Thin is in, Big is... NOT

Take a look at your web browser. Glance at the books, magazines, and newspapers around you. Flip through some channels on your television. Pop in a good movie. How many different women did you see? These images we see have some variety - the women are tall, short, have varied skin, hair, and eye colors. One thing that always seems to stay the same is the size of these women. They are all thin, with small thighs, no belly pooch, arms that are tight and toned, and narrow waists. These women's bodies do not look ANYTHING like my body. The more I see these images, the more I feel big, like I don't really fit in this world. I start to notice how my body is so different from these pictures and I wonder, where do I fit here?

Let’s check this theory out, and take a look at some images on the internet.


MSNBC's homepage today touts a lovely picture of Tyra Banks.
Looking at this picture, I think, 'Oh my gosh!' This is supposed to be the model who speaks openly about being okay with gaining weight? Jeez! Her neck has no extra flesh on it at all. Has she ever worried about a double chin in pictures?







Heading over to Google images, I type in 'beautiful'. The first image to pop up is this. I don't know anybody in 'real life' who has boobs that big without a big body to go with it.







My own personal battle with images of a woman is my thighs. I see the typical pictures of women and I feel like my thighs are just HUGE. Lets head on over to Amazon.com and see what pops up when we type in 'plus size nylons'.


Gasp!

<-- Those are plus sized thighs? Do you know ANY plus sized woman who would be able to fit in the fishnets that woman on the left is wearing? My thighs are about twice that size. Actually, let’s be real here. I would like to share a picture of my thighs that was taken at Halloween.

THIS is what plus sized thighs look like. -->




This unrealistic and harmful barrage of images goes further than we would like to admit. What pictures do we post on Facebook? Are they the ones that show our whole body - in all of its womanly curves? When we walk into the plus sized section of the store, are the mannequins our size? When we stop and comment on how beautiful
someone is, how often is it a fat woman?

I was looking for a nice business suit to wear to a conference that is coming up, and I found a beautiful one in an online store that ONLY sells plus sized clothing. Check out the picture.

Do you see a problem here? The smallest size this store carries is a 14. There is no way she is a 14. How am I supposed to tell if this will look good on me? Is the fabric going to cling to my stomach? Will it hang nicely? Will it show bulges in awkward places? Do the buttons pooch if you have big boobs? I can't tell. Maybe if they put a fat woman in clothes meant for fat people, I could make the decision as to whether I want to buy this outfit! Using a thin model to sell plus size clothes is not a rare occurrence. Check out plus sized stores - most of them do it.


One last little example to make my point, and we can move on.



I was in two different online plus sized clothing stores and wanted to check their size charts to see what size I should be purchasing. Check out the pictures these sites had showing me what to measure.


These are guides from TWO different online stores selling clothing ranging from size 12 - 44. How many of their customers actually look like these pictures?


Why are there so few pictures of fat women? Why can't fat people be in the news (for something OTHER than being fat), magazines, and movies? Why, when I buy clothing to fit my fat body, do I have to look at image after image of thin women? I am tired of feeling like I don’t belong in the ‘thin world.’ I am ready to see some pictures of fat, beautiful women. Are you?

If you are ready, I have some ideas for you.

First of all, let’s try to share more pictures of our bodies that show our womanly curves. We are sensual, beautiful, curvy women. Let’s start showing the world! Scrapbook that picture of you in your swim suit, share a photo WITHOUT cropping out your arms, and look at pictures without thinking negatively about the size of the women in them.

Second - we need to spend more time supporting places that show women who LOOK like us. One of my favorite sites, Elizabeth Patch’s More to Love, has picture after picture of illustrated beautiful large women. After browsing through these images, I feel beautiful. My curves feel like something sensual, not something disgusting. Embrace these feelings! Browse through The Adipositivity Project (warning: nudity), watch television shows and movies that star larger characters, own and gift books like The Full Body Project and More to Love, and buy art depicting fat, beautiful bodies. Go take a look at The Museum of Fat Love.

Finally – don’t be afraid to ask for visibility. Send an email to those online stores and ask them to use larger models.

There are a million ways that we can start to make a difference in this. I would love to get your feedback. What are your ideas? What have you done (or wanted to do)? Are there any other books, shows, magazines, or websites that we should check out? If so, please share!

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy your beautiful curves!