#plusisnotequal

[awesome-sugarblossom]

Have I ever mentioned that I hate Facebook? You're offended that I think a size 14, 16, or 18 is not fat enough to represent the plus size community as a whole? Tough fucking shit.

[pussypoptimist]

Is Your Feminism Intersectional?: #PlusIsNotEqual

By Porttia Portis

When you’re plus sized, you’re all too aware of life’s limitations, mainly the ways that society refuses to cater to varying body types. Shopping for new clothes can either mean disappointing treks through “straight-sized” sections where you leave with only accessories, sifting through the viciously outdated styles relegated to plus-size racks, or being forced to shell out at least twice as much cash for en vogue items online. There are the condescending looks you receive when eating in public, no matter how healthy your food choice, and my personal favorite: “You’re pretty...for a fat girl.”

These are just a few of the daily struggles experienced by anyone who’s even marginally peaked into the overweight range of the BMI. Through just about every form of media, we’re inundated with images that thinness equals happiness, reinforcing the mindset that fatness is something to be ashamed of -- a mindset to be ingrained in us as early as humanly possible.

For me, this meant years of obsessing over my weight, to the point where I weighed myself at least 10 times a day at points. It meant secretly denying myself as many meals as possible, in the vain hope that it would affect that number, and that I was unworthy of being loved until it dropped to some “acceptable” range. It wasn’t until I discovered the internet’s body positive community that I found out I wasn’t alone in these feelings, and if it weren’t for finding these like-minded people, I don’t think my mindset or behaviors would have ever changed.

For every bastion of advocates for fat babes everywhere, there is a similar (if not greater) number of movements looking to co-opt the struggle, preaching equality all while blatantly ignoring the actual plight of the plus size community. It’s because of this that we still end up with campaigns that don’t feature anyone who isn’t pear-shaped/larger than a size 16, or that rely on the under XL crowd as the primary faces of their causes.

Before plus can truly be equal, society must acknowledge the slew of bodies that don’t fit into the narrow, pre-packaged image we’ve come to associate with plus sizes. Additionally, it shouldn’t be assumed that larger bodies are any less obsessed with fashion and presenting themselves well, purely based on size. With the potential buying power of the demographic, how is it that retailers still remain too afraid to treat us like human beings with discerning tastes and expendable funds?

The fact that retailers like Lane Bryant can remain silent until the cause becomes trendy, or a medium like O Magazine -- born of a woman lambasted for years because of her weight -- can shame women for their personal clothing preferences reveal that fatphobia is not only real, but a deeply embedded cultural norm. Even when given the opportunity to advocate for an exclusive body positive society, those with the potential for the strongest voices still silence themselves in the hopes that being plus sized is just a temporary stop on the quest for a smaller, happier life.

But who's to say that fat can’t equal happy? If it weren’t for seeing the different shapes, sizes and fashion senses of the body positive community, I could have never learned to be comfortable with the body I was given. Just like it’s important to see racial and gender representations of oneself in the media, seeing a body type that’s reflective of your own can do wonders for cultivating a healthy self-image. For plus to be equal, we need to see more examples of what it actually means.