Tuesday, May 7, 2013

The Glorification

I just read this article about Abercrombie, and the first thought running through my head was, "They are going to go out of business in no time."
The second thought was the dumb one.
Hm, I wonder what the comments will be like?
Seriously, never read the comments
So many people were actually lauding the CEO for his decision not to cater to people (women especially) above a size ten.
I'm not sure how many times I read the phrase "glorifying obesity."
Here's the thing that people don't understand when they throw that phrase out there: no one, not a single person, has stood up and encouraged people to be fat. Certainly not in the way that everyone is encouraged to be skinny. Not even the Fat Acceptance movement does this!
I'm just ridiculously tired of people crying out "glorifying obesity" like a protective spell anytime anyone, a company or a blogger or just a normal person, simply says that not everyone fits beauty standards. That's it. They don't say things like, "Fat isn't bad," even though they should, but that's much too controversial. No, they simply state the fact that fat people exist, and suddenly they're telling everyone to adopt "unhealthy lifestyles."
A couple of months ago, H&M put up size-12 mannequins (in Sweden, though, I'm not sure if that's happened in America), and that phrase came up again.
Really?
And then, even more recently, they used a plus size model in their beachwear campaign. Of course, for a plus size model, she's still quite slender, but she has a belly, and it's soft, and there are rolls, and oh goodness me, why did you put her in a bikini?
Seriously, though, people need to cool it with their "glorifying obesity" shrieks. No one is doing that, so just calm down and maybe drink some chamomile and take a breather. I think you need it.

8 comments:

  1. GAH ^^THIS^^. It's beyond annoying whenever the whole "glorifying obesity" line comes up. I did a design project a couple of semesters ago where I made a poster that basically just said all bodies are good bodies, and wouldn't you know, got a lot of pushback from it during critique. I think people were surprised when I called myself fat and said that it's not a bad thing. And why does "fat" have to be anything more than a descriptor word, right? I get a lot of "oh, you shouldn't say fat cuz that could hurt someone's feelings". BULLCRAP. Especially if I call myself fat and identify myself as that, why do people have the need to say, "omg, you're not fat!". But if I called myself tall or blonde or whatever, no one would say, "omg, you're not tall!" or "omg, you're not blonde!". GAH. Ok, done ranting. I guess that's just my long way of saying I totally get where you're coming from with this post. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well put, haha.
      But seriously, I agree with you completely. People are so keen to insist that, no, no, you're not fat, you can't possibly be fat because you're /pretty/. They can coexist, they really can.
      Saying that fat people exists is not the same as telling everyone to be fat, and it doesn't seem like people quite get that.

      Delete
  2. I hate the entire 'glorifying obesity' label. My Mum doesn't like me blogging because she says 'it's keeping you big'. WTF?! Did you even read it? Did you even look at it? Its only about looking good/feeling good no matter what your body size is. Grrrr!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly! All bodies are good bodies, and people should be /allowed/ to feel good at any size. They should be allowed to feel human.

      Delete
  3. Oh I read that article too. Where the CEO wanted the people who wore his clothes to be "the cool kids at school." That stings so hard. Someone determined to carry that brutal monkey hierarchy into the real world. Luckily we're free to leave his school and go hang out with the REAL cool kids under the bleachers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that is my favourite description of the misfit bunch of "radicals" who believe that all bodies are good. Haha. I hope the company takes the brunt of this, thou I've heard that they're already starting to do poorly. Though I'd assume that's due to the fact that everything is overpriced and boring. Haha.

      Delete
  4. I hope the CEO of Abercrombie gains SO much weight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that would be brilliant retribution!

      Delete