Last night, a friend on facebook posted this link and I was absolutely horrified. Take a second to read it; I’ll wait!
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Basically, according to this story done by a Fox News affiliate in Dallas, the fashion industry is now considering a size 6 to be plus sized. SIZE SIX.
Well, technically they are now considering plus sized models to range anywhere from a size six to a size 14, which I think is ridiculous in itself. That range is so large that I would guess it encapsulates at least 2/3 of the American female population!
But a size 6? Maybe this article hit home to me because more often than not, I wear a size six. Sometimes I fluctuate down to a size 4, depending on the brand, but for the most part, I live in the 6-zone.
And you know what? I am okay with that. You know why?
I can hike 6-7,000 vertical feet in a day.
I can (train) and then run at least 13.1 miles in a day, if not further.
I can successfully complete sprint and Olympic triathlons, and maybe, a half ironman.
I can spend four months riding my bike every single day. I can pedal my legs in circles for eight hours a day, eventually completing 4,000 man-powered miles.
I can ice climb for eight hours on Saturday and turn around and do four more on Sunday.
I am strong and I am healthy. And I have a really big problem with this mentality that the fashion industry is trying to shove off on the American population. Somehow, it has become acceptable for the fashion world to tell us that thinner and thinner is always better, so much so that even “average” women are made to feel unacceptable. And it really frosts my cookies! (Anyone else remember that quote from Troop Beverly Hills?? Anyone?!)
More than anything, I dislike the notion that the fashion industry is continually pushing the envelope by continually pushing the mentality that “Barbie” is the perfection that we should all strive for. It’s unattainable and ridiculously unrealistic. Trying to convince women that a size zero is normal is just not fair. For some women, sure; that is their natural body type…..but not all.