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kittymink November 10 2013, 16:57:43 UTC
This came off a bit mansplain-y tbh:

"Take it from me. I am a plus-size woman who has never ripped a pair of pants."

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eveofrevolution November 10 2013, 17:02:30 UTC
amyura November 11 2013, 14:48:51 UTC
But was it mainsplainy to women, or to Chip Wilson? Because if it's the latter, I don't really have a problem with it.

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kittymink November 11 2013, 17:03:17 UTC
I am all for men mansplaining to other men.

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gambitia November 10 2013, 17:01:42 UTC
His insistence that he runs 10 miles! And lost 200 pounds! and is the solution to obesity! really pisses me off. There are plenty of athletes who, shockingly, remain fat.

Also his apparent belief that he is not fat, so women's plus sizes (at least the low ranges) shouldn't be considered 'fat'. That's not the problem. The problem is we've made being fat completely unacceptable--and for women, even being average-sized is unacceptable. Yes, there's a huge disparity between what's considered too fat on a female and what's considered too fat on a male, but the bigger problem is that fatness is considered some horrible sin.

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clevermanka November 10 2013, 18:47:36 UTC

... )

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gambitia November 10 2013, 18:51:24 UTC
I love the saleperson. Not so much the author.

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bellichka November 10 2013, 17:33:40 UTC
So, let me get this straight. A straight cis male is told that he doesn't fit into a women's medium - nevermind the fact that he IS AN ATHLETE!!11! and RUNS 10 MILES A DAY!1!!! so is muscular, and women's and men's bodies are built completely differently. But now that it affects him, he suddenly cares. And now that a man is griping about women's sizing - WHICH, mind you, women have done for years - we're all suddenly supposed to give a shit about what he's saying?

GTFO with this mansplaining BS. I have no problems with the sizing (as I tend to be a consistent size). What I *would* like is plus-sized clothing that doesn't look like a fucking muumuu or have giant flowers and/or tribal print all over it, and doesn't cost a million dollars. Old Navy is great in that regard, but beyond that? SJB at JC Penney used to be nice, until Penney's fucked with their stores and now there's nothing. Lane Bryant especially should be ashamed at themselves for how pricey they are.

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kittymink November 10 2013, 17:48:17 UTC
excellent post

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martyfan November 10 2013, 18:19:32 UTC
Yeah, gotta agree with this too. The article does raise some interesting points, but the fact that it's written by a man sours it majorly. Because apparently these problems which have existed for years are only now important and people will listen because it's not a woman writing it.

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bellichka November 10 2013, 19:04:11 UTC
Because apparently these problems which have existed for years are only now important and people will listen because it's not a woman writing it.

dingdingdingdingding!

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left_on_red November 10 2013, 18:06:11 UTC
I'm really disappointed by this headline and the story that followed. I've seen this going viral on Facebook and Tumblr but hadn't read it before. It's so disappointing that the viral story of "I am a plus-sized woman" is not, in fact, written by a woman, or even about women ( ... )

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bellichka November 10 2013, 18:10:52 UTC
Fucking THIS. Brava.

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left_on_red November 10 2013, 19:01:44 UTC
Thanks! I also noticed, more specifically, that never once does this guy say, WHAT THE LULULEMON FOUNDER SAID WAS WRONG. What he's actually saying is, I agree that fat women shouldn't wear clothes too small for them. But I disagree with the Lululemon founder about where "acceptable body size" ends and "fat" begins.

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kaymyth November 10 2013, 20:31:14 UTC
Actually, he does, at the end of the article: "Chip Wilson is way wrong about his pants. They are made wrong; it has nothing to do with the thighs or the hips."

There's a lot of o.O in the article, but at least he does say that.

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ginger_maya November 10 2013, 19:27:43 UTC
Tbh I would've liked for this to have been written by an woman, rather than a man. They are shaped - and are often much larger, even if they aren't overweight at all - far too differently for the comparison to be valid or helpful.

As for Chip Wilson, even if he was technically right about larger women's thighs (which on its own is fucking dumb, because plenty of thin women's thighs still touch, as it has more with bone structure than size) touching and creating friction, it's his company's damn job to provide clothing that can withstand that, rather than whine that his clients aren't perfect. It's their fucking job to provide what their clients need, not demand their clients to change according to their goods.

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kleios_kiss November 11 2013, 05:57:24 UTC
Wait I'm confused, did this Wilson fellow actually say that his pants suck because women's thighs touch? Am I misreading that? Because...really? I'm 5'7, I'm a size 6, I walk about 2-4 miles a day and do yoga. And my thighs touch. So is this guy essentially saying that my already-largely-socially-condoned body should be altered in a way that would actually be unhealthy so that his pants don't suck ( ... )

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ginger_maya November 11 2013, 10:36:21 UTC
Yup, that's what he basically said. According to him, if overweight women's thighs touch, which creates friction and wears the material down, which in turn causes pills.

Which is a bullshit excuse, because yes, while thighs rubbing together does create friction and wears the material of any pants down, the weight of the woman matters very little. As you yourself pointed out there are fit and thin women whose thighs touch and for a guy who leads a company that makes clothes for women apparently he knows very little about women's bodies. If their products are faulty, the company should work to correct that, instead of blaming their paying customers for not changing their preferences (and bodies) to accomodate their faulty product.

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shipperx November 11 2013, 18:25:26 UTC
It doesn't eve take being overweight for thighs to touch. I saw an article just last week about how 'destructive' an obsession with 'Thigh gap' (women's thighs not touching) IS because only about 10% of healthy women are capable of that look without resorting to anorexia. Most women have thighs.

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