Have you seen this story about the manatee gray dress at Target? On their website the plus-size version of the dress is listed as “manatee gray”, while the same dress in “regular” sizes is listed as “dark heather gray.”
And people have their panties all in a bunch over it. But if you ask me, they’re upset about the wrong issue.
You’re mad because they called a plus-size dress manatee gray and I’m mad because if you’re above a size 14 or 16 you have to shop in a totally different section. I’m mad because this almost exclusively applies to women. Go to Target and try to find the plus size section in the men’s clothing department.
It does not exist.
You’ll find extended sizes mixed right in with the smalls, mediums and larges. Because, apparently, it’s okay to be a larger man. But if you’re a larger woman you must be shamed. You must be called fat. You must be told you’re not pretty. You must be forced to shop separate from your “skinny” counterparts.
It’s disgusting.
You want to be outraged about something, then be outraged about that. Get mad that women are constantly bombarded with false messages about beauty. Get mad that we aren’t telling women and girls that it’s okay to love themselves just as they are. Get mad that every day there are women looking in the mirror and hating themselves because society has told them they don’t meet some arbitrary standard of beauty.
We’ve got to stop believing that if we can just lose some weight that things will be different for us. I’ve seen a lot of beautiful women put themselves down because of five pounds. Five freaking pounds. I don’t care if it’s 5, 50 or 150 pounds you think you need to lose. You cannot let that impede your happiness. Instead you should be looking in the mirror and smiling back at a strong, confident and beautiful woman.
Losing weight isn’t going to make you beautiful. You have to decide that you’re beautiful right now and wear that title like a badge of honor.
Look in the mirror and tell that person how beautiful she is. She deserves to hear it everyday.
LOVE this so much…I’m going to tweet it 🙂 You are so right. Women shouldn’t be discriminated against or brought down by society because of the “norms” that are out there that say “Beauty is skinny”. That’s bullshit and I wish more woman, heck..more PEOPLE, would realize that!!
Not to mention, plus size clothing is always ugly. Why do they assume plus women always want to look like a walking landscape design?
Great post Trish! I also “love” that the plus size section is always waaaayyy at the back of a store in a corner. God forbid it’s found out that larger women shop there.
Preach it, sister. I think it’s crazy that we tell men it’s OK to be large when it leads to heart attacks and so many other problems. No wonder that women live longer.