Plus-Size: Models

I'd like to start off by saying I'm a plus-sized woman.  And I'm not talking just the other side of a 12.  I mean fully plus sized in odd place and strange shapes.  And as a woman with some meat on her bones, I would have to say I resent the entire culture of "plus-size" models.  I just read an article talking of the hypocrisy of plus-size models.  But where they talk about how plus size models are used to 'send a message', I'm talking about the fact that none of these models are truly plus-size.  I'm sorry, a size 12 doesn't cut it if you can still fit in clothing from at least 90% of mainstream stores.  And Beyoncé?  There is NOTHING about her that is plus size.  Nice boobs and wider hips don't count.  Not where I'm concerned.  How can we imagine that any of these women are 'sending a message', when they don't look like the population they're supposedly representing?  Let ME be a model and wear your clothes, so that others who look like me can relate.

Positive body image is something we pretend to teach our children as they grow older, and then turn around and bombard them with 'thin is beautiful', at home, in the media, even through music.  Growing up I was an active kid, but still I put on weight.  At one point my mom even asked if I was pregnant because she'd noticed a change.  How do you think that makes a 13 year-old feel?  I understand wanting a healthy, active, and fit society, but there are other forms of health as well: mind, soul/spirit, whatever you want to call it.  Self-esteem can do you right or so very wrong, and I believe it's important to get people to love themselves no matter how they look, how much they weigh, what their socio-economic status is, etc.  We cannot as a society continue to perpetuate self-hate and expect there to be no repercussions.

For the longest time I have struggled with accepting myself, wanting to shed pounds and pounds.  Not so much that I could look like everyone else, but more so I could wear the clothes I want to wear.  I appreciate what places like Forever21 that have a plus size section with actually cute clothes.  But their designs sometimes miss the mark.  And I wonder, why don't you make the same exact clothes for us that you make for the smaller sizes?  The only answer I can come up with: they don't mind us looking cute, but they don't want us looking the same.  Then what would they have to talk about?  Harp on?  And this could just be me and my thoughts, but it's something I think of often when I go to a place like Macy's or JCPenney's and their plus-size section is full of clothes that look like my grandma's couch.

There is apparently an entire movement going on that I have never heard of, all about promoting positive self-body-image, and I plan to take part.  I discovered this by checking out The Militant Baker's blog, which led me to Tovar's and beyond.  And I've decided it's time for me to make my appearance.  Which I will be doing this summer in crop tops, high-waisted short-shorts and in anything else I damn well please.  I'm tired of being ashamed of who I am and feeling like I need to change how I look to match what people think.  I think it's about time people got over how I look and start changing what they think!  #fancyfabulousfierce