Weight and clothing size seem to be issues that we cannot get away from, both here on Zelda Lily and in reality. Looking back through recent posts — and reading the intelligent and well thought-out comments provided by you — gives a lot of food for thought, but very few hard and fast conclusions.
The sad truth is that, wherever on the spectrum she falls, almost every woman struggles with her weight. The spectrum extremes are morbidly obese through anorexic; both are medical terms since these two deadly conditions have detrimental effects that should be avoided at all costs.
Thankfully, most women fall elsewhere on the spectrum. It’s a good thing, too, since being too far over on either end of the weight loss spectrum puts you at serious risk for a variety of dangerous medical conditions, and judgement from peers, both of which can result in ill effects for the person in question, like it or not.
Looking at this longtime debate from a feminist standpoint isn’t always easy. You don’t want to say, “Go sit on the couch watching TV and eating bonbons all day if that’s your prerogative,” and yet it is impossible to condone the fat-shaming that goes on in virtually all aspects of the media.
Last spring, for example, there was something of a blow-up between Lane Bryant and Victoria’s Secret. Lane Bryant, a plus-size clothing store (although they regularly use models that barely meet the “plus-size” threshold, perpetuating the idealism of the women selling their clothes, albeit on a larger scale), released an ad for a new bra that was refused by several news networks … news networks that were all too happy to air ads from Victoria’s Secret.
From Lane Bryant vs. Victoria’s Secret: No Winner:
Victoria’s Secret models are ridiculously skinny, and the message sent out by the company’s ads, shows, and catalogues is that this is how normal women should strive to look. It’s sickening! And the fact that networks are willing to allow Victoria’s Secret ads on the air but not Lane Bryant’s lingerie offerings is a completely unacceptable double standard.
The reason that this lingerie feud was declared a draw is because normal-sized, healthy women are by and large (haha) ignored. As numerous wise commenters pointed out, you can be a small clothing size but need a bigger bra size that isn’t targeted by Victoria’s Secret. You can be technically plus-sized but don’t look it, so you’re treated rudely by salespeople at both Lane Bryant and Abercrombie and Fitch.
Family-friendly retailer (and creator of a large portion of my wardrobe when I was in high school) The Gap is also playing a dangerous game with the recent ad tagline “Put some pants on, because we can’t all look good in shorts.”
From The Gap Thinks Your Shorts Make you Look Fat:
In an attempt to bolster sales on their Fall jean/pant line, The Gap has resorted to telling people that their bodies are not acceptable. It reminds me of something a snarky thirteen-year-old would say in an attempt to make you feel inferior, only it’s far worse because clearly this advertisement was the brain child of someone long past puberty. A company like the Gap should know better. In essence they are shaming consumers into putting on a pair of their sweat-shop factory-made jeans.
And not even pretzels, America’s snack, are exempt from the disturbing message sent that women should be thin, with Pretzel Crisps using slogans such as, “You can never be too thin” and “Tastes as good as skinny feels.”
Oh, and the UK’s Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone suggested that all women should shoot for a UK Size 14 (which is a U.S. 10/12).
From New UK Equalities Minister: ‘All Women Should Aspire to be a UK Size 14’:
Featherstone has stated that women should not be made to feel inadequate by stick-thin models staring out at them from advertising billboards and magazines, and has suggested that all too often women are made to feel wretched about their size as they constantly compare themselves with ‘unattainable’ figures of celebrities and models.
But wait a minute here. Are we protesting too much? Are we overanalyzing the messages sent out by companies ranging from attire to appetizers? And (gulp) is there any sort of legitimacy to the arguments presented by these companies? Should we all take a long, hard look in the mirror and aspire to be Gisele Bundchen? Fit exclusively into American Apparel or something?
No. Nope. Hell, no. Pardon me while I laugh.
Consider this. Lynn Hardy, former editor of Cosmopolitan, admitted last spring that pictures are often airbrushed to add weight to models.
From Former Cosmopolitan Editor Admits Airbrushing Underweight Models to Make Them Look Healthier:
As many famous designers tend to only make their clothes to fit tiny, shapeless bodies, magazine editors feel under pressure to continue to select thin models so as not to lose these exclusive deals and be passed over by their competitors. The models, of course, also feel this pressure, as they believe they need to be small enough to fit into these clothes. This leads to many of these models showing up emaciated and unhealthy for photo shoots, as they have often been subsisting on diets of coffee and vodka, yet all parties feel they cannot cancel sessions, due to the availability of sought after photographers.
The bottom line is that there is a disturbing mixed message coming from advertisers great and small. That the target seems to be on “fat-shaming” is why we seem to be doing a lot of defending in that direction.
If there was an ad for ice cream that said something like, “Indulge … once you go fat, you’ll never go back,” I would fight against that as vehemently as I speak out against ads portraying the ideal woman as wearing a size zero.
Speaking for me personally, I think it’s as tragic to see an overweight woman who can’t climb a flight of stairs without puffing like a dog in heat as it is to see a skeletal woman shivering in a track suit on an August day at the beach.
We shouldn’t aspire to be thin and fit some crazy undefinable ideal of perfection, nor should we be willing to slack off because “looks don’t matter.” We should aspire to be healthy (and “healthy” is not automatically equated with “skinny”).
Your first step to find out if you are at a healthy weight is to find out what your BMI, or body mass index, is and what your waist size is. For most people, these are good clues to whether they are at a healthy weight.
If your weight is not healthy, your risk for weight-related problems is higher, including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, diabetes, and some forms of cancer.
Why is this topic one that stirs up more nastiness than perhaps any other, particularly with women who live life under the “feminist” moniker?
Some people refuse to see that weight problems are not simply about being lazy and eating too many Cheetos. They view their ability to stay healthy as a shining example of their self control. I’m sure the nastiness comes out from the overweight, who feel defensive because they are being attacked, and the super-skinny, who feel superior to the “fatties.” And then everyone in between gets in it also.
Well said, Katie.
Erin- I feel like you may be generalizing a bit. There is a difference between being “plus sized” or a little overweight, and being obese. Being obese is usually not a normal genetic trait, as much overweightedness(?) is. Either way it’s always a struggle. I don’t feel superior to “fatties” because I get attacked for being small as well, but no one stands up for us. I feel like it gets so nasty because it’s so difficult to accurately defend both sides of the issue. Virtually no one can know what it’s like to be both overweight and lower-weight in a healthy, natural manner. It comes from being uninformed and unable to empathize I think, rather than from maliciousness.
The inability to empathize makes sense, especially if the people being nasty have never experienced being on the other end of the scale. And I agree, I was generalizing a bit, and realized it seemed like I labeled super-skinny people as rather malicious; that wasn’t my intent. I know that sometimes I feel proud of being thin, especially when I read about people who struggle a lot with their weight; then I feel guilty because my skinniness, while part hard work on my part, is mostly genetics (my dad is built like a flagpole). I’ve also never been through any periods of immense stress, so I don’t know how my weight would be affected.
I hear you. I feel very lucky to not have to struggle *too much* with my weight, and a lot of that just comes from my genetics. I’m actually the largest woman in my immediate family, but elsewhere, I’m tiny. I think that sometimes I lose sight of how difficult it must really be to struggle with your weight so much, but it absolutely infuriates me to read all about how being a size 2 is disgusting. I really wish there was a way to solve this so people can just effing get along!
It must be frustrating to be someone who is naturally small and then even in an article about the pressures of weight they say, what they always say, “… is because normal-sized, healthy women are by and large (haha) ignored.”
There is NO “normal-sized”! Tiny people can be healthy too! I am certainly not one of those tiny people, but it makes me mad to have to hear that only women with curves or stomach fat content are considered “normal”.
Everybody’s weight is their own business. Now what we’re buying is ours. Why do we let people and corporations influence how we think we should look or feel? Why is our body shape for sale? Big or small, they can’t sell us something we aren’t buying.