Well now that my first year of grad school is over, I FINALLY have time to write! Write blogs, that is. I don't want to know how many pages I printed this semester for class. Enough to compose a book, I'm sure.
By now, what Abercrombie and Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries said about why his store doesn't carry plus-size clothing is old news. I, however, have been formatting my response to this little catch-phrase that came up in retaliation when his interview went viral: Real women have curves!
It's a nice sentiment, really. I think America Ferrara was in a decent movie of the same title. As a woman, I appreciate those who understand that beauty isn't a one-size-fits-all package. But as a woman who is only 5'0", graduated high school at barely 90 pounds, and didn't even weigh 110 pounds until spending a semester abroad in Italy, and DOESN'T have an eating disorder, I am honestly hurt by that statement. It's well-intentioned, but ultimately misguided.
Furthermore, you have to admit that it's dangerous to try and define what a "real woman" is, beyond someone who is born with a vagina. Even when meant as a compliment, it's treading very hollow ground.
I'm not writing this to complain, but rather to shed light on the other side of the "What does a real woman look like?" conversation. The real reason I was so small for most of my life is probably because of my highly competitive figure skating lifestyle, which lasted ten years (age seven to seventeen). But genes factor into that as well -- my mother is naturally slender, and so is my grandmother. We all have ridiculously high metabolisms, so you'll rarely see me NOT hungry. And yet, no matter what I eat (or how much), my weight remains around the same.
Before you begin to say "Ugh, I HATE you! I wish I had that problem!" let me just say that it's not as easy as it sounds. It is nearly impossible for me to find clothes, mostly jeans, that fit right. Dresses and skirts that are meant to flatter a woman's curves hang awkwardly on my frame. Not having a "woman's body" makes it easy for people to assume I'm much younger than I am, which often leads to patronizing remarks that are difficult to deflect. It's not fun being 24 and feeling trapped in the body of a 13 year old. And then there's the taunting I received in high school, and occasionally in college: "Don't you eat?" Of course I eat! Seriously, just ask my roommate.
As rude as it is to make fun of a woman with noticeable curves, it's just as rude to make disparaging comments about a healthy woman who doesn't have them. But believe me, this one wishes she did. Just how the grass is always greener on the other side, the cocktail dress looks better on the other side of the rack.
My point in talking about this isn't to compare who has it worse in terms of body image. There are plenty of difficulties in being a few pounds heavier or lighter than you'd like.
But Jeffries isn't concerned about that. He wants his clothes worn by thin, pretty people. He dislikes fat people. Fine. But how do you define "fat," exactly? Obesity can't always be detected just by looking at someone. A few pounds over an otherwise healthy BMI doesn't equate to "fat." But a few pounds less than an otherwise healthy BMI doesn't scream "Anorexic!" either.
The picture of health is different for everyone. So encouraging one body type over another, even if it's a less-appreciated curvy body type that represents the "average" woman, isn't right. Healthy eating and living is what should be encouraged. Some women are a natural size 8 or 10, and some of us are a natural 4 or a 2. That's nothing to brag or feel guilty about. Changing yourself to fit a certain status quo is.
Nice start but I think that the lens of this article could be widened even further. There are "real women" who aren't born with a vaginas but decided that they women none the less, some women are a natural size way beyond size 10 and can still be happy and healthy. The reason that the phrase "real women have curves" has the power that it gained is because women have been bombarded with images of what is normal and attractive, and these images represent a slim minority of the population. I completely agree that these beautiful slender women are real women too and it is offensive to claim that to be a woman you have to have an hourglass figure (or any figure really) but what the Abercrombie and Fitch CEO said is not old news! It's dangerous, girls do starve themselves and make themselves believe that in order to be beautiful they have to look like models. I understand that is what you're trying to say near the end but it's not enough. It's not "fine" that he dislikes "fat people" and the problem is not defining "fat people," obviously in that CEO's mind it's woman who can't fit into A&F clothes. Think about where the insult "anorexic" comes from, which is insult that you've identified as hurting your feelings as a naturally slender gal (which again, is good and valid body type). It comes from an epidemic of girls refusing to eat because of millions of comments like the one the CEO of A&F made, and millions of images like the ones that A&F produces, some anorexic girls die and others are scouted out as models (seriously look it up, modeling agencies have been caught scouting models at rehabs for eating disorders). This is the problem, every body type should be represented as beautiful if it allows the person in that body to be happy and healthy. So while it isn't right for women to say that "real women have curves" it is down right dangerous to say that "to be beautiful you have to be thin."
ReplyDeleteBiologically speaking, women are defined as having vaginas. I'm not going to open a can of worms by debating transgenderism. That's a completely separate issue, and I think you read too deeply into that statement. "A natural size 8" was just an example; I have no doubt that there are women out there who naturally bigger than that, and if they're healthy, that's perfectly okay.
DeleteI had no idea about modeling scouts looking at rehab centers for new models...that's sick!! And just to clarify, I meant that it's fine for Jeffries to have the opinion that "fat people" aren't attractive. I think it's repugnant, but he can think whatever he wants. I should have clarified that better.
This blog post is meant to be a starting point for conversation, so I purposely kept it short. Thanks for pointing out some things I didn't think to mention.
I agree with the sentiment that the real push needs to be toward living a healthy lifestyle. Obesity is a real health problem, especially in the U.S. and sometimes I feel like people try to ignore the fact that obese people need to change their lifestyle...not to become the publicly accepted form of what is attractive, but to save their life! Should all women be able to feel attractive in their own skin, of course, but we should not just blindly accept the obesity epidemic here in America, by catering to it. I think it IS a sad thing that the fastest growing retail segment in the U.S. is the plus-size segment. American women need to take control of their weight in order to take control of their health, not hide behind slogans like "real women have curves" or "big is beautiful"
ReplyDeleteInteresting, isn't it, the love/hate relationship America has with weight. On the one hand, people like Jeffries who look down on non-skinny women are the norm, but there is definitely a growing rate of acceptance for obesity (super-sized fast food meals, trenta-sized Starbucks beverages, etc). The concept of being healthy is definitely not as promoted as it should be.
DeleteEvery bad consumer choice begins someplace. At our local college there are vending machines with snacks, cafeterias with optional greasy food or well prepared healthier meals. Perhaps a conceptualization of health promotion is in a market therefore based on quick and hasty decisions? What is a lifestyle anyway? Up here there are only attractive fit women in competition. Is there a mean? I'd like to see some other comments in this section on that subject. One last note, obese men and obese women might not see in each other health problems. Do skinny men and women see health problems in each other? I'm puzzling through that myself. Competition between sets of "health" categories is an unusual way to look at the world at large. signed, Alone With Dinner.
DeleteI have to admit, when I saw the remarks, I interpreted them as being less about the weight of his potential consumers. I interpreted it as more about their non-patrons' popularity and social standing. To me, that idea is insidious, because it says that obese people deserve the bullying they get, and makes it acceptable to explicitly punish them, not just to overlook their needs. Messages like this isolate those being bullied for their weight even further, defining "acceptable" behaviors for them (such as "I don't want them in my store at all, not even as an employee.") and creating a stigma that goes deeper than their physical appearance.
ReplyDeleteThat was just my reading, though. One of these things, I hope the "Real Women Have Curves" thing will die down. Imaginary women have curves too, and you don't hear THEM slapping people upside the head with it! Jokes aside, it's just another framing of a tired debate that ultimately does nothing to actually widen product availability, or remove negative messages.
Have you seen the critiques on the Dove sketch artist ad? For how touching the ad was, for the fact that it showed a different part of the perception of beauty, it still played into unhealthy societal notions of how much of a woman's immediate worth is tied into her appearance, as well as perpetuating a standard of beauty that has the same "othering" effect on people who don't have European Caucasian beauty traits. I don't know that I agree with it all, or that I've even summed it up properly. It was a fascinating discussion, though.
One crisp too many, Nic, one crisp too many.
DeleteCaplin, Each woman deserves respect. Each man deserves respect. Each man and woman has his or her own qualities or charms or irritating habits or attitudes. Serious matters are not always as serious as they first appear to be. For instance, an example I'd propose for a suggestion is try opening the other end of a Pringles tube before taking the lid off of the proper end of the tube.- Sincerely, Michael Skoch
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I like priggles. I hope you like priggles. Priggles are meant to be purchased under the proper name, with the appropriate capitalization as the potato chip in a tube brand snack food: Pringles. Eat 'em and weep. You'll be fat for only a week. Consider that snack food in the store is expensive in relationship to the income of the snack eater. A stressed woman might wish to eat snack after snack and spend her money on moderately unhealthy but satisfyingly crunchy foods or sweets (as I do) but never eat vegetables or grains. It's okay, Michael Skoch, to indulge in your "pringles" but if you spend your money on an undiversified diet you won't know the pleasure to be found in America's native foodstuffs. It would be nice to eat sweets or corn based food exclusively if one weren't afraid of getting larger in the waist. Taken as a whole the diet that fits the hunger is the diet appropriate for the eater HOWEVER dietary restrictions as those found in the bible to be referred to with gravity. A gluttonous exercise would be a crate of candy bars or 'chips' or a juicy steak with a rack of lamb and a wedge or three of cheese. Christians are often reminded to eat a special diet. That diet? One of your nineteen members ought to remind that Anonymous above about heartily.
ReplyDeletePoor people eat poor diets, is that what you're saying, anonymous? No. Show me the poor man who does not have to rely upon processed food regulated by "you know who" and then bring me a wealthy man who spend his dollars on, say, "health gluttony." Vegetables and grains, dairy products and meat are available anywhere. My objection to your comment is only that the time it takes me to find veggies and dairy and meat that are suited to my busy life (though healthy food everywhere in this land of plenty is readily available in any neighborhood) means that now and then I grab some faster food pre-processed. Don't be priggish, anonymous. Signed, as above.
ReplyDelete