The term "plus size" originated in the 1920s to categorize clothing that did not fit slender but rather full figured women. It has since been used to embrace curvier women, providing an umbrella term to categorize women with a larger shape. In 1985, the average American woman wore a size US 8. Today, thirty years later, she wears a size US 14. The average 1985 woman is the fashion industry's minimum size for plus-size. By these standards, the average American woman has been considered plus size for three decades, challenging the belief that the average woman has always been waif-like.
I remember ten years ago when I was 15, struggling with the belief that I was less than a woman because I fit a double digit size. My body was not an ironing board or acceptably ideal. I was a curvy woman scorned by society, constantly making excuses for who I was. I declared, in defiance, that one day, people would respect women of all sizes. My size. Her size. Even his size. Since then, the plus size industry has flourished with milestones.
Denise Bidot, 29, became the first Latin plus size model to walk for New York Fashion Week in 2014. Tess Holliday, 30, became the first non-traditional plus size model to achieve a contract with a mainstream modelling agency. She is also the founder of Eff Your Beauty Standards, promoting body positivity, not limited to only women but older women, men, transgender, etc. There's even a thing called Full Figured Fashion Week, celebrating curvier women in fashion!
Now, Ashley Graham, 29, a seasoned plus size model for about fifteen years, has now become the first plus size model to be featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue of 2016.
As one of the rookie of the year nominees for the issue, she will also be gracing one of three covers of the issue along with fellow model, Hailey Clauson and, MMA fighter, Ronda Rousey. “Your body is already beach-body ready,” Graham stated in an InStyle article about her views on swim season, “Yes, you should go to the gym, but you don’t have to just in order to wear that bikini for that day.” Graham battles the plus size stigma, including despising being called a "plus size model." If anything, she refers to herself as her own size, not one society or fashion categorizes her as. In May 2015, she held a TED Talk titled "Plus Size? More Like My Size," shedding light on the negative impact the term 'plus size' had.
In an interview with SHAPE Magazine in January, Graham defined her dislike for the term, feeling that it categorizes women and sets them apart rather than bringing the together:
"I've been called a plus-size model for the past sixteen years. I hear it, sometimes I say it....But at the end of the day, it's a label. You can say, 'Yes it's a negative thing' or 'maybe it's not a negative thing'...but why would we want to be labeled something? Why do we want to be put in a different category than all the other types of models? No one says 'skinny model'.... And you know what, this younger generation of girls that are bigger and curvier, do they want to be called plus-sized at age 13 when they go to school? No. You just want to be a girl. I think it's about getting with the times."---Ashley Graham
She makes a wonderful point, but the use of the term because of a lack of substitutions exposes the vulnerability of full figured women, who should just be called women. But Graham achieving the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition sends a message out there to women who believe they are less than who they are. Perhaps this and more achievements for the plus size community will eliminate further body stigma. Yes, my body casts a larger shadow than most but I live in the sun, basking in the glorious sunlight.
