This idea (and picture) doesn't bother me, but I have been reading way too many of the comments on Facebook, and the overwhelming response is that anything under size 12 is anorexic and that this is what real women look like.
I am so annoyed! Most size 12s do NOT look like that! Just like most size 4s do not look like the skinnier mannequins. It is such BS, though, when bigger women try to justify being overweight with crap like this. If you are a size 12, healthy and fit....go on with your bad self! To me, it is just another "lets all embrace everything negative" campaign. What size 12 has ab definition and a gap between their thighs?
Why don't we look at our individual bodies and find what is healthy. And I swear to The Lord above,if I hear one more time about ow Mariyn Monroe was a size 14........
First thing: that mannequin looks WAAAY to realistic. If I saw that in a store, I would think there was a woman standing around in underwear trying to freak people out...
also, I agree with the Marilyn Monroe comment...She may have been a size 14 fifty years ago, but that equates to about a size 9-10 now. And who cares anyways? This constant need to prove that being 'curvy' is better than being 'stickly' will never work until society quits throwing 85 lb girls down a runway and plastering (obviously photoshopped) images of skinny women all over the place. I don't find anything wrong with being thin or fat, as long as we aren't teaching young girls to think that they aren't worthy if they don't look like the girls on their copy of Teen Vogue. It's funny that so many people feel this way--about trying to teach women and girls to love their body and focus on just being healthy, yet when many people see an image of an overweight woman modelling clothing, it still seems out of place or weird, unless it's an ad for a plus size store. Either way, we have a looonnng way to go before not being a size 4 or less will be widely accepted as "beautiful"
oh well!
I know this is way off the path of the mannequins you are talking about but I just have to say the the mannequins in store like Lane Bryant and other "big lady" store REALLY bother me. Yes they are bigger than your typical mannequin but I'm a big girl and if I had a shape like the mannequins in Lane Bryant, I wouldn't be complaining. To me, they are just thick.
It's very discouraging while window shopping and seeing a cute outfit on one of the "big lady" mannequins and then trying that same outfit on and not being happy with the way it looks.
Can they make a mannequin that actually has rolls or love handles and show how that particular item of clothing can help hide the imperfections?
i don't know specifically what message they are trying to get across with those mannequins but i sure like their bodies far more than the usual mannequin body, of no woman i know that fits that look. i think those "type" bodies on those mannequins are beautiful.
For what it's worth, i am a size 12 and not fat or chubby but slender, having lost 100 lbs. There isn't one size fits all and i think society's head is in such a wrong place when it comes to women's bodies, they change throughout a life time even if a woman remains within a healthy weight.
i don't think over-fat in a society should be encouraged at all, if that is what these mannequins are implying but their bodies to me look far from fat and to me they certainly don't look PLUS size.
It really depends on so many factors. A size 10 on a 5'0 person versus a 6'0 person is very different. Some people are larger but built more solidly, others are very flabby. I remember being a size 14/16 in high school (I'm 6'0) and the doctor commented to me how well proportioned and muscular I was.
That's more or less what I would look like in a Size 12. Maybe a poochier tum cause of that @£$%^& c-section scar. Maybe no thigh gap as I'm solidly built in the legs. But I'd have a smaller waist than that.
I hate to say it, but I do find your view that that's overweight or particularly unacceptable or in fact 'embracing the negative' more than a bit body-judging. My GOAL is a fit, strong size 12 (or maybe what a US 12 used to be...I dunno).
I also find their bodies beautiful. If you don't...go on with your bad self....
I find it interesting that the only mention of the mannequin being "plus sized" is from the headline. Headlines are typically written by editors, not the author of the article. Did the store or the manufacturer intend the mannequin to be "plus sized" -- or just a more realistic portrait of what the average woman looks like?
I agree with ChickieChicks that it is problematic that there are a lot of people who seem to be of the notion that if a person is ok with their own body image, that is all that matters -- despite whether their weight is healthy. I also agree that the mannequin pictured in the article seems to depict a healthy woman.
Yay! Mannequins that have shape. Who cares if they're meant to be a size 12 or 10. We all know that the number is just a number and brands vary....apparently so do mannequins. They look like the more statistically common woman. That's progress!
But have you ever tried shopping at H&M at a size 12? It's a joke. I'm not walking back in until I'm a 10.
Since when is size 12 considered plus size, there is nothing puls sized about the mannequin, it looks great and realistic. There is no way it encourages obesity and unhealthy livestyles because I dont consider her to be fat *sigh*. What is wrong with this world..
"It is such BS, though, when bigger women try to justify being overweight with crap like this. If you are a size 12, healthy and fit....go on with your bad self! To me, it is just another "lets all embrace everything negative" campaign. What size 12 has ab definition and a gap between their thighs?"
It seems to me a very weak effort at gaining the favor (and business) of the increasingly overweight market by ramping up their body-type representations form one to two...hardly reflective of human diversity, and pretty transparent.
I understand your frustration with the, "This is what real women look like.", comments from the overweight. Of course we all know there is a flip side to that story, often which is pretty harsh as well.
Women need to rise up and support each other. That means not building yourself up by degrading others. If someone posts some crap about skinny women not being "real" women, they need a gentle reminder that such comments are part of The Problem. If someone suggests that having a gap between the thighs is any indicator of health, they too need a gentle reminder.
I'm sorry. But what? A thigh gap????? Since when is that healthy??? I didn't have EVEN A SLIGHT thigh gap till I weighed 110 pounds-was anorexic-and I was underweight and bones were JUST barely visible. If I were to have the typically aimed for thigh gap... I would have had to lose 10 more pounds and my bones REALLY would have been poking out. You have very unrealistic views of healthy.
I'm a 15 and I don't look like that but maybe it's based off of someone who's short? Or maybe someone who carries their weight differently? I've been told I carry my weight very well.
Last edited by wolfgirl69; 04-28-2013 at 10:07 PM.
This idea (and picture) doesn't bother me, but I have been reading way too many of the comments on Facebook, and the overwhelming response is that anything under size 12 is anorexic and that this is what real women look like.
I am so annoyed! Most size 12s do NOT look like that! Just like most size 4s do not look like the skinnier mannequins. It is such BS, though, when bigger women try to justify being overweight with crap like this. If you are a size 12, healthy and fit....go on with your bad self! To me, it is just another "lets all embrace everything negative" campaign. What size 12 has ab definition and a gap between their thighs?
Why don't we look at our individual bodies and find what is healthy. And I swear to The Lord above,if I hear one more time about ow Mariyn Monroe was a size 14........
Well! I am a size 10/12 depending on the brand, and I DO have AB definition and a GAP between my thighs!
Thanks to a lot of hours dedicated to good nutrition, body composition and a good combo of strength training and cardio.
Who made you the expert on how anyone should look?
The reality is, no matter if you're a size 12 or a 4, nobody looks like a mannequin. The only thing a mannequin really is is a life-sized Barbie doll, and no woman should use that as an example of how she, herself, should look because they will probably end up highly, highly discouraged. The purpose of a mannequin is not to show you how the clothes will look on YOU; the purpose, at least this is the purpose that I've come up with, is to give you ideas on how an outfit can be put together using the store's merchandise. It's just an advertising mechanism, and it has no reflection on the way your body looks. The store's just trying to sell clothes.
As far as "real women" are concerned, real women come in all shapes in sizes: tall, short, fat, skinny, fit, flabby, curvy and straight. The things we all should strive for are health, self acceptance and confidence. The weight/size where YOU feel most comfortable, healthy, and confident is the weight/size you should be. The reality is no one is perfect, and if you can love yourself despite your imperfections, then that's all that really matters. In the end, you have to go by what you feel is right for yourself, not what someone else says. What defines a "real" woman is not the size tag on her jeans, but the way she exudes her own identity. And even if she isn't the size/weight that society finds acceptable or even if she isn't what is medically considered healthy, does that mean she should hide and cover herself up in unstylish clothes until she gets to a weight/size that's more socially acceptable? No! She should go out and do whatever she wants to and strive to be the most confident and healthy person she can be. That's what's important, not what society thinks.
I'm technically still overweight by medical standards, and I'm a 6-8. Quite frankly, I feel like I look damn good and I feel healthy as a damn horse and I'm not gonna force myself to lose another 5-10lbs just because someone else says the spot I'm at isn't good enough. It's good enough for me, what else should matter?
It seems to me a very weak effort at gaining the favor (and business) of the increasingly overweight market by ramping up their body-type representations form one to two...hardly reflective of human diversity, and pretty transparent. I understand your frustration with the, "This is what real women look like.", comments from the overweight. Of course we all know there is a flip side to that story, often which is pretty harsh as well.
Women need to rise up and support each other. That means not building yourself up by degrading others. If someone posts some crap about skinny women not being "real" women, they need a gentle reminder that such comments are part of The Problem. If someone suggests that having a gap between the thighs is any indicator of health, they too need a gentle reminder.
I agree with you whole-heartedly!!! I commented on one of my fb friend's posts because she posted something about how "real women have curves" and it came from a fb page that was called "curvy girls are better than skinny girls". Um, WTF is that??? It's still judging someone's worth based on their outward physical appearance, and that's total BS to me. Neither body type is superior, and regardless of what type of body you have you still have value as a person.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mimsyborogoves
The reality is, no matter if you're a size 12 or a 4, nobody looks like a mannequin. The only thing a mannequin really is is a life-sized Barbie doll, and no woman should use that as an example of how she, herself, should look because they will probably end up highly, highly discouraged. The purpose of a mannequin is not to show you how the clothes will look on YOU; the purpose, at least this is the purpose that I've come up with, is to give you ideas on how an outfit can be put together using the store's merchandise. It's just an advertising mechanism, and it has no reflection on the way your body looks. The store's just trying to sell clothes.
As far as "real women" are concerned, real women come in all shapes in sizes
Yes to all of this Mimsy! I totally agree.
OP - I honestly don't understand what all the fuss is about. I don't really see why the mannequins are in any way controversial.
Plus Size Mannequins
