Few things are as harshly judged as women’s bodies. Few people judge them as harshly as women themselves. Blame it on the media, or blame it on the fashion industry, the pressure exerted on women has reached a boiling point in which us, women, have begun to point at each other’s flaws. It’s quite the hypocritical thing, really. We criticize the tall, fit and airbrushed model yet we make fun of the girl with the stretch marks at the beach. How can we possibly allow a group of people to dictate how we should look like?
Plus size is defined by the dictionary as clothing or people of a size larger than the “normal“ range. The fashion industry considers models that are U.S size 8 to be plus-sized when the average clothing size of American women is 14. This means the “average” American woman is, by the industry’s standards very much plus sized.
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Why let the number on a tag define us? Earlier this year, 19-year-old Missy Rogers called out American Eagle Outfitters on their inconsistent sizing. After posting a picture of two shorts that visibly share the same waistline and width, she explained one pair was a size 4, while the other was a size 10, the main difference being she bought the size 4 shorts two years ago.
My own wardrobe consists of jeans and shorts that range from sizes 4-10, and a rare pair of size 2 jeans, which I’m sure must be a product of a mistake in the labeling. In some stores, a size 4 jean will fit me perfectly while in others a size 4 won't even come past my knees.
At this point, numbered sizing just seems like a poorly constructed illusion. Just because your usual size at a store seems to be shrinking, doesn’t mean you should go ahead and try to lose weight to keep fitting into it. Most of us wouldn’t successfully achieve such thing, even if we tried.
The average woman in America is 5’4 tall and weighs 166 pounds. On the other hand, the average model is 5’10 and weighs 107 pounds. This means models are approximately six inches taller and 59 pounds lighter than what’s considered average.
People however, ask for the media to feature “real women, with real bodies” more often. Now this is where things get tricky. What do we mean exactly when we ask for a “real woman?”
Fashion models don’t actually represent the way the majority of women look like in any country, and while averages and statistics do help to prove a point, we cannot rely on these numbers to define how women should look like.
Even if we were to replace every model out there with ones who fit the average, in this case, only hiring women who weigh 166 pounds and are 5”4 tall, we would still be leaving out sizes. Why? Because, in the end, there’s not a real average body.
Ladies, it’s time we realize we all come in different shapes and sizes. Big boobs, small boobs, narrow hips, wide hips, thigh gaps, six packs, long legs, wide calves, tiny waists, big shoulders and each one of us is just as womanly and real as the next. Realistically speaking, we cannot display clothes and models without leaving out body types. That would require creating an entire encyclopedia of how the same dress fits different women.
What’s not OK is to body shame any type of body. It’s not okay to label every skinny girl as anorexic or to try and discredit the work high fashion models do just because they look different than most of us. These are real bodies too, and inside each frame stands a real woman, with real feelings. Athletic frames, curvy frames, slim frames, every shape is equally valid.
What is really important and what really matters is to be healthy, to feel alive and to have self-acceptance, something which unfortunately for some, is the hardest part to achieve. Let’s remember a healthy body looks different on everyone. When it comes down to this, though, the only flaw in us is allowing an industry to convince us there’s something wrong with our own bodies.
