Calvin Klein. What comes to your head when you think of that brand? Skinny, seemingly perfect women; men with chiseled abs and a smoulder… all the models seem to look the exact same, right? Calvin Klein started to notice too, so they brought in their first ever “plus-size” model. Her name is Myla Dalbesio, and she is a size 10. When this was posted on Twitter, people responded with anger, sadness, and the brutal truth. Emma Gregory declared, “You should be ashamed @CalvinKlein ! Plus size my Arse !” Anna Lauzon dejectedly admitted, “If this is plus size, I don’t want to know what Calvin Klein would categorize me under.” Catherine Tyldesley called out Calvin Klein for “giving another generation of girls eating disorders/insecurities” (Edwards). But shortly after all these tweets, The New York Times brought the world’s attention to an important detail—one that, despite its significance, would have no effect on the opinions of the public.

A New York Times article revealed that the famous underwear brand had never advertised or categorized Myla Dalbesio as a plus-size model. That description was actually derived from an interview the model had with Elle (Friedman).  Myla described herself as an “inbetweenie… not skinny enough to be straight-size… not big enough to be plus-size” (Edwards).  If the truth was finally out, why were people still angry about this situation and specifically at Calvin Klein? Vanessa Friedman, the author of the article, argues that people tend to personally blame the designers who unsuccessfully try to ditch stereotypes instead of blaming the real perpetrator—the fashion industry as a whole.

Ralph Lauren, another sophisticated clothing line, also introduced a plus-size model. But this time, she was actually categorized as that by the company. Robyn Lawley is 6’2 and a size 12, and in an interview with the Australian Vogue, she confided that she was not a fan of being labeled plus-size. “I'm a normal size. I wish we could all be known as models, rather than plus-size.” The interview quickly took a turn as she confessed her past of eating disorders and the struggle to accept her body as a model at age 16. Robyn remembers how she succumbed to the insecurities: “I began starving myself and making myself sick after meals.” But now, she recognizes her body is beautiful the way it is, and even boldly declared in the interview, “The thing with my body is that I’m big-boned... I have broad shoulders, I’m really tall, have big hips -- it’s just not my body. And I love food!” (Snead). In this instance, even when Robyn WAS categorized as plus-size, she chose to ignore what others thought and concentrate on how she felt.

With the word “plus-size” being thrown around, it is often difficult to get an accurate definition or representation of it. Ben Zimmer, writing for the Wall Street Journal, talked about the origins and negative connotation of the word “plus-size” in an article called “Women Note the Minuses of Plus-Size.” He explains that in the 1900’s, bigger women who did not conform with the skinnier, preferred body type of that time were labeled as stout. But in 1922, a well-liked store called Lane Bryant started making what they called “Misses Plus-Sizes.” Ben notes that “For a few decades, though, "plus-size" (and eventually "plus-sized") referred only to clothes rather than to the person wearing them.” But just 5 years later that view shifted when a store in North Carolina advertised “wonderful action-plus dress for the plus-sized woman.” The clothes were no longer plus-size—the women were (Zimmerman).

The fashion industry has led all of us to believe that categories exist and matter a great deal. Plus-size models seemed like a positive addition to advertising and online sites, but they still used a narrow range of models,  misrepresenting the women in today’s society. This promotes an inaccurate expectation of perfection for the female body, causing body image issues and eating disorders. In order to fix this, we need to disregard the bias and false advertising done by the fashion industry and instead push body acceptance and courtesy so society can have an opportunity to change their mindset of the female body. This bias has grown from a few companies to a monster that engulfed the whole fashion industry.

According to an article in the TIME magazine, women protested against the need for perfect bodies around the 1960’s. A palpable rage spread through women who were considered “big,” directed towards their society’s obsession with being stick-thin, and they decided to act. They formed ranks by establishing the National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) in 1969. Inspiration was even taken from the hippies of that era, who voiced their opinions through protests held in Central Park. These protests were called “be-ins,” and the angry women made that practice their own when they “staged their own event in New York City's Central Park, dubbed it a "Fat-In" and ate ice cream while burning posters of über-thin model Twiggy” (Fletcher).

While these protests were all the rage for a short while, they eventually fizzled out and the prejudice of the fat-acceptance women got pushed aside as society continued to worship only the outrageously skinny. Not defeated, these activists and those to come remained active under the radar. In an article titled Fashion for the Sixty Seven Percent, Ashley Ford write about her experience unearthing the fat acceptance movement. While she was working on her own personal blog, she found a site called “Big Girl Tumblr.” “Here, suddenly,” she describes, “was a world of beautiful, stylish fat women talking about clothes, looking great, and refusing to apologize or to put off buying things until they lost some weight” (Ford). They didn’t wear wear dark colors and baggy, unstylish clothes, contrary to what she had been told her whole life! Elated, she realized that these women had not tried to get attention through the fashion designers (what Ashley calls “the disinterested middleman”) but had instead made themselves known in their own personal ways through social media. This way, they could gain follower by follower, until they had enough supporters to give publicity another shot (Ford).
As social media pages and blogs for “plus-size” women got increasingly popular, their followers decided to emulate these brave, fashionable, bigger women by shopping in popular stores known for their cute and bold clothing styles. But to their disgust, nothing was offered in their sizes. In particular, Ashley went into many well-known stores, and said she found “plenty of things to want, but nothing in my size” (Ford). In fact, she couldn’t find things over a size 10 in one store. When she asked the sales associate about the problem, she suggested that Ashley look online. She did, and found a significantly higher amount of “plus-size” options. Just as Ashley did, many other women in America turned to online shopping, causing name-brand stores on the streets to lose business. Panicked, these stores tried bringing in “plus-size” models to placate the absent customers, leading to the Calvin Klein “scandal” and bringing us back to the issue: how women in America are being misrepresented through the media’s narrow range of models, causing widespread body image issues and eating disorders (O’Donnell). But although online venues have more plus-sized options, the women that model the clothing do not accurately portray it for the women shopping.

Tina Hines, a business owner, shared her experiences with online shopping models in an interview with the New York Times. Even though she is just a size 8, “when she shops online, she is still flummoxed. The models are generally rail-thin and flat-chested—not like her.” Tina explains, “Someone who’s an A-cup doesn’t help me, because it’s definitely going to lay a little differently” (Clifford). How can women with unique body types shop for clothes when all the clothes they shop for are modeled on the same body type? They can’t. The average woman in America weighs 168 pounds, is 5’3, and have a waist size of 38.1 inches, which is around a size 14 (Rothwell). Today’s models cannot be shorter than 5’8, weigh more than 120 pounds, or be larger than a size 4. Even the website I found these model measurements on said, “If you do not meet these requirements, don’t worry, most women don’t” (Taylor). This shows that the majority of women in our society are not represented; only an elite few are recognized and glorified.

I had an experience similar to Tina’s one day in my Humanities class. My group had finished discussing our assignment and, naturally, started talking about wedding dresses. On the David’s Bridal website, we admired all the different styles and cuts, but I noticed one strange thing: there was no difference in size between the models. Sure enough, all the models were exactly what the New York Times had said— “rail-thin and flat-chested” (Clifford). Out of curiosity, I took a look at the plus-size wedding dresses offered, and was disappointed to see models very similar to the model in Figure 1.

Media, and specifically the models used in advertising, created and still continue to push an expectation of perfection in females that is causing women everywhere to have an unhealthy dissatisfaction with their bodies. An article in the Journal of Social Issues recognizes this by saying:

A sociocultural model emphasizes that the current societal standard for thinness, as well as other difficult-to-achieve standards of beauty for women, is omnipresent and, without resorting to extreme and maladaptive behaviors, all but impossible to achieve for the average woman. Although sociocultural pressures may be exerted by a variety of sources (e.g., peers, parents, and partners...), it has been suggested that the mass media are the most potent and pervasive
communicators of sociocultural standards. (Thompson)

The “extreme and maladaptive behaviors” mentioned in the journal are body image issues and eating disorders, and in another journal published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Marion P. Olmsted and Traci McFarlane actually revealed that these behaviors “are so common that they are statistically ‘normal’ for women” (Olmsted). Women who don’t try harmful diets or have constant things they wish they could change about their body are seen as lazy and unmotivated, not willing to be healthy or better themselves. But in reality, women who participate in these activities are actually mistreating their bodies. This happens on a large scale, and is a very pervasive problem.

Going back to the journal by Olmsted and McFarlane, we find that “nearly one half of North American women experience some degree of body image dissatisfaction” (Olmsted). To me, this is an astounding number. Let’s make a quick calculation. According to the 2010 census, there are 157 million women in North America. Half that, and you get 78 million, 500 thousand women who experience some form of body dissatisfaction, whether that is looking in the mirror every day and beating themselves up or comparing themselves to models they see everywhere and thinking they will never measure up because they don’t look like them.

These body image issues can often lead to eating disorders, specifically anorexia. On the National Institute for Mental Health website, I found that women who have anorexia progressively become grotesquely underweight as they go on dangerously restrictive diets. These women don’t realize they are underweight, but instead see themselves as too heavy, constantly weighing themselves and exercising to the point of exhaustion. They are terrified of gaining weight, and will do anything to prevent it. One of the symptoms listed for this disorder was “distorted body image, a self-esteem that is heavily influenced by perceptions of body weight and shape.”  Not only is this eating disorder very sad to see, it is life-threatening. It can cause bones to become brittle, lower blood pressure, damage the heart and the brain, kill off organs, and even lead to infertility. In fact, anorexia “has the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder” (Eating Disorders).

Now, not all people with body image issues are anorexic, but even if women don’t suffer from anorexia and the physical consequences, displeasure with one’s body still causes social and mental “attitudes and behaviors that are self-defeating and self-destructive.” Women, until they lose weight, often put off milestones in their life such as marriage, a career, and even friendship. In addition, women will also “squander time and psychological energy in the pursuit of thinness. The majority of them will be unsuccessful in this endeavour, will remain dissatisfied with their bodies, and will blame themselves” (Olmsted). So whether or not women develop an eating disorder, the dangers associated with body image issues are still very real and can change the course of one’s life.

You might be wondering how all of this connects to plus-size models, and why they are significant. While the unrealistically skinny models have been causing many problems, this new trend of plus-size models is making the problems even worse. Think about it. The super skinny women being advertised have already been dubbed as “unrealistic” and “unattainable” for women in America. Research has been done, we know the consequences, and even if we are not actively working to fix it, we are aware. But now, women are being modeled as plus-size, when they are far from that. This is saying that women who are not ridiculously thin are not just “not thin,” but they are, in fact overweight. Hinted at in past, this new movement is now verbalizing the fear women have had for a while now—that they are fat if they do not look like the models advertised. Remember the comments about the Calvin Klein fiasco? Women everywhere despaired as they saw healthy looking women being labeled as plus-sized, and wondered how they would be categorized. That should not be an acceptable way to feel.

We, as a society, need to fix the mindset we have all become trapped in. Instead of putting labels on women that are not the same as what we see in advertising, we need to recognize that the bias shown by the fashion industry is very harmful to women and that we need to stop listening to it’s voice. We can only do this if we provide equal opportunities in fashion, promote body positivity, and reduce the weight stigma that infects the nation.

I will admit, there have been some efforts to incorporate diverse body types into fashion industry. An example of this is Torrid, a specifically plus-size clothing company that was founded in 2001 (Torrid). All of their models are different in some way, and none of them are the stereotypical stick-thin model of today. But the problem is not so much of advertising plus-size models because that is already happening in most companies; it’s that the fashion industry categorizes them as plus-size. Like Robyn Lawley pointed out in her interview, the models should just be known as models. Categorizing one individual puts the body type they are representing into a box. That is not fair to anyone. If the categories are disposed of, no body type will be advertised as inferior to another.

Instead of confining small sizes and plus sizes to specific, separate stores, we need to give all body types the same opportunities to shop. A company called “Rent the Runway,” formed by Jenny Fless and Jennifer Hyman, is doing just that. By “replacing models with regular women, and allowing visitors to search for women of a certain age, height, weight and even bust size, to see how that dress looks on someone similar,” they are making sure no one is left feeling gypped or hopeless. This is how it works: the online site provides thousands of clothing options from expensive, fancy stores and rents them out for only “10 percent of the retail cost.” The women who rent the clothing can take a picture of the outfit, and then put it on the website, along with their measurements. They can also choose to write reviews of the clothing, so women can “perform find-women-like-me searches, ask questions of the other wearers, and choose to see only real-life women rather than models wearing the clothing.” Rent the Runway is not getting rid their models, they found that when they give shopper the option between a real life picture or a model picture, more than double of the women clicked on the real life picture (Clifford).

I visited this website and I am happy to report it is brilliant! Items that would normally cost around 495 dollars in retail were only 65 dollars to rent. I actually found a women in my size and her reviews were very helpful, and she detailed the trick she used to get the dress zipped up and let me know it had pockets. I felt like if I rented that dress for a fancy night out right then, I would have no unpleasant surprises waiting for me. But not only were there fancy dresses, I also found sweaters, blouses, jeans, jumpsuits, and everything else a women could ask for.

This online site should be made readily available to women everywhere. Just imagine if Target or Macy’s made this a part of their shopping experience. So many women would be able to shop online and have an accurate representation of what they were buying, and someone who tried on the clothes first-hand to answer their questions. If an online site like Rent the Runway was created for every store out there, it would make a difference. And those women who dislike shopping online and prefer the traditional style of walking in, they would still be able to go and try the clothes on. The stores would not have to get rid of their selling ability, they would just have an option for customers to rent and upload pictures.

With sites like this up and running, some people think that society is promoting obesity and that people are becoming blind to their weight, refusing to do anything to improve their health. This is a valid concern. But I think we need to realize that in order to be healthy, a person does need to exercise, but does not necessarily need to lose weight. Dr. Linda Bacon, a woman who has earned a PhD in Health Education and who has led multiple research attempts on nutrition and weight, voice her opinion on weight loss and exercise: “The problem with aligning exercise and weight loss is that then we put a whole lot of pressure on the only benefit of exercise is a way to lose weight...the benefits of exercise are so enormous. I think we're doing exercise a great disservice in only making it about weight loss” (Fat Pride).  Exercise is about feeling good, being healthy, and pushing yourself to accomplish reasonable goals. It is not about losing tons of weight for a “bikini body.” There are ways we can accept ourselves as we are, and as we do so, we can feel at peace with our bodies.

There is a website called The Body Positive, who’s main purpose is to “provides people of all ages, sizes, sexual orientations, genders, ethnicities, abilities, and socioeconomic levels with a whole-person, non-shaming approach to the mystery and miracle of living in a human body.” They have come up with five competencies or skills that anyone can practice to “live peacefully and healthfully in (their) bodies… able to care for ourselves from a place of self-love and appreciation, which allows us to act on… our life goals” (About Us). There is no mention of losing weight and no pressure to be something you’re not. Instead, this website creates a loving atmosphere where anybody of any size is encouraged to improve the wonderful person they already are.

The skills they encourage individuals to learn are very profound and real.They include developing “a weight-neutral, health-centered approach to self-care” and becoming “the authority of your own body by sorting out facts from distorted societal myths about health, weight, and identity” (About Us). The website also discusses the need for loving voices, not critical ones and becoming a role model for others. Some of the founding members of this website discussed creating this site has motivated them to stand up for themselves and be confident, and they hope it will do the same to those who visit their website.

But, some people who are standing up for their body type, such as in comments on social media, are being called “sensitive.” People think that because a few companies have adopted diverse models, the problem of misrepresentation is solved and no one has the right to be offended anymore. The misrepresentation of women in our society is not that easily fixed; just because companies have changed their advertising does not mean the fashion industry as a whole is fixed. It has created a mindset for women and society in general—bodies that aren’t modelistic are bad. These “sensitive” women are not being sensitive, they are standing up for themselves by recognizing there is a disease in our society that forces the focus onto an elite few and pushes the rest aside, leaving them to be ridiculed and even discriminated against.

This discrimination is known as weight stigma, and is a widespread, commonly unnoticed type of bias that affects people who are see as overweight. The Obesity Society, a website that is looking to understand and assist those who are obese through doing research and providing information for the public, have found that overweight adults in the workplace face discrimination on many levels. They are seen as “lazy, sloppy, less competent, lacking in self-discipline, disagreeable, less conscientious, and poor role models” even if they are not that way at all. If they send in a resume with a picture of themselves on it, and are compared to the resume of a smaller size person, the overweight candidate is “rated more negatively and is less likely to be hired.” In addition to all this, overweight employees are getting paid less and promoted less than their more average counterparts, even if they have the same amount of expertise (Obesity).

After explaining the problem of weight stigma, the Obesity Society offers some questions we need to ask ourselves to make sure we are not participating in the discrimination:

Do I make assumptions based only on weight regarding a person’s character, intelligence, professional success, health status, or lifestyle behaviors? Am I comfortable working with people of all shapes and sizes? Do I give appropriate feedback to encourage healthful behavior change? Am I sensitive to the needs and concerns of obese individuals? Do I treat the individual or only the condition? (Obesity)

I would invite you to ask yourself these questions, and if you find yourself answering “yes” to any of these, please make an effort to change. Once we change our own mindsets about weight, we can help other people change theirs. We can only make a difference if we are are not afraid to stand out and help others realize the obsession our society has with labeling and categories. Next time you see someone you think is overweight, remind yourself that they are a person just like you and instead think about what they might be struggling with. Have compassion and accept others for who they are. Worry about yourself and how you can change instead of dwelling on how you would like someone else to change. I know this seems like a big problem to tackle, but if we start by helping others around us, we can truly make a difference. There was a quote from an anonymous source that said “We can talk about making a difference or we can make a difference” (Meah) I have talked plenty about what differences we need to make—now I need you to go make the difference.

Fig. 1. Myla, Dalbesio, from Calvin Klein, “Perfectly Fit Campaign,” Calvin Klein Underwear, aaaaashot by Lachlan Bailey.

Works Cited

“About Us.” The Body Positive.

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Fletcher, Dan. “The Fat-Acceptance Movement.” Time, Time Inc., 31 July 2009.

FORD, ASHLEY C. "FASHION FOR THE SIXTY-SEVEN PERCENT: A Revolution in the Plus-Size Market." New York, vol. 50, no. 16, 2017, pp. 38-42.

Friedman, Vanessa. “Calvin Klein Gets a Plus-Size Controversy.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2014.

Meah, Asad. “Making A Difference.” AwakenTheGreatnessWithin, 26 Jan. 2017.

“Obesity, Bias, and Stigmatization.” Your Weight and Diabetes - The Obesity Society.

O’Donnell, Jayne. Listening to a plus-size market. USA Today, [s. l.], Disponível em. Acesso em: 30 nov. 2018.

Olmstead, Marion P, et al. “Body Weight and Body Image.” U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 25 Aug. 2004.

Snead, Elizabeth. “Robyn Lawley Makes a Big Splash as Ralph Lauren's First Plus Size Model.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Aug. 2018.

Taylor, Jonah. “Height, Age, and Measurement Requirements of Modeling.” Modeling Wisdom.

Thompson, J. Kevin, and Leslie J. Heinberg. “The Media's Influence on Body Image Disturbance and Eating Disorders: We've Reviled Them, Now Can We Rehabilitate Them?” EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page, Jan. 1999.

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Zimmer, Ben. "REVIEW --- the Week -- Word on the Street: Women Note the Minuses of 'Plus-Size'." Wall Street Journal, 2015, pp. C.4. Business Premium Collection, Global Newsstream.