and call me fat forever
I debated writing about this, only because I’ve probably written something similar at least a handful of times before, almost two handfuls of years ago. In 2015, an up-and-coming model posted a photo of herself with the words “I am a model” written across her torso, along with the hashtag #droptheplus. The argument, at least as I remember now, stemmed from another model receiving backlash for asking the fashion industry to stop calling her a plus-size model. Using the term “plus-size” to label someone, according to these models, was a form of othering — pigeonholing them into a professional space they didn’t necessarily want to be in. Interestingly, these models didn’t see an issue with the use of the word “curve” — that word, apparently, didn’t come with as much “stigma,” and was instead attached to “being womanly and beautiful.”
For anyone that’s been reading my writing for awhile, you probably guessed that revisiting the above caused me to suck air in rapidly through my teeth and say “lots to unpack there” out loud to no one. You’re also probably wondering why I’m writing about it now, given the discourse around plus-size fashion and bodies in 2015 was cringe long before we called everything cringe, and it’s easier to just forget the Mario Brothers flame wall of capitalism’s body positivity that would slowly encroach and consume us all. I’ve blocked it out, mostly.
But, the reason I do bring it up now, is because another professional model recently wrote a piece with a similar sentiment. In hers, she advocates for the removal of all labels in modeling — plus-size, curve, etc — in the spirit of genuine inclusivity. The crux of the argument is similar to the one made in 2015: Labels like these cause more division in the industry and inadvertently cause othering and exclusion.
I want to make something clear before I continue: What I’m writing here has nothing to do with the individuals making these arguments. I think from their perspectives (and all of us, including me, can only speak from our own perspective) it makes all the sense in the world.
Why wouldn’t you want to get rid of harmful labels and words create lines and boundaries between us? Why not simply call a model a model, regardless of their body shape or size?
To answer that question, I suggest starting with this thought exercise. Close your eyes and imagine the person making the argument to “drop the plus” was a size 28. How would that argument be received? The models making the points above are certainly considered plus-size or curve in the fashion industry, but neither are over a size 14/16. What if the person asking was 400 pounds? What if I, a fat person who wears a size 22 or 24 stood before you and said “Don’t call me plus-size?”
Surely, your response would be: But…you are?
And therein lies my issue with the idea of removing labels like “plus-size” from the how we talk about bodies: The people who those labels are for — the me’s, the you’s — can’t ask for people to stop calling us the thing that we are and be taken seriously. We don’t get to dip into the realm of being othered for the sake of being different, or trendy, or some brand or publication’s viral moment, then dip back out when we’ve decided that it’s just not right for everyone to be reduced to a descriptor that doesn’t suit you. The truth is, even being able to ask to be the same as everyone else is an indication of a privilege most plus-size people don’t have — that is, the privilege of being taken seriously when you demand to be seen as the same. While I’d love to live in a world where all things are equal and labels like “plus-size” aren’t necessary, that’s simply not the world we live in — it wasn’t in 2015, and it still isn’t now. Until that changes, labels only feel unnecessary for people in a position to refuse them, and everyone else is left, well, without words.