We need to stop referring to models as ‘plus-size’

Literally what even is ‘plus-size’?

Body positivity movements have come a long way in recent years. No longer do magazines and advertisements exclusively feature tall, stick-thin, blonde, unattainably beautiful women, but rather, a much wider range of different types of beauty.

So long summer. #MarilynMonroe

A photo posted by Marilyn Monroe (@marilynmonroe) on Aug 30, 2015 at 12:34pm PDT

Imperfections are slowly becoming the norm, as viewers tend to reject airbrushing more and more. While the modeling and fashion industries still predominately focus on tall, extremely thin women more and more companies have begun to feature women with curves.

Giving us a serious case of #WCW: our game-changing #ThisBody squad. (Meet them all on our site rn.) cc: @mynameisjessamyn @borntoreignathletics @juliehenderson32 @curveswithmoves

A photo posted by Lane Bryant (@lanebryant) on Jan 4, 2017 at 4:34pm PST

While it’s amazing to see women to whom I—along with so many other women—can finally relate to, it’s like companies are making a point of having a plus-size model or two. Like, “Ooh, look at us! We’re like, diverse and body positive and stuff!”

 

As amazing as it is to see fuller-figured women taking the modeling industry by storm, the term ‘plus-size’ automatically labels these models as outsiders. They are not just models; they are plus-size models. They are outside of the norm, which companies can’t seem to go without acknowledging. By placing the term ‘plus-size’ in front of the word ‘model,’ companies imply that these models should be liked merely because of their weight.

In reality, they should be admired because of their courage to embrace their beauty, the confidence exuding from their smiles, and their ability to look damn good while doing their jobs. Calling these women plus-size reduces them to nothing more than their weight.

More so, what does plus-size even mean? A simple Google search shows the true subjectivity of the term: “of the size larger than the normal range.” What? What the hell is the normal range?

As of 2016, the International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education states that the average American woman now wears between a size 16 and 18. Average—not plus. If the average American woman is now within a certain size range, why must she be represented by the media as plus-sized?

While true plus-size models are just as beautiful and necessary for overthrowing society’s harsh beauty expectations of women, labelling an average-size woman as plus-size promotes the idea that average is too big, and therefore can result in perfectly average women believing they too are too big.

So just please stop labeling models based on a single, specific attribute. It is now 2017, and there is no such thing as ‘normal’ in the beauty world. We are all different, and for that, we are all beautiful.

So-called ‘plus-size’ model Iskra Lawrence sums it up perfectly: “It would just be nice if everyone could accept a range of different size models without having to label them all—we are models, not numbers.”

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