By: Hailey Anderson
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Even though body positivity is trending on instagram, the world makes body positivity difficult for women with curves and plus sizes and that needs to change.
There are many challenges for plus sized women to find body positivity. One takes place in any regular mall or clothing store, scavenging for your size or even a store that will sell it. Mallory Schlossberg states in an article from Business Insider: “The average woman in America is a size 14 (plus sizes are typically between 14 and 34). Yet retailers barely cater to this crucial demographic.” This is an example of the obvious issues when it comes to plus sized women finding clothing for them in stores. Even the big chain store Victoria Secrets aren’t selling any plus sized clothing. Abercrombie isn’t even selling XL something that almost every other store does. Women cannot feel body positive when their bodies are seen as not worth having clothes for.
Plus sized body positivity is difficult to achieve when all you see is plus sized body negativity. One does not have to look very far to encounter an ad to lose weight, whether on TV or on on the web browser the ads are there. Thick to slim. “How to lose weight fast.” Well, the common reaction to when you see yourself in the ballpark of the before picture is to think you need to look like the after one. This can especially happen to teens, pre teens and even pre pre teens.
In reality being overweight does not mean your unhealthy despite all the negativity that leads to it. This was shown in a times article by Alexandra Sifferlin in the European Heart Journal, overweight and obese people were found to be at no greater risk of developing or dying from heart disease or cancer, compared with normal weight people. If someone has a lifestyle or physical appearance that is not unhealthy nor harming them or anyone else, they should not be excluded or shamed by society.
Between the lack of representation in clothing stores and the negative stigma through commercial media it is difficult for plus sized women and girls to find body positivity. It is too difficult. Too difficult not in the sense that it’s impossible, but it is too unfair. This is why things need to change and things have started to. There is a plus is equal campaign with many plus sized models. We need to continue things like this to remove the negative stigma from society.