We, as a society, have a reputation for blowing things out
of proportion. We can’t help that whenever someone famous does something
insignificant, we need to make it so widespread that it becomes significant.
For me, the idea of labelling certain individuals as ‘plus size’ in the world
of modelling is a bit of a grey area.
Therefore, I think it’s necessary that I throw a quick
disclaimer into the mix; I am in no way clued up on the intricacies of the
industry, and to quickly summarise my opinion, I couldn’t care less who’s
modelling for what establishment.
If you want to model, then good on you. Size, attractiveness
and whatever else models are judged upon are completely subjective opinions
which vary from person to person. You may say that one model represents
the ‘perfect’ size, or figure, or another quality which appeals to you. I may
say that the same person is too thin, and hence this article, which is thinly
veiled as a small rant, should be seen as nothing of much significance. I’m not
being a social commentator, but I would like to throw an odd sentence or two
into the already-saturated mix.
I was looking up the odd article while researching this, and
I did find one or two lovely opinions. As with most individuals on the
internet, different sentiments were thrown around with conflicting intent. It’s
funny how a barrage of capital letters and misspelled swear-words can make the
most complex and rounded argument go from excellent to something to be ignored.
One of the most favoured arguments for those who don’t see a
problem with a lack of varied women in modelling, is that magazines simply
cater for demand; models
within a certain height and appearance will be favoured over
others because people prefer such sizes. I can appreciate that the
industry is just like any other, in that it must provide the customer what it
wants in order to succeed. But then, apart from various magazines and agencies,
who can actually promote the acceptance of a wider variety of sizes in
modelling?
I must also add, everyone should keep their minds open, as a
lot of this could easily be attributed to male modelling too, and I for one
would be interested to see what the resulting backlash (if there were one)
would look like. After all, when was the last time you remember seeing a
visibly-larger male model?
Let’s put gender aside for now and get back to the previous
notion: just because something isn’t in demand doesn’t mean it should remain
without representation. In an ideal world, models in media would represent all
the different shapes and sizes which are present in society, and I personally
think that is a relatively reasonable concept to strive for. If we had models
of all sizes, in every medium in which they are frequently employed, then I
could safely bet that people would be a bit more confident with themselves. We
might even appear to be a society that is more accepting of differences within
it; not one which makes everyone endeavour to an elitist ideal. Can you imagine
that?
But I think the crucial concern of the matter is
what constitutes a ‘plus-size model’. For Calvin Klein, that’s roughly a UK
size 14. I for one think it’s an absurd concept.
Thankfully, most people I’ve talked to seem to agree that a
size 14 lady should be regarded as a ‘model’, not a ‘plus-size model’. Of
course, a lot of people have different opinions on what sizes are excessive,
and what sizes are too small, and I’m not in a position to try and change that
for you.
However, when a medically-spotless, perfectly healthy women
who happens to be the most comfortable in size 14 is regarded as too big,
that’s when I start getting a little bit cautious of using, or going anywhere
near, the concept of ‘plus size models’. At that point, I start questioning the
opinions of those who organise modelling agencies, and those who are high up in
the industry.
Keep in mind that models as small as a size 6 (yup, a size
6) are sometimes considered to be ‘plus size’. I thought that the concept of
pressuring women to aspire to a certain size was thrown out of the window years
ago, but apparently not. Some seem to regard inducing anorexia and anxiety in
women as absolutely fine, and when such a small size (an unachievable ideal for
most) is considered to still be in excess of what is to be desired, something
is up.
So, most of the talent in the industry meet the criteria for
anorexia, in terms of their body mass index. That, and some more worryingly
hidden facts can be found scattered across the net, but I found the best
article on the matter came from Edward
Lovett, at ABC News.
The other side of this coin is that ‘larger’ women are becoming more
comfortable and more confident, hence their growing role in the industry.
That’s good; it means that the fashion industry is becoming more representative
of the actual size of women, and it means that the expectation of becoming a
size 0 is slowly diminishing. But still, the ‘plus size’ label means that
intentionally, or inadvertently, a degree of societal shaming is still
occurring.
While I hate the term ‘plus-size model’, I can see why it is
sometimes used as an accurate depiction of a person’s weight in regards to what
is actually healthy, and not what is considered healthy by society. Personally,
any weight, size or shape can be regarded as absolutely fine. As I said
earlier, if you want to model, then good on you. But, I think if ‘plus size’ is
going to regretfully remain the vocabulary of tabloids and media outlets, then
the same needs to be pointed out for models who are medically regarded as
underweight.
We, as realistic adults, can admit that both
‘skinny-shaming’ and ‘fat-shaming’ are going to continue, regardless of what we
do. These terms are unfortunate and inevitable results of an industry focused
on vanity and appearances. Some people’s opinions are immune to change, which
is good. If everyone had the same opinion, we’d be a lot worse off as a whole.
So my ideal for this rather intricate dilemma of varied subjective opinions is
as followed:
First of all, let anyone be a model. I mean anyone. I mean
regardless of size, facial features, figure, and more importantly, regardless
of conditions or disabilities (I think that’s a more significant
matter, but I’ll leave that for another article). In doing so, everyone is
fairly represented.
 |
| Tess Holliday, or Tess Munster, one of the recent models who inadvertently kicked off the debate. |
Secondly, get rid of what fashion labels and model agencies
consider to be ‘plus size’. Ideally, replace this with an accurate medical
label instead. I’m glad that women who are size
22 are into modelling, and that they are ‘empowering’ similar women in
doing so, (see Tess Holliday), but people should know that this is medically
unhealthy if it can be prevented. If it can be helped, and is solely the choice
of model, such sizes could be labelled as ‘plus size’, but similarly if a model
is medically underweight, they could be labelled as ‘minus size’, or whatever
other term is promoted by tabloids.
Being excessively large or disproportionately small are
equally unhealthy. Neither should be promoted as favourable lifestyles, but
both should be accepted. It’s fair to label those as obese as ‘plus size’, but
only on the condition that we point out those who are the opposite too. That
last section sounded like I intended to separate out bits of society in an
attempt to promote a perfect ideal, and I can assure you that it wasn’t my
intention. All should be welcome, as long as those on either end of the
spectrum are aware of their position. Don’t promote a certain size; let people
be whatever they want. I’d much rather society play the role of a middleman with
good intent, pointing out extremes, as opposed to being an elitist
figurehead which makes the remaining majority feel awful about themselves.
To finish off, I’d oddly like to disregard the majority of
my previous rant/argument. Everyone seems to have forgotten that some women,
and men, are simply born differently. I for one am overweight for my age and
size, according to my BMI. Granted, I’m only a few additional pounds into the
overweight category, but I am overweight nonetheless. Has it stopped me, or
impeded any aspect of my everyday life? Not necessarily, but I can understand
why it would for others. If I’m at a pub and see other gents walking round with
just a slim shirt on, and I’m stood there with an open jacket, I do
occasionally become a little jealous, as they appear to portray confidence that
I don’t have in wearing a particular item of clothing.
Some people may have broad shoulders or wider hips, so need
larger sizes to accommodate them. A friend of mine has to resort to XL men’s
shirts, not because he’s overweight, but because he’s tall. In the perfect
world, we would stop judging people for such factors, ones which they
understandably cannot help. It’s entirely possible to be classified as
underweight in accordance with your BMI, but still be relatively large in your
frame. But apparently some agencies and magazines would prefer it if such
people didn’t attempt modelling.
If only we could shake off the false ideals of being too
large or too small. I appreciate that some people find different things
attractive, but imagine how much easier (and arguably happier) the world would
be if we could achieve such indifference. I look forward to the day when tabloids
run articles regarding a different sized model doing a photoshoot, and how
commentators would simply reply with remarks such as “that’s good”, or “good
for them”, rather than leaving spiteful insults.
Maybe it’s not just sizes, or personal preferences. Maybe
some people just need to cheer up and stop being dicks.
