The other day my friends and I were at the mall, going shopping. We went into one store to try on some dresses to wear to a party we're going to in October. We found some dresses that we really liked, tried them on but we couldn't fit some. I realized I have to go from a small to a medium, which shocked me. My other two friends couldn't fit into a large or didn't see their number size. The store didn't even have a plus size section. It really bummed my friend that she couldn't fit into any dresses there.
When we were walking around the mall, we saw nothing but ads with the same thing: thin, skinny, good-looking people, and models with abs. Where's all the curvy, plus size advertisements? Nowhere to be found. It got me thinking about how some stores, and especially the media body shame people.
Abercrombie & Fitch is a perfect example of companies who body shame people. Here are the words of former A&F CEO Mike Jefferies:
"It's almost everything. That's why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because
good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market cool,
good-looking people. We don't want to market to anyone other than that."
-Mike Jefferies CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, 2006 Interview with Salon
The store discriminated against overweight people, never having clothing going above the size large. They denied employment to a Muslim teenager because she refused to take off her hijab. And she shouldn't have to because that's a part of her religion.
Notice how the media doesn't portray stretch marks and uses Photoshop to cover up
everyone's flaws. The media wants to make us feel that we have to look a certain way, to be considered perfect, and beautiful; nothing but body shaming. It's ridiculous! It's their way of saying: "Hey, we retouched your images because no one wants to see your stretch marks and scars!" No one should feel ashamed of them themselves. It's like Hannah Montana said in one of her songs: "Nobody's perfect". And shoutout to those who do whatever it takes to break society's standards of beauty!
Here are a couple great examples of women who shut down society's beauty standards:
1. Lena Dunham
Lena Dunham earlier this year (March 2016), put an end to companies retouching her photos. She's willing to miss out on big photo shoots, or campaigns to boost her career to prove a point—You don't need Photoshopped photos to be beautiful.
2. Chantelle Brown-Young (Winnie Harlow)
Chantelle Brown-Young, is a model who has Vitiligo (a skin condition that Michael Jackson had). She was apart of Americas Next Top Model but ended up being cut. Ever since then, she's had modeling gigs for Spanish clothing company Desigual, and much more! She never let her skin condition get in the way!
Everyone is perfect no matter what size, color, they are. The media needs to accept that! So the next time somebody says your fat, skinny, or have too many scars, stretch marks, or tattoos, SHUT IT DOWN! Ignore them! Just walk to the nearest mirror and say "I love my body, and I'm not ashamed of it!"
