67% of women in the U.S. are considered plus-size, but only 2% of the images we see are of plus-sized individuals. Being plus-size does not mean that someone is overweight or unhealthy, but simply that they are over size 14. Although being plus-size is all about the numbers there is a great deal of negative stigma surrounding it. Plus-size models are usually seen in health and fitness articles or as the "before" in a "before and after" shot; and that needs to change.
This lack of representation is what lead Refinery29, an online lifestyle and news platform, to create the 67 Percent Project. The aim of the project was to “fix” their mistake of not making every woman’s body visible. Open the project creates a flood of images where plus size women are not represented. This is followed by quotes, video, and text describing the project and promising to show all bodies. Refinery29 claims to have spent 6 months creating new stock photos and illustrations to revamp their site, newsletter, and social media platforms which include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.
For all our work in representing women we had failed to reflect the majority. Once we recognized this gap we could not unsee it. - Kelsey Miller
This project partnered Refinery29 with Lane Bryant and Aerie; two companies who have been very active in creating body positive campaigns in recent years. They also plan to use Getty Images to create a collection available to other platforms looking to show the 67%. They spoke about coming to terms with their own biases and realizing that they needed to work harder to have equal representation and us as consumers should too. They even took a step further to try and include more women from different races and backgrounds, because representation is a multidimensional issue.
A quick scroll through the Refinery29 home page will show women of various body types and sizes being represented under headlines for topics ranging from beauty to tech. This also continues throughout their social media platforms. You can even check out #seethe67 on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to see some of the images and quotes posted by Refinery29 and consumers to represent and empower the 67%.
I truly believe that if you don't accept yourself or where you're at, you can't get to the place where you want to be, or become the person you feel you're supposed to be. - Chrissy Metz
I have enjoyed consuming the content produced by R29 for the past few years. They usually do things that are not found on most lifestyle platforms and speak about news topics in ways many mainstream platforms try to stay away from. And while I know that this project does not solve all our issues surrounding body image and the media, it is a step in the right direction.
I am very glad that R29 made stock images available for the public. I hope to see more representation of women and acceptance of bodies; both men and women, in the future. Being a size 6 or size 16 says nothing about your health. People come in many shapes and sizes, so let's try to embrace that instead of changing to fit a standard.