Everyone claims that "people come in all shapes and sizes." Why, then, is the term “plus-size” used to describe people that are supposedly larger than average? As someone who has been designated a plus-size woman and has shopped in stores designed for a plus-size body type, I am confused by the term and its connotations.
Generally, clothing is sold in many different sizes, but for the purpose of this article I’m going to look at the most common way of sizing that I have personally encountered. Most stores size with even numbers going from zero to 18 or 20. I’ve seen these clothing sizes in so many stores including Target, Walmart, Old Navy, TJ Maxx, Kohl’s and so on. And yet, plus-size clothing stores like Torrid sell from size 12 and up. Why should there be a separate store for so-called "plus-size clothing" when I can buy a size 12 pair of jeans at Old Navy for half the price?
The term "plus-size" leaves a bad taste in my mouth. When I hear it, I hear that I am more that a person should be. And not in a good way. I hear that my size it larger than normal. I understand that I am not the optimum weight for my height. I have struggled with my weight and body image for years and years. I have struggled with eating disorders and dieting fads. And all the while, I have been subjected to the media calling women who are size 12 and over “plus-size."
My aunt and mother taught me when I was very young that the number on the clothing did not matter, as every company had different sizing and every article of clothing moved and fit each body differently. Because of my big hips and wide back, I owned a variety of sizes ranging from 10 to 16. I still find the same thing happens today. In a Boyfriend Cut T-Shirt from Old Navy, I am a medium, which would not be considered plus-size. But, in an American Eagle graphic tee, I am an extra-large. How can I be plus-size and not plus-size at the same time?
This is how: sizing is relative. There is no such thing as “plus-size." All clothing companies have different standards for sizing. All bodies are different. There are bodies that are big and bodies that are small. But just because someone wears a certain size article of clothing does not make them plus-size. There are women out there who wear size 12 jeans and are a perfectly healthy weight. Why? Because all bodies are shaped differently. Society does not have the right to designate women who wear double-digit sizes as larger than the rest of the population. Plus-size models are just models. They are beautiful women with their own body proportions.
So please. The term “plus-size” is just inherently disrespectful. I am not too big for what has been deemed normal sizing. No one is. The numbers on your clothing does not matter. Does it fit you? Do you look good in it? Do you love it? Then it’s your clothing. Screw the number and the sizing guide. Wear an extra-small shirt and a size 12 pair of jeans and laugh at the people who decided that 12 and over was “plus-size."
I am not a plus-size woman. I am a woman and I have a body. It is my body and therefore different from everyone else’s body in the entire world. There is no "plus" or "normal" size. We are all our own sizes. And we should be proud no matter the number of digits in our size.
