Exercise, prom dress shopping and ridiculous beauty standards
In this post, we return to what has become a recurring topic on this LJ - the silly, often contradictory standards that get applied to women's bodies.
First, in the interview with Jimmy Kimmmel back in the beginning of April, actress/writer/producer Mindy Kaling draws attention to a flawed assumption that, much as I hate to admit it, I've made myself before - the idea that a woman isn't model-thin doesn't want to exercise and surely doesn't want to get into shape.
I am also the recipient of a lot of kind of backhanded compliments about it. People are like, "It's so nice that Mindy Kaling doesn't feel like she needs to subscribe to the ideas of beauty that other people do." And I'm like, I do subscribe! They're like, "It's so refreshing that Mindy feels comfortable to let herself go and be a fat sea monster." I, by the way, I like, run and work out. It take a lot of effort to look like a normal/chubby woman. But I'm not like...the way they talk about it is like, "She's a pioneer because she's glued to her sofa!"
Considering that I'm working about a short story who isn't model-thin and is a runner - or, hell, considering the fact that I know actual women who aren't model-thin and who are active and athletic - this really is the sort of thing that I shouldn't forget. Unfortunately, simple dichotomies are easy, and nuance is hard.
Speaking of athletic women - a few weeks ago, Jezebel did an article about how hard it is for plus-sized girls to find prom dresses that actually look good. And as I read it, I couldn't help but remember something I saw around this time last year. I was covering a prom dress giveaway a couple of suburban police departments organized. She was an athlete at her school. Most of her fellow athletes could find several options to choose from. But she had a larger size than average (I want to say size 9, but don't quote me on that), and finding a dress - any dress - that would fit her proved to be a daunting quest. The volunteers were eventually able to find two dresses, and she picked the one she liked,
I think a lot of this is due to the implicit assumption fashion designers seem to have, an idea that only women that fit their definition of beauty deserve to have beautiful clothing. Which is, quite simply, a load of crap. And it needs to change.
If nothing else, they should think of this from a purely capitalist perspective. If they don't have anything worthwhile to sell to their potential costumers, then that's a chunk of the profit they're not getting. Shouldn't they want to do something about that?
First, in the interview with Jimmy Kimmmel back in the beginning of April, actress/writer/producer Mindy Kaling draws attention to a flawed assumption that, much as I hate to admit it, I've made myself before - the idea that a woman isn't model-thin doesn't want to exercise and surely doesn't want to get into shape.
I am also the recipient of a lot of kind of backhanded compliments about it. People are like, "It's so nice that Mindy Kaling doesn't feel like she needs to subscribe to the ideas of beauty that other people do." And I'm like, I do subscribe! They're like, "It's so refreshing that Mindy feels comfortable to let herself go and be a fat sea monster." I, by the way, I like, run and work out. It take a lot of effort to look like a normal/chubby woman. But I'm not like...the way they talk about it is like, "She's a pioneer because she's glued to her sofa!"
Considering that I'm working about a short story who isn't model-thin and is a runner - or, hell, considering the fact that I know actual women who aren't model-thin and who are active and athletic - this really is the sort of thing that I shouldn't forget. Unfortunately, simple dichotomies are easy, and nuance is hard.
Speaking of athletic women - a few weeks ago, Jezebel did an article about how hard it is for plus-sized girls to find prom dresses that actually look good. And as I read it, I couldn't help but remember something I saw around this time last year. I was covering a prom dress giveaway a couple of suburban police departments organized. She was an athlete at her school. Most of her fellow athletes could find several options to choose from. But she had a larger size than average (I want to say size 9, but don't quote me on that), and finding a dress - any dress - that would fit her proved to be a daunting quest. The volunteers were eventually able to find two dresses, and she picked the one she liked,
I think a lot of this is due to the implicit assumption fashion designers seem to have, an idea that only women that fit their definition of beauty deserve to have beautiful clothing. Which is, quite simply, a load of crap. And it needs to change.
If nothing else, they should think of this from a purely capitalist perspective. If they don't have anything worthwhile to sell to their potential costumers, then that's a chunk of the profit they're not getting. Shouldn't they want to do something about that?