I loved this reminder about how common place it is to define people in terms of size. It’s no wonder that at least here in the USA, even young girls have self-acceptance and low-self-esteem issues, contributed to heavily by the media incessantly promoting their very narrow (pun intended) version of size acceptance. The article’s author, Sassy Minx herself Lisa Clark, makes her point humorously which makes it easy to read, but no less meaningful!
THE ‘FAT’ vs. ‘THIN’ DEBATE . . . yawn . . . .
Enough.
Seriously, enough already.
Every year, when London Fashion Week rolls around, you will find me rolling my eyes at the complete predictability of it all.
In the same way that, every year, come what may, on the 27th December, you’ll be bombarded with celebrities pimping their exercise DVDs and the diet industry launching a never-ending supply of supposed ‘I-can-make-you-thin’ prodz, London Fashion Week sparks the same debate – fashion models are too skinny, there should be more voluptuous women on the catwalk, yada, yada, yada.
I’m a size 18. I’m hot. I have a gorgeous friend who is a size 8, she’s hot too. Society would like to label us ‘fat’ and ‘thin’ yet we both totally rock the bodies we’re in, because the size written on the label in our knickers, is NOT an indication of our awesomeness. Last night, I went to the dress rehearsal for our burlesque show on Saturday, and the girls I perform alongside are a truly delicious array of lovely shapes and sizes because, despite what the media will have you believe, girl-kind come in a gazillion different juicy-juicy forms, not just ’skinny’ and ‘fat’.
Putting a ‘voluptuous’ (which in media terminology usually means a UK size 12) model on the catwalk isn’t an insta-fix to the crazy-assed obsession we have with body image in our society right now, in the same way that highlighting how ’skinny’ someone is, or creating niche markets for ‘plus’ size girls won’t cut it either.
Last week, Adele was called a ‘little bit fat’ by Karl Lagerfeld, and then, when she won 7 Grammys at the weekend, the media celebrated the awesome talent of ‘curvy Adele’. What’s the size of her hips got to do with either Karl OR her freakin’ AMAZING talent?
Nothing. It’s bullshit.
As a self-esteem coach and agony aunt for Mizz magazine, I find myself continually exasperated/fucked off/annoyed by society’s endless need to label and define girl-kind by their body size, and as for the endless ‘fat’ and ‘thin’ debate, it just perpetuates the message that no matter what your size, as a girl/woman in the world, you’re never ‘quite’ good enough. Which, FYI, is simply not true. I work on a daily basis in all my work to ensure that girls and women of ALL shapes and sizes, love themselves JUST AS THEY ARE.
I know, controversial, right?
Niches, labels, ‘fat’ and ‘thin debates just continue to highlight the differences between girl-kind, which is why I’m on a mission to create media products that celebrate women in ALL their fabulous forms, not just for the clothes they wear or the size of their hips – don’t get me wrong, I LOVE clothes, shoes and make-up, but they most deffo don’t define me – but for their talents and skillz, their business savvy and their YOU-nique qualities too – get ready, the SASSY-fication o’ girl-kind is coming, g-friends – you in?
The future is bright, the future is girl-shaped. And FYI. That’s the shape you’re currently in, ‘k?!
CREDITS FOR THIS ARTICLE:
AUTHOR: Lisa Clark
FROM WEBSITE: The Sassy Minx
DIRECT LINK: http://www.thesassyminx.com/beauty-queen/the-fat-v-thin-debate-yawn/comment-page-1/#comment-3983
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