So Iām not averageā¦Iām 5ā8", 125 lbs., 35-25-35; but that doesnāt mean I donāt have cellulite (Iām glad I have to type it, I still pronounce it wrong), or big scars, blah blah, so on and so forth. I dunno, there seems to be somebody for everybody; just take a look at your happily-partnered friends!
I fully support the idea of self-esteem, but the whole concept of the disparity between the common portrayal of average vs the true average is stupid. Media will always portray idealized forms of things rather than truly average forms of such things. The characters in our media are always far more intelligent than average people. They are typically more affluent than average. They are prettier than average. They have more interesting lives than average people.
Why?
If we all wanted to watch truly average-looking people have average conversations in average settings then we would just go hang out with our friends. We indulge in media as a form of escape. Sure, this can get out of hand when every bit of clothing is modeled by razor-thin models, but it is just expanding on a common trend. It isnāt some malevolent and sadistic invention of the fashion industry.
Are āplus-sizedā and āaverageā equivalent in this context?
Which one, I wonder, deviates furthest from a āHealthyā BMI:
[says the Obese Class I person]
FYI: Fashion plus size models start at an american size 6-8, so a 5ā9 and up woman who weighs about 125-140ish.
I donāt care what society thinks Iām supposed to find attractive or not. That is a beautiful human right there.
If one of my sons brought her home I would psychically high five him so hard.
When has the fashion industry ever used anything close to average to display their wares?
Thanks!
She doesnāt seem very average to me. Yowza.
That woman is about as accurate a depiction of the average american woman as the mannequin is.
I think the one with no arms, legs, head or organs my have the greatest deviation.
This is the only sentence with which I must quibble.
Except that mannequins have the express purpose of showing how clothes fit- on average. It doesnāt do the customer any real good to see something that only looks good on something that doesnāt resemble the average. Theyāre not there for female customers to fantasize.
Many mannequins in stores have a series of binder clips in the back, to tighten the fit of a normally sizes dress over an abnormally sized mannequin. The side seams never seem to drape properly as a result.
No, they have the express purpose of selling clothes.
The āplus-sizeā woman depicted in this article is not an āaverageā woman, whatever the-hell that is. This woman is obviously larger than the standard store mannequin or average catalog/fashion model sure, but wouldnāt you say that she is still a reflection of the same beauty standards? Sheās completely proportional, smooth and fair skinned, likely has had stretch marks and imperfections photoshopped out, her face is symmetrical and pleasing, sheās wearing the ārightā amount of makeup, sheās got the ācome f**k me nowā look on her mug, and sheās buck arse-naked. I donāt know a single guy that wouldnāt think sheās all kinds of hot. I mean, this woman is in the 1% of the females you might actually meet on the line at Wal-Mart demographic. Sheās the girl next door you probably still donāt have a chance with. What the hell is average about that, other than she shops at Wal-Mart?
Shaming people is always bad. Body shaming, racial shaming, gender shaming. The thing is, once the shaming starts, no one can tell where that line is anymore and everybody gets shamed by everybody else. Seriously, I know women that are shaped just like that mannequin and I know women that are shaped, well, like ten of those mannequins. How about we do something completely revolutionary and not shame anybody? If you feel like there are too many skinny mannequins out there, then start a company called Chubby Mannequins and sell them to stores to put alongside the skinny ones. The only difference is that when you put the chubby one and skinny one together in a store window they wonāt shame the shit out of each other like the people who made them do. People could learn a lot from mannequins.
Iāll see your Yowza and raise you a KaBOOM!
Thatās not exactly accurate. Yes, they do help sell cloths but not as a marketing device to increase profit or move inventory. You assume that if there were no mannequins that it would affect the volume of clothes sold each year thus lowering profits. That is not correct. Mannequins are display racks designed to demonstrate fit to help control merchandise returns, which lowers overhead and handling, but they are passive sales tools not meant to directly generate revenueā¦they are clothes-hangers with boobs.
Iāll see your KaBOOM and raise you a ZOINKS!
