Does This Mannequin Make Me Look Fat?
In terms of self-serving tactics from the fashion industry, I thought we’d seen it all, what with rampant photoshopping and the culture of eating disorders among its spokeswomen (a.k.a., models). Then, last week, we on the Proud2BMe Media Response Team were alerted by our editor Emma to the latest trend among retailers — visibly underweight mannequins. Really? REALLY? Must we go to such ridiculous lengths to make people feel badly about what real human bodies look like? Apparently, yes. As I researched this bizarre trend for my post for Proud2BMe, I found out that the store that Emma...
Read MoreVictoria’s Secret Reveals the “Perfect Body”
Just when we thought we were making progress on valuing women’s realistic shapes and sizes, Victoria’s Secret jumps in to tighten the measuring tape again. The lingerie baron recently launched a marketing campaign for their “Body” line of lingerie that features the slogan “The Perfect ‘Body’.” The lacy creations are modeled by ten of the Victoria’s Secret “Angels” — thigh gabs, visible ribs, protruding collar bones, and all. Questionably-nourished models are nothing new for Victoria’s Secret; emblazoning the word PERFECT...
Read MoreChildren as Heirs to the Culture of Thin
We’ve seen the campaigns: activists calling for the end of excessive Photoshopping; retailers and advertisers pledging to represent diverse body types; and organizations of every kind promoting confidence and positive body image. So why does the culture of thin still reign? Because its unrealistic standards and harmful ideals are being imprinted on the most vulnerable among us: our children. Click here to read my article on eating disorders in children, “Today’s Lesson: Thinner Is Better” on HealthyPlace.com, America’s largest consumer mental health site. Share...
Read MoreSurrendering the Skinny Skinny Jeans
I returned home from 40 days of residential treatment this spring to a predicament no one warned me about: my jeans. I’d spent the last month and a half carefully unearthing my past, examining and grieving it, and then finding it a final resting place within myself. But I’d forgotten about the parts of my past that were hanging my closet. Most of the clothing I owned was rather old. There were even several relics from my teenage years. My natural frugality said these pieces were perfectly wearable clothes, while my eating disorder lurked in the background scheming a perverse reward system to...
Read MoreJ. Crew Size 000: Are We Shrinking? Or Is That Just The Goal?
If positive numbers no longer suffice to measure your diminutive waistline, then J. Crew has a solution for you. The popular clothing company recently announced that it added a new size to its repertoire—the 000, or extra-extra-extra small. Numerically, that’s a 30.5” bust and a 23” waist (which The Daily News points out is about the circumference of a basketball). The move immediately raised alarm, prompting responses from groups such as the National Eating Disorders Association, which issued a statement urging, “There is no such thing as a size 0 (or 000).” On Twitter, an outcry from...
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