Ladies, ladies. As if the size of our hips or the cellulite on our thighs isn’t enough for us to worry about, apparently the rest of the world has to get involved with it too. It used to be asking a woman’s weight was as offensive as asking her age, but today the weight of anyone in the spotlight is broadcasted on tabloid magazines. Models are scrutinized by employers for having an extra inch on their waist, while the public labels them anorexic. Curvy bodies are ogled by men, while other women point out the stretch marks and fat. It’s a bit ridiculous, right?
I know there are revolutions with size-acceptance happening. London Fashion Week filled the runways with size 12+ models, while V magazine featured entire layouts of plus size girls. Christina Hendricks herself has done a world of change for the curvy girls out there, turning heads away from petite Victoria Beckham over to an hourglass figure.
While I embrace these long overdue changes, there are still many problems facing women and their weights. Its other women.
Yes, the tables are turning. Being a size 12 doesn’t disqualify you from magazine covers anymore, and extra curves are idolized on television and off. But we cannot use this as an excuse to continue putting down other sizes. I know, we’ve all been sick of seeing every media outlet strutting women around with a size 2 waist and putting the size 14 girl in the corner. But that’s doesn’t mean it is appropriate to put down the skinny girls.
- Recently news has been throwing around the term “real women” in reference to plus size girls in fashion. I’m sorry, but because I am skinny, I am suddenly not a real woman? What does that even mean? I’m some sort of robotic skeleton? A mythical unicorn? This term is both ridiculous and demeaning. Stop isolating girls who are small. How about they all walk the runway and they’re all real women?
- America Ferrera, star of (recently canceled) Ugly Betty, said in an interview about her size, “We’re not all a size 2 and we’re not all a size 0, and you know what? That’s OK, because some of us like to eat!” I didn’t know that if you ate food you can’t be a size 2. I’ll put down my fork because I guess that’s impossible. I forgot smaller girls hate eating because they are all anorexic and also robot skeletons. Thanks for being so insulting and making a generalized and ignorant statement, Ferrera.
- Gina Torres, who is voicing the character of Super Woman in an upcoming action film, had this to say about size: “There aren’t really any skinny bitches in the world of comic books, they’ve got muscle.” Skinny bitches? Okay, well maybe she was using the phrase in jest. But then she goes on to say, “What I love about superheroes is that in that comics world they’re all curvaceous. They’re strong. And it’s important to have strong images of women out there, women who aren’t afraid of expressing themselves, women who aren’t afraid of taking chances, women who aren’t afraid of their own power.”
- I have to continue this on an entirely new bullet point because WHAAAAAT??? Number 1, have you SEEN what women in comic books look like? They are far from realistic. They are on occasion portrayed with muscle (She-Hulk), but in general all the ladies from X-Men, the Fantastic 4, and Justice League all have 00 waists and double D boobs. Secondly, since when does being strong require you to have curves? Sure, the image of a model doesn’t exactly scream “I can lift a truck”, but it doesn’t mean they’re weak. I guess to Torres, ‘skinny bitches’ simply are afraid of expressing themselves and taking chances because they don’t have muscles (and giant boobs).
Wow, that was a rant. But it’s true. Really, the hate needs to stop. Not only do we have to deal with men criticizing our every inch of body, but now women too? Just quit it. It’s wrong, hurtful, and does NOTHING to help the overall size revolution. Let’s just appreciate each other, no matter what size, okay ladies?
School Tells Moms What To Wear
By Dr. Sangfroid on February 6, 2010
This entry is filed under Commentary and tagged Angry Letters, Fashion, Pajamas, School. | 4 Comments
A school in the UK has issued a letter to mothers about the way they dress. Because you know, it’s their business.
The principal, Joe McGuinness after seeing ‘up to 50 mothers a day dropping off their children wearing pajamas and slippers’ issued a letter to the parents. In it, he called their attire choices “slovenly and rude” and said, “While it is not my position to insist on what people wear, or don’t, I feel that arriving at the school in pyjamas is disrespectful to the school and a bad example to set to children.”
Great Mr. Principal, thanks for letting us know about your opinion that no one gives cares about. Yes, many people find it disrespectful and ‘unacceptable’ to wear pajamas (or even sweatpants) out in public, and that’s fine. We all have our own opinions of fashion do’s and don’ts. But sending out a letter that basically says, “I am judging you by your fashion, so stop wearing that” is really, really not okay.
A teacher at the school brought up the genius point of, “‘I wonder what those slobs in pyjamas would say if they were to enter the classroom only to find their children’s teachers there, dressed in their pyjamas.”
The difference is the teacher is at school, doing their JOB, where there is a DRESS CODE. There isn’t a dress code for dropping your kid off at school, there isn’t a dress code for the side walk, these mothers aren’t being paid to drop their kids off.
Does the school want to uphold a standard of how they appear? Do they want to set an example of how children should take care of themselves? Yes, of course. But it is none of their business what these women wear. NONE. It’s their children, their lives, and this principal clearly has NO IDEA what an average day is like for a mother.
My mother took my brother and I to school every day until I graduated high school (and still takes my brother). So at night she went bed as early as she possibly could (working all day, and then coming home to work her online jobs), and got maybe 6-7 of hours of sleep maximum (providing that she didn’t have to wake because one of her children was sick, which was often). Then she’d have to wake up at 6am, and spend two hours helping her autistic son get ready for the day (which is a feat every time, let me tell you). After that, she’d drive me to my school, and then my brother to his, waiting to make sure he got to his first class. After that she’d head home to work all day and repeat the process again.
You can bet she didn’t give care what some school principal saw her wearing. Yes, she managed to brush her hair and teeth and put on some shoes between making breakfast, packing lunches, and hurrying us along, but frankly it wasn’t worth it to put on jeans every single day just to sit in her car and then come back home only to change again. Do my brother and I wear pajamas to school? No. Do I dress up for job interviews and other important, public things? Yes, of course. Did her wearing pajamas ever affect our lives in any way? Absolutely not.
So dear Mr. McGuinness, I have a letter of advisement for you!
Stop being a inconsiderate dick and keep your nose out of other people’s closets. It is absolutely none of your business what these women wear.You want to uphold a standard for your school? Then do it yourself, with the staff that you pay. You want these women to dress nicer? Then come to their houses in the mornings and get their kids ready for school, we’ll see how much extra time you have then to make yourself look oh-so-pretty for the men waiting at the school gates!
Maybe you can ask them to dress nicer when you let them address the important, real issues going on with your school and educational system. Maybe you should get that stick out of your ass and realize you’re a judgmental prick who has no right to issue a letter about mother’s fashion.
Sincerely,
Dr. Sangfroid.
This is just another sad instance of people judging other people. It’s unnecessary negativity, and I encourage everyone reading this to take a moment and rid themselves of it. Stop judging people! Be respectful! Spread a little love!