but am completely open to other opinions. It would be fantastic if we could eliminate all sizing labels and just use numbers, but that’s impossible since some designers only make clothing for certain ranges. The whole thing is such a mess, and someone will always be slighted by size labeling.
Photos courtesy of WENN
I can’t stand the term “full beauty.” What the hell does that even mean? Like, if you’re thin, you’re NOT a full beauty? Give me a break.
If you’re thin you’re just a beauty. And even if it doesn’t say so specifically, society caters so much to thin people, do they really need more fawning?
+1
+2
Poor priviledged thin people.
This whole conversation is about them. Because everything is always about them.
Exactly. Women over size 10 are constantly given side-eye, insulted by strangers, and taken less seriously in every aspect of society/life/business. But sure. Make her comment about “full beauty” as an insult to slender women.
Jeez. Get OVER yourselves. Seriously. Every thread where a larger woman makes any sort of comment about self-empowerment, we get a litany of thin women behaving as though they are somehow diminished. NO ONE diminishes thin women.
Sure, if someone walks up to a slender person and says, “You need to eat a sandwich,” that person is as much of a d-bag as the guy who calls a heavy girl a “fat whale,” but let’s be realistic here.
“Full beauty” is clearly an adaptation of “full-figured,” which was the term used for generations before “plus-sized.”
The constant cries about discrimination from slender people are just over the top. The world is your oyster. Society loves you. An occasional bitter fat person might say something nasty to you out of jealousy, but that is the worst thing you ever have to deal with as far as societal judgment. So…take your slender privilege, enjoy it, and go find another crusade.
However, with all that said and seriously meant: I hate “real women have curves.” THAT is an insult. That one…is wrong. All women are real, whether they have curves or not.
Really ? Body shaming is body shaming, weather you are size 2 or size 22
“Whether they have curves or not”
Just want to point out that the issue of curves is an entirely different conversation. Curves are about bust:waist:hip ratios. Many slender women have curves, many larger girls don’t. Curves are essentially about body type, a slender girl without curves who puts on weight just becomes a bigger girl without curves.
As for Meghan, you can just tell she would ve a fat shamer if she was thin. She’s not into body acceptance so much as Meghan acceptance.
What Mrs. Nix said. That “real women have curves” sh*t is why I refuse to buy anything Dove makes.
Not worrying so much about what “society” thinks would be a good start.
First thing I thought of too! As in being slim equates to somehow being “less”? I agree with Bedhead, give me standard number sizes please! (Pipe dream)
I think the name is a little stupid too, but let’s be real here. If you’re thin, you’re already “beautiful”, you don’t need the qualifier. Being fat, or not even fat, just not skinny, in American culture is the “less than” position, thus people feel the need to use language to try and bring up that group to the level currently enjoyed by those who fit the thin ideal.
“If you’re thin, you’re already ‘beautiful'”
I don’t think that’s necessarily true. Just ask Tori Spelling.
That being said, generally-speaking overweight women get treated like sh*t compared to thin women. No denying that.
I’m thin and look great in clothes from the neck down but I can guarantee nobody on earth would call me beautiful, nor do I feel being thin gives me any advantage. Any non-sensical privilege it may have afforded me is entirely cancelled out by my very un-beautiful head. I experience painful discrimination and exclusion regularly despite being thin, having decent fashion sense and being fairly interesting and funny.
How women are treated in relation to their appearance is about much, much more than size. Ask a thin balding woman about her experience. A thin woman with a visible scar. A thin woman with poor teeth.
I don’t understand why a size 14 or 2 or 20 has to be labeled at all. Just call it a 14 or 2 or 20. Full beauty is just a condescending way to say plus size. Who are you really fooling?
hilarious comment and i feel the same way. Yes just keep the numbers just because you are thin you are not beautiful and a lot of “plus size” women are gorgeous . It’s all about how you carry your weight and lets not forget the face. The real women have curves is bull. I don’t like how we are supposed to love being bigger . It’s ok if you are happy it’s not ok if you have medical issues from it and if you are really overweight you will sooner or later
I’m sure the category was created for department stores. Not all designers create larger sizes and new brands carry exclusively larger sizes. So its probably a way to differentiate departments. I’m guessing here. But I know what you mean and I agree.
I hate that term “full beauty” too. And it doesn’t make me think about fashion or clothing but rather makeup or skin care. I’m “plus sized” and I don’t mind the term at all.
Have to disagree with ‘GoodNames..’ since the number-based size chart changes over time and brands — so called “vanity sizing” — as well as lacks an absolute 0 value (00??), it’s basically meaningless as far as scales go. Using a “small, med, large, plus” ordinal type scale is more useful in long-term.
@Granger – I had the same thought as you, e.g. anyone not plus-sized being less than a “full beauty.”
Personally, I find it laughable that people get so up in arms about the terminology. I am plus-sized in clothing. I am fat. More specifically, I am currently morbidly obese because the doctors that I had been seeing refused to treat my hypothyroidism. (I have ditched the doctors and am now treating it on my own with natural dessicated thyroid from New Zealand.)
If someone wants to call me obese or fat, I’m perfectly okay with that because i am.
Someone calling me “full beauty” isn’t going to change the fact that I’m overweight. Whether or not I feel that I am beautiful is my opinion – not caused by some label I’m wearing.
I do wonder what some of the commenters thought in the 80’s, if they were around back then. I remember Cindy Crawford and Elle McPherson being criticized for being “too large” because they had more muscle tone, larger breasts, and curvier hips than Twiggy. Back then, there were only a few fat people in my entire school. Now my state in the Southern U.S. is “one of the fattest” and overweight people are everywhere. (Of course, that was before high fructose corn syrup and GMO ingredients were in the general food supply, too.)
I’m going to love it when people stop being judged by their race, weight, height, and sexual orientation. That day can’t come quickly enough!
Every time I see a pic of her I get that stupid song in my head and now it’s stuck.
CURSE YOU Bedhead *shakesfist*
I’m all about that bass too.
It was instantaneous in my head upon riding article.
The only reason I ever want anything to do with the term “All About That Bass” is because I want the t-shirt with that phrase and Chuck Bass’s face on it. Because I am all about THAT Bass. Mother Chucker.
Lance Bass would also be awesome…
Yes. Chuck Bass with his slightly-sinister, smooth moves.
I’m SO all about that Bass.
I wish I had a family member that was into fishing. I want a photo of a sea bass and then the words ALL ABOUT THAT BASS above it on a t-shirt.
No treble!
Lol, they play that song at my gym all the time and it sticks in my head all day.
Good reason to avoid the gym is…the music. Of course, then we’re on our way to becoming “full beauties”.
I do wish fitness places offered more choice of audio. The assault of blaring terrible music, and screens, keeps me out.
Ugh can she talk about anything else? I’m sure she’s just answering the questions they give her but she only ever talks about weight.
I don’t know if this is only an European issue, but especially in Italy and France the difference between a Medium size and a Large consists in only a couple of millimeters. Same is between S and M. Especially for brands like Zara or H&M.
So pretty much anything around here is a plus size if you’re not a size 8 – 10 yourself.
It’s the same here, the difference between S,M and L is very small, but the sizes are very small so nothng in shops like Zara us plus sized.
C&A is the only big chain I can think of that carries sizes over 42.
It’s really amazing how small they size in Europe. In the US I’m considered a 6, and frequently a four for a shirt. I have a Prada coat that is a 40 and it’s a bit small on me. I remember going to Italy and finding that the biggest size shoe was a wee bit too tiny and ditto with jackets. I currently live in Asia and encounter the same problem.
Larger sizes are ruling the stores. I’m a true S/M in the states, but lately that changes because of vanity sizing. A Small is now a size 4. A 2 is an Extra Small. For certain items in JCREW i’m a Extra Extra Small and tey go to Extra Extra Extra Small.
As a result I can rarely find items in my size or be lucky if they even made them small enough for me. Which is crazy because i’m not that tiny.
So as the lower end increases so do the larger sizes adjust accordingly.
1 store i’m a size 4 pants. Another 00. Sizes are messed up. The only clothes still holding true to measurements are workout clothes.
It is what i was ready to write .
Even when I wat at my thinnest size ( 40),I was unable to wear some clothes of brands .
I hear you. I went into Etam (lingerie store) once and they didn’t have anything over size 42, which is about a U.S. size 10. The salesperson was rather snarky when I asked for help, like how the saleslady in “Pretty Woman” acted to Julia Roberts’ character. Even Victoria’s Secret is not that bad.
I Think it’s maybe a European thing too, and indeed it is more noticeable in France and Italy (maybe spain too)
I find her point just stupid, It is a plus size called another name that’s it! Plus she tries to explain her point by being offensive to others, what’s the point that to be a “full” beauty you have to be a certain way… way to prove that norms and standardization of the woman’s body is wrong… right?
Give her a few more years and she’ll be rejecting/offended by the term “full” as well.
@ paolanqar
I have two pairs of pants – one in (American) size 8 and one in a 10 by the same company. I can wear both and can tell absolutely zero difference. So strange.
When I shop at Zara I just pick random sizes because I swear to God they’re all the friggin’ same!
In North America, it’s seems to be the opposite for chains. I should reasonnably be a size 12 and I have a fairly big chest, I find myself buying Med at H&M because the L makes me feel like I’m wearing a parachute. This summer, I almost refused to buy a tank top at Old Navy because I had to buy a S and I thought the sizing insulting (if I fit in aS, what does a more slender person hasto wear?). I just wished the sizing was universal…
All I know is I have money to buy quality, fashionable clothing for my interesting life and the manufacturers and shops mostly don’t seem to want to sell to me.
Signed,
A short, naturally round woman in her 50s
Right? Five foot one here and carrying several extra pounds. I need to learn to sew I think and just make clothes for my damn self.
So true. When I go to a sale, they never have large left – but they have tons of extra-smalls. I always point it out to them and say – doesn’t this tell you something? There aren’t that many extra small people. You’re left holding them. All of your larger sizes sold. SO BUY MORE LARGER SIZES. – but do they listen? No.
GNAT
It’s always out of the things we look for. I know my eyes rarely ever glance to the Medium to XL parts of racks except to briefly scan to see if my sizes got put there. So if you look there you notice it’s out more than I do. Just as I notice when my smaller sizes are out. IMO it boils down to sales work and they never have anyones size by the time we roll around to it.
As an experiment go to a local Marshals or similar store. Their long racks with big size labels serve for better illustration. The XS/S sections are a few items wide and the L/XL sections can span whole lengths of the racks.
Or a store that labels the sizes on the hangers with colors or letters. Smalls are out more than large from my experience.
Oh, no, peewee, you are WRONG. Lol just kidding – your observation could be true. The grass is always greener.
she said something like this “i tried to be anorexic for a day” , I can not take anything this girl says seriously, that’s fine want to stop fat shaming but she belittles petite women and then also people suffering from a horrible serious hellish disorder.
Im sick of the REAL women have ………… argument or that you are some how MORE of a women if you have curves.
She certainly comes across as an idiot more than a few times.
Really now we have thin people complaining about the few bad comments. Overly thin and even some medically underweight are the norm and ideal in the media and society. Overweight and even normal bmi/weight, or athletic are pictured less and viewed as not ideal like Serena Williams. Granted people shouldn’t be so obsessed with anyone’s weight, but I think people need to keep it in perspective based on the reality.
you should look up the modal roblyn lawdly (thinks that’s how to spell it) she is all for change in the attitude towards plus size, but she dose not put down other women. in fact she is very against body shaming in any shape or form.
her comment on a mental illnes,s she showed how little she knows about mental illness you can not decide to BE anorexic just like you can not decide to be cancer. its get really upsetting when people use “anorexic” as away to described someones weight or a look, its a mental illness not a clothing size.
if we stop body shaming in general ????
noway
Hardly the ideal to be underweight. And it’s not thin people vs. others.
Also, SerenaW is stacked with muscle. For anyone else that would be excessive, but for her demands it’s functional. And she did a nude photoshoota while ago with olympic athletes. She didn’t seem large because it was all proportioned in a manner of health.
If people want to call her fat or underweight people the norm that’s their issue, but shouldn’t speak for everyone else. It doesn’t speak for me.
@aussie I saw her in the interview where she said that anorexic comment and I was too taken aback. I suffered from anorexia for most of my twenties and was hospitalized numerous times over it. It is plain ignorant to say something stupid like “I tried to be anorexic for a day”….I applaud Megan for trying to promote a healthy image but the bottom line is we all have to be more accepting and loving, regardless of one’s size. That is just one facet to a person; so many other characteristics are more important: intelligence, empathy, kindness, work ethic, etc. Any jokes about eating disorders are in bad taste IMO. They are serious deadly diseases with very problematic psychological origins.
I saw the comment too, and it was meant as a joke. A bad joke, but still. I understand if you suffer from the disease that it may seem more offensive. Now I have a thyroid disorder that I have had trouble regulating and gone from really thin to overweight a couple of times. It kind of stinks, and is more unpleasant than people realize. I often have people say when I am heading to my thin phase wish I had your disease. I used to try to inform people, but realized it wasn’t worth it and they generally didn’t mean anything mean about it so I just let it go. I think as Bedhead said she is a bit of a ditz so no amount of correcting will fix that.
I think it was a dumb and insensitive thing to say–but I kind of get what she’s saying. When I was a young teenager, I would try and be “anorexic”. Like I would tell myself–I’m only going to eat dinner, because I know that my mom won’t let me skip. On the weekends, I won’t eat at all (of course that never lasted EVER because I LOVE LOVE eating). But I would never, ever say it like the way she said it out loud.
There are critics, and there is bullying. Usually these fans can’t tell the difference and yell at everyone who doesn’t worship their idol. I don’t like her, this stupid girl expression in her face annoys me. I wonder if she tries or it’s just naturally dumb.
I wonder, too. It seems to be the trend these days for young singers to have “an expression”. Like Ariana Donutlicker with her surprised look, and Bieber, too. Eyebrows raised, corners of the mouth tucked in. It’s infantile. I can’t stand it. Only looks cute on babies, because babies are literally bewildered/surprised by everything.
I think the intention is to look sexy and cool. They don’t seem to understand that sexy and cool usually comes from spontaneity, at least in my opinion.
You know what else should be gone? THAT HAIR. From Meghan to Britney to Christina to Jessica to all the country singers who have it. It is AWFUL and needs to go. Not just the extensions, but the color as well. So, so, so played out.
I agree that it shouldn’t be called plus size or full beauty or anything. It’s a size. Some people have smaller features and some people have larger features but we all need clothes because they arrest you otherwise if you’re out in public.
+1 You summed it up perfectly.
Right? Why label a size 14 anything but a size 14?
I agree!!! I just wish the sizes were consistent. A 10 is not the same measurements everywhere, and not just talking between European and US or other sizes either. Makes the whole thing annoying.
Yes!!! I wish sizing was universal, I don’t care which unit it’d be given but could a size 10 in one store be a 10 in another? (Or a 42 and a 42?). I think that men’s sizing is fairly universal, why can’t it be the same for women’s? Please let the vanity sizing and shame sizing stop, it’s just ridiculous.
She’s not alone. Modcloth has just removed the term “plus size” from their site. To me it actually seems like this decision will make it harder for people above a size 12 to shop but their hearts are in the right place!
http://time.com/4065389/modcloth-to-drop-plus-size-label/
I think it might make things difficult for brick and mortar shopping, but Modcloth lets you search for clothing by specific size. Since it allows that, I don’t really see the point in calling some sizes plus and others regular.
I wish women’s clothes could be sized like men’s. Just have the literal measurement, in inches or centimeters or whatever and be done with it. Pants could even (gasp!) come in different inseam lengths like men’s do. I’m happy to see some brands are making big strides in that area but others not so much. It’s so super fun being a lady with long legs.
But let’s just measure the chest, waist, hips, and/or inseam and have that be the size. No more of this arbitrary BS.
But that would be too easy a fix!
Totally agree.
We should just use the numbers, I’m with you on this one. And we need more famous successful full-figured women, talking about their work, hair, their wardrobe, their boyfriends and upbringing, even about feminism – and NOT ABOUT THEIR WEIGHT. Don’t they recognize, this whole confidence admiration thing is incredibly offensive, treating them like some kind of curiosity: like, you’re so FAT, and STILL a confident person, wow, that’s incredible! The interviewer implies she personally would have killed herself if she were that gross. And while admiring body confidence of a gross fat person, not forget to mention, how she confidently munches on Doritos or whatever, like they always do with Mindy.
Stop it already!
This is sick! There are guys who are ashamed to go out with a fat girl, not because they don’t like her, but because they fear everyone is going to laugh at them. Then these poor girls are so thankful for every little bit of attention, that they throw themselves into the wrong relationships that obviously don’t do anything for their self-respect. It’s a tragedy, really. Fear to become fat is greater than fear to become unhealthy or remain uneducated.
“Plus-sized” doesn’t sound offensive to me. Those who carry a higher percentage of body fat can require different proportions in fitted or semi-fitted clothing, the same way that short women can require Petite cut shirts (not just “small”) in order for them to fit properly at the shoulders etc.
If they didn’t call it Plus-sized they’d have to call it something else, and eventually the new name would become stigmatized too and they’d want it changed again. Seems like a waste of time and energy IMO.
but why plus size when it could just be size 12, size 14, size 16 etc. its just a continuation of sizes.
Exactly my thought. Plus size is actually a very neutral term to denote larger sizes…it’s what it connotates that has the stigma. Any new term like full beauty, will just suffer the same fate. They could of course avoid any term and just say ” all sizes”
She always wears way too much foundation. Looks so unnatural.
The thing is what they consider “plus size” is really average. Ever look at the clothing racks? The size 0’s and 2’s are always in stock because you need to be a toothpick to fit into that. Most women do not fall into that sizing, and to consider size 10, 12 or even 14 as plus size is ridiculous.
Good point. And I am surprised to hear that Meghan is considered plus size because she looks to me around a size 14.
She is reported as a size 6, which next to Amy Shumer is way off. She’s a 10 easy but she has a butt and boobs. Even and at a size 10 pants which in real America is hot, I was an XL in tops cause boobs.
Size 10, 12 and 14 sound like the sizes of a normal adult woman tomorrow (don’t read normal as offensive, just as what I usually see).
The majority of very small sizes are naturally petite women or teen OR women who work and eat VERY, VERY, VERY hard to stay small.
when you go to the sale section, its always the xsmall and small that have the most variety. you are hard pressed to find the cuter past season styles in a size 12/14 which seems average for most women over 25.
I’ve resorted to shopping online because all the good plus size clothing is available on the store’s website. Like winter coat shopping, for example. Nordstrom has the best selection online but in store near me its not so good yet their other sections are stocked well. idk. I cant stand lane bryant or Torrid so alas, i find my size in a brand and just order on the website.
Beauty is in all sizes, but the clothing industry moving to ‘fast fashion’ and higher profit is really slighting the higher sizes- you need more fabric to make a size 18, so stores like Old Navy would prefer to sell 3 XS t-shirts and just skip selling larger sizes. The size differences are felt less in millimeters than in dollars. Until larger sizes can go into a store and have the same level of purchase power, we’ll keep having to talk about this.
Oh, and thin people are better than us, anyway.
If she was a real musician, no one would criticise her body. She chose to be a pop star – a part of a shallow industry where look matters. But no one gives a crap how PJ Harvey, Beck,Kim Gordon or Thom Yorke look. People dont judge talented self-made artists for their looks. But when Meghan shakes her ass into the camera acting like a maneater of course people will be like “girl, who are you kidding” (not because of her weight, but her appearance in general, stupid lyrics and attitude)
Adele is talneted and she got judged for her looks hard. I don’t think a musician in this generation ( a female one, at least) could be judged on their talent alone.
I personally think that she’s not talented, her voice is annoying and her songs are not music. And “katty perry like” videos only prove it. and I dont care how she looks
+ if you want to be taken seriously, drop mini skirts and stop “seducing the camera”, otherwise you WILL be judged for your looks. I get the feeling that she doesn’t want us to stop judging, she wants public to admit she’s attractive. Which she is not and it’s fine. Not all people are born super attractive.
No one judged Adele for her looks. In fact she’s become this saint-like PC goddess and it’s become illegal now to state anywhere that Adele is in fact fat.
Call her fat and you’ll get hate spewn on you from all sides, with everyone saying she’s a musician and it’s not about her looks.
Sure, and actors are about acting and singers about singing, and yet it is all about their looks.
Everyone judges and comments on Beyonce, Rihanna, Britney, Gaga, yet it’s illegal to comment on how Adele looks.
Frankly I like Adele and her songs, but I’m not blind to the fact the woman is seriously overweight.
No matter what you call clothes for larger people, after a time, that term will become insulting too. It’s a continual tide of generations living and learning.
As a size 10 girl (I know it doesn’t matter but it seems to ‘weigh’ into the debate, pardon the pun), I think the only people who have a right to claim if something is offensive, are the people hurt by the word itself.
No man can say to a woman the word ‘b****’ isn’t offensive.
No white person can say to a black person the N word isn’t offensive.
No slim person can say ‘plus-sized’ isn’t offensive IF the person the word describes finds it so.
It’s ridiculous how many words we need to describe weight anyway.
There are many reasons why someone is slim and many reasons why someone is fat.
I don’t judge a person for being bigger because there are SO many reasons:
– Illness/Accident
– Depression
– Thyroid issue
– Disease
Even if they are just good old fashioned ‘lazy’, who cares? Does it affect you personally if someone is a size 14? There are plenty of people of all sizes. Why should it matter to you personally? Why do people have to be offended by a person’s size? Of course there is health to take into consideration but I think people’s biggest problem is that such things are catered to on the NHS (I don’t know about America….) and THAT is a fair argument.
But otherwise, leave people alone.
if you’re fat, you’re fat. there are charts showing normal weight/height ranges. should we just eliminate all descriptive words from the conversation?
Meme,
I agree with you I like your bluntness. I have always disliked the term “curvy” as an euphemism for fat. If you are fat, you are fat the same way I am short.
“It’s ridiculous how many words we need to describe weight anyway.”
Err, given that we have a “ridiculous” amount of weights and body types out there, I’d say it’s normal that there are more words to describe them all.
Guess what, we’re not all the same, and that’s a good thing. We shouldn’t be described in the same manner either.
I don’t know why it’s about a number when it should be about health.
The whole curvy women BS when you are obviously overweight or even obese pisses me off. There is a difference between curves and rolls. And body acceptance is great but being healthy is even better. I’m slightly overweight and I’m healthy. I’d love to be smaller and I’m sure I could be a little healthier but when I have my size 20 cousin posting crap on facebook about how guys like women with curves, etc. she is delusional. She is obese and she is not healthy. She cannot possibly be that big and healthy.
There are skinny people who are extremely unhealthy, those who skip meals and drink coffee all day to stay slim, etc. Those people may not be fat but they are still unhealthy. Or the skinny girl who smokes a pack a day to suppress her appeitite. Again, not healthy!
I just wish that people could promote health instead of size. It’s so much more important at the end of the day to be healthy than it is to be a certain size.
@happy21 exactly! Skinny does not necessarily equal healthy and I’ve had to come to that conclusion in my own life. Some of the most beautiful women I know have had to deal with an initial weight problem but that was the impetus they needed to become strong and healthy individuals who In my opinion have even more attractive figures than the naturally thin woman I know.
Being a naturally smaller woman myself I have definitely experienced that body shaming goes both ways. Woman have been down right rude and insulting to my face because of the size clothing I wear (and they feel no remorse either, because why would I be offended since I’m thin?) I was very often made to feel bad around other females who weren’t as petite or event completely shut out of conversations that included topics on self esteem, health, exercise, fashion and food. Because in their mind what could I offer anyway? People think it’s okay to make insulting comments to a “skinny” girl but all day long we have to pacify women who don’t fit into that category. Even when (and of course this isn’t across the board) some of the women having trouble with weight has everything to do with an unhealthy life style and a complete denial about why they were over weight in the first place. That’s not my problem! I shouldn’t be made to feel less of a woman or even defensive about what I look like because someone who is bigger than me is projecting her complex. I would never in my wildest dreams do that to someone else (regardless of my size). “Bigger” women should in no way get a free pass to shame someone else’s body just because we live in a society where everyone feels the need to be politically correct. Subracting certain factors and diseases such as a thyroid problem, diabetes, a bad back etc sometimes being over weight comes down to diet and exercise plain and simple. If that’s not a priority for some people then no big deal, but either way give respect regardless of size and understand that body shaming is body shaming and no one should be vindicated of the act because of what size they are.
oh please…maybe there were other reasons they didn’t include you.
Nope and the reason I draw that conclusion is because they were very blunt about why. Not saying it was all the time but it happened enough to make me feel uncomfortable. Either way my point still stands.
Fat acceptance is what’s wrong with the world. There’s nothing natural about it.
Stop kidding ya self’s
Lucky they didn’t call it over sized instead of plus.
The problem with ‘plus’ is that it begs the question plus *what*? It infers that there’s an established baseline or ‘norm,’ and has meaning only when used comparatively.
Numbers based on measurements alone – and not some median – seem so much more rational and inoffensive… no matter which side of the fictive golden mean you happen to find yourself.
I hate how we’re trying to reprogram and brainwash everyone today into thinking being overweight is better than being slim. It’s not, and I’m sorry if humanity in general is too sensitive to come to terms with this.
If you have more fat than muscle tissue than that is a problem for your longterm health and wellbeing.
And yes, it does look less attractive than the other way around.
Too much denial is going around the world these days.
+10000000
AMEN!
“I’m sorry if humanity in general is too sensitive to come to terms with this”
I think people who are overweight/obese are too sensitive to come to terms with this. If you eat garbage you will look AND feel like garbage. It isn’t even all about going to the gym – it’s more about nutrition. If you don’t go to the gym and you’re still overweight/obese it’s most likely your eating habits and NOT activity levels that are forcing you into the plus sized section.
And frankly, making plus sized clothing for women that is high quality and fits well enough for them to buy it is NOT cost-effective. It’s important to remember that these are businesses and they, by default, only care about making $$$ for as little of $ as possible. It’s a lot more of a manufacturing miracle than people think to make plus sized clothes look good on a human form, let alone the invariably curvier form of the human female. That’s because of unpredictable fat distribution all over an overweight/obese body. But hey, if you think that’s all an elaborate lie to cover up the oppression, by all means become a clothing designer.
Good post.
Careful Knower, we don’t need your facts in here.
I’ve always been curious why Ms Trainor has fit, good looking, non plus sized men in her music video “dear future husband” (which is the worst load of tripe I’ve heard in a long time).
Good grief. Not better and not worse: every person has a right to his / her size. It’s not for anyone to judge, and it would be healthier for a society in general to have women of all sizes equally represented in media. Equally: not as disabled curiosity. Attractiveness is subjective. I personally know overweight women who were much more attractive than their slim friends, because the it factor was there. We are created different, this is the norm – and not BMI.
This times a million.
We are created differently, I agree, but I’m sorry, being obese is not the norm.
It’s not normal for a human being to carry dozens of pounds of pure fat tissue on their body, it just isn’t. Ask any doctor.
I’m not talking about having a few pounds extra, I’m talking about the alarming rising rate of heavily obese people who are suddenly taught by politically correct speech that they are just fine in their size 20, 22 and up, because hey, the word fat has become illegal.
I’m sorry, but that is not the norm in my opinion.
We’re all created differently, but no one was created to be too heavy to walk around or climb the stairs. That’s not normal or healthy.
Or you could reduce your exposure to the media.
Bring back the toga!
One size fits all!
HAHAHAHAHA, YES!!
Why do we have to have catagories of beauty at all? I don’t like “plus-sized” and I don’t like “full”. How is the word ‘full’ any less offensive than the word “plus”. They both insinuate “big” or “large” so what’s the difference? Why can’t there just be “models” or “beauty” without segmenting and sorting people into various terms?
why are you so naive ? there are categories of beauties because that’s what we do as humans , we categorize. a fat woman is not a thin woman , in some people’s eyes they do not have the same worth or the same energy . it’s crude, harsh, obviously unfair for you but true .
Have any of you seen one of my favorite new shows on TLC called “My Big Fat Fabulous Life”? I absolutely LOVE this girl. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade . . . she’s one of my heroes. Check it out.
Overweight people know they’re overweight. I don’t mind shopping in the ‘plus’ size department at all.
I’d like to open a chain of plus size clothing stores called “The Size Advantage” ”
While I’ve been fat and I’ve been skinny, I’ve worked in women’s clothing stores and I’m aware of how the business runs. I side-eye the term ‘plus-sized’ for one reason only. It’s not about size, it’s about making as much money as possible. In Canada, when I was a kid, all plus-sized sections started at their version of size 16. Sizes 2-14 were considered petite – to average. There were also more clothing manufactures who were based in North America, and you couldn’t sell clothes to Ms. Smith if you were telling her she was fat at size 12. It was as ridiculous then as it is now.
Manufactures realized if they could broaden their scope, they could make more money hence the reaching backwards to sizes 12 & 14. That’s just wrong, because every time I go into my local “plus-sized’ store and see all the left over size 12 & 14 I realize they’re still trying to convince average sized women that they’re something other than what they are to get their cash.
Case in point, a friend of mine who is a size 5/6 ‘suddenly’ became a size ’10’. I told her to hold up her old size 5 pants against the new size 10 ones and guess what-there was no difference. Of course there’s a difference between those who are large and those who are skinny, but you can’t cling to that number because it doesn’t mean anything. Just take care of your health. The fashion industry is doing a number on your heads, don’t let them.
She looks healthy to me.
I’m late to the comments party, but as a naturally slim and stretched person, I get comments all the time about my weight. I’ve stopped apologizing for being slim, or making excuses for it. I let the suggestions that I must have an eating disorder (I can choose between bulimia, anorexia) or that I’m just very image obsessed and watch my weight like a hawk was over me. I get that the daily comments are driven by envy mainly, but it’s disheartening and sometimes I feel like a freak. To suggest that all that is acceptable bc I hit a genetic lottery, or that I prefer to be slim than overweight (better than full beauty or plus-size), feels discriminatory. Bless my privilege!
But thats what you are… plus sized. Thats just how the clothing industry is. If you want to take it as an insult then that’s your prerogative. I could understand if the term was “fat sized” or “lazy woman sized” or “gross sizes” but thats not whats going on here. Are we going to do away with the small medium and large? Large is now an insult? Shall we change it to small medium and beautiful? Good grief.
I actually love your comment.