Last week, comedian and inspirational superstar Amy Schumer brought up something last week that is actually a pretty big deal. Glamour Magazine, in their all plus-size issue, included Amy Schumer in a list of “Women Who Inspire Us,” alongside other “plus-sized” celebs like Melissa McCarthy (from The Heat and currently The Boss), Adele (singer of “Hello” and “When We Were Young”), and Ashley Graham (the first plus-sized model on the cover of Sports Illustrated). Now, for anyone who doesn’t know who Amy Schumer is, this is her:

As you can see, she’s not “plus-sized” or even close to the “plus-sized” standards for American women, which Glamour Magazine defined as size 12 and up. Needless to say, she was not happy when she was published as an inspirational “plus-sized” woman on the cover of the magazine when: 1) They did not ask for her permission, and 2) She is not actually plus-sized. So, on April 5, responded to this on Instagram and asked the Twitter world what their thoughts were.

Well, Twitter responded, and brought up something far bigger than teaching young women that a woman of Amy Schumer’s size is “plus-sized”, and that is this whole deal with this “plus-size” label and what it means to women. Dublin reporter, Juliette Gash, responded to Amy with this tweet:

Juliette was just one of many who responded to Amy in this way, and Amy agreed with the points they brought up.

*This tweet included a magical video of Amy flying a kite on the beach.

So, basically, we all came to the conclusion that labels suck. But, these labels do so much more to our society and young women growing up inside of it; so, that’s what I’m going to talk about, because that’s what we ALL should be talking about.

First, the plus-size label is incredibly inaccurate.

So, unfortunately for Amy, who says she goes “between a size 6 and an 8”, in the fashion industry, “plus-size” encapsulates all models who are a size 8 and above. Because that’s a healthy standard. We typically don’t think of this as “plus-sized” (because, seriously?) and because, in most clothing lines, the “plus” sizes don’t even start until size 16. But here’s the kicker: the average American woman is a size 14. That’s right, the average size of an American woman is larger than the size 12 that Glamour Magazine (and most American clothing lines) define as “plus-sized”. So, how does this all connect? How is a size 8 model considered “plus-sized” when she is too small to model for plus-sized clothing, and why on earth do we act like “plus-sized” is some special attribute (and not typically a good one) when its sizes start below the average size for American women? Basically, it's incongruent, undefined, and overall inaccurate.

Second, what does it mean to be normal?

If you look up the definition of “plus-size” on google, you get the Wikipedia definition that says: “(of clothing or people) of a size larger than the normal range.” So, what is this normal range? Clearly, they don’t mean the average range, since, as I just said, that is a size 14, which falls in the “plus-sized” range. And does that mean “plus-sized” women are not normal? Because that’s a wonderful message for all women, even those who don’t fall into the “plus-sized” category. This is probably the biggest point I’m going to make. This definition is the reason Amy Schumer was offended when she saw her name in a list of “plus-sized” women: no one wants to be labeled “plus-sized”. Not because they are not proud of their bodies, because I know many “plus-sized” women are and should be. But “plus-sized” has a negative connotation, that it is not normal to be “plus-sized”.

In fact, when Amy Schumer first posted about this issue, many people called her out for being offended by this label.

Here’s the thing: the fact that it insults this woman (which it very well should) just proves Amy Schumer’s point further. I have never been a huge Amy Schumer supporter (not that I’ve ever really disliked her; I just didn’t keep up with her that much) but I don’t fault her for her reactions, and neither do most of her followers. She is calling out the label and the problem with these labels. People see “plus-sized” as a negative thing, because “plus-sized” means you are not normal and you are excluded from the “normal” people section of the store.

Lastly, on this point, I’m going to talk about the in-betweeners. Basically everyone bigger than the “normal” models but smaller than the “plus-size” models (Amy Schumer falls into this category as do I and probably a good majority of women). Because the thing is, the category goes anywhere from a size 2 (yes, a size 2!) to a size 10-12-ish. Now, before you call me out for counting a size 2 in this category, let me explain myself: women have very different body types!!! I can’t stress this enough. And the fact of the matter is, models do not have very different body types. A size 2 model likely has a size 24 waist and (Oh, God, am I really about to say this) a thigh gap. All size 2 women do not have these things and that is okay! Because here’s the main thing I’m trying to get at: we all have different body types and all of those body types are beautiful. So, while the in-betweeners get to shop in the “normal” section, we do not get represented in the media. Now, I am not saying that this is worse than women who are represented under a label that means abnormal. It’s not, and I don’t want a label. I just want my body type and everyone else’s to be celebrated just as much as the “normal” model body type.

Third, the normal model body type sets an unhealthy standard.

Now, this has been said again and again, and I would think most people would agree with it. Some women who are naturally thin, though, believe that we are thin-shaming by assuming that a model’s body is unhealthy because it is so thin. That’s not my problem, though it has been reported by the Model Alliance that of 241 American fashion models, 31.2% have had eating disorders and 48.7% have participated in an unhealthy restriction diet to lose weight. (Basically, even they can’t keep up with this unhealthy standard). But, let’s focus on the models who don’t have eating disorders, because numbers are numbers and those numbers speak more about the problems with the industry than I ever could.

There are models that do not have eating disorders, ones that are naturally that thin. I get that: I see women who are naturally very thin every day. But that’s their body type. Not everybody’s. Yet, that body type is the only one that is celebrated in that industry and the one all models are expected to have (even the ones who have to starve themselves to achieve it). My point is this: not everyone is naturally as thin as models (most people aren’t). So, to set that body type as the standard for women to have is incredibly unhealthy. And it is why so many women not in the fashion industry suffer from eating disorders—to achieve that celebrated thinness. So, while thinness can and should be celebrated (if it is your natural body type), it should not be the only one that is celebrated. Every body type (and they are infinite and unique) should be celebrated by the media and by everybody else. There should be no labels, no “plus-sized”, no “normal” (because what even is normal when no two women look the same?).

Lastly, we are not defined by our looks.

I realize this whole article has focused on the idea of body image and why it matters that we celebrate all body types without labels, but we are not what we look like, but who we are and the amazing things we can accomplish. I understand that, and I realize that you are all probably thinking: “Then, why even bother with this article and the whole idea of body image?” Two reasons: body image is important, even though it does not define us, and the media needs to be rectified.

I will forever stand up for creating body positivity because it is important to feel beautiful. I believe that it is innately human to want to be considered attractive and it is crucial to being comfortable and confident with who you are. And maybe some would call this shallow, but I would love to live in a world where we can all feel beautiful in our own ways, and we are not judging who is more beautiful but what about us is uniquely beautiful.

In order to get to anything that even resembles the world I just described (which I realize is very rainbows and butterflies and simply unrealistic), we have to change the media. We have to face the facts: our lives are run by the media. Everything we do and think is influenced by everything around us. Even if we don’t agree with it, don’t watch it, don’t read into it, don’t even pay attention to it, it’s there and it influences all of us. It is the fastest and most effective way of influencing us. So, it's about time that it started influencing us in a positive way: by destroying the labels its created for body types and celebrating (really celebrating, in every corner of the fashion and entertainment industry) the naturally beautiful and unique bodies of all women.

Sources:

https://twitter.com/amyschumerref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

http://modelalliance.org/industry-analysis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plus-size_clothing