"More women have more money and power and scope and legal recognition than we have ever had before; but in terms of how we feel about ourselves physically, we may actually be worse off than our unliberated grandmothers."
- Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth, 1991
In our introduction, we left out important details about this blog and ourselves. This is ultimately a fashion blog and will discuss fashion trends and everything that is entailed within that category. However, we forgot to mention that we are big women. Now we know 'big women' isn't exactly politically correct or the best way of putting it but what we mean is, we aren't the skinny size 0-10s, or the average 12-14s. We are both women who fit into sizes 16-18+. Now we know that somewhere along the line size 16 was deemed the average size for a woman in the UK but we aren't sure if this is still true. If it is, then fair enough, we are of average-large sizing and that works for us. Essentially, this is what is termed as a fatshion blog.
While a size 16-18 is now acceptable and easy enough to find in most fashion outlets nowadays, it is still deemed as 'plus size' and people of this size are often criticized for being 'fat' 'obese' or 'overweight' and other crude words we will leave out here. Through the online body positivity movement which this blog is now part of and supports, women of bigger sizes are trying to promote body acceptance and positive attitudes to women of all shapes and sizes.
As for the quote from Naomi Wolf at the start of this post, we feel that it is still as relevant today as it was in 1991 when The Beauty Myth was published. The reason that this blog and other fatshion blogs exist is because we are trying to change the way we feel about ourselves. If we didn't feel so bad about ourselves in the first place, our blogs wouldn't exist. While we may not be as bad off in this century as our unliberated grandmothers were, we are definitely not portayed in a positive light.
All you have to do is pick up a fashion magazine to understand why women are creating fatshion blogs, because those mags are full of skinny women that we are led to believe are the ideal women. We are told that being so skinny is how we can find men who will like us and make them fall in love with us, which is not true in the slightest. There are plenty of men out there who like bigger women, and many of the fatshion bloggers have boyfriends, Sami of this blog here included. And while, as liberated women, we shouldn't feel the need to have boyfriends or a man on our arm to make us feel good, that too is what is being portrayed in the media.
We are liberated, independent women and we shouldn't be made to feel insecure and unhappy by reading a magazine, the media is there as an outlet of ideas and opinions by everybody, it's part of the freedom of speech, but surely there should be a magazine somewhere that is promoting body positivity and acceptance. We are pretty sure that there isn't, but if you do know of one somewhere please let us know. Hence, we have created this fatshion blog, to take a stand against the beauty ideals put across by the media, to promote a positive attitude towards body positivity and acceptance and to show that no matter what the size, fashion, whether from the high street or the designers, is and should be available for everyone.
We are two different women and while we agree on all of the above, we do have two different opinions about our own bodies, so here's a little excerpt from each of us:
Sami: Hi guys. I am a size 16-18 in most shops, but I am slightly larger in the chest area and have to order bras from plus size companies in order to get the support I need for my chest. I have no complaints about doing this, as I feel more supported and better for wearing the bras made for my size rather than having them spill out of a bra that is supposed to be my size but isn't actually. While I may be deemed as fat/overweight or obese, I am happy enough in my own skin. As long as my weight is not affecting my long-term health then I am happy enough to keep wearing a size 16-18 as long as it is available for me to do so - which it should be. I am in a long-term relationship with my boyfriend, we've been going 7months now and he likes the extra love handles. He has no complaints about my size or what I wear and I am happy to have found someone who likes me for the way I am. As for fatshion, I have been following fatshion blogs for quite a while now and I dont really see the girls on them as fat at all and some of them have really great style. After this post, I'm going to go put some links in the sidebar to some of the ones I enjoy so you can enjoy them all too :). Anyway, just wanted to put in my two cents and I should be speaking to you all again soon!
Jesse: Hey I'm Jesse, the e on the e is silent so it's Jess. I like to be different, (I'm no sheep). Well like Sami I'm a size 18 in most shops, however unlike her I don't have as big as chest, I'm short instead I'm only 5". Unfortunately unlike Sami I don't like my body. Nobody can say that they like everything about their bodies, if the do then they are lying. I'm healthy my weight doesn't effect me in that way which is good. I don't have a boyfriend, but hey why do I need one I'm enjoying being single. It's fun!!
My weight doesn't stop me wearing and doing what I want. The way I see it, other people aren't going to like everything about you and will find a way to try to demoralise you. I say screw them, be confident and wear what you want to. It is your life to make it what you will. Somebody once told me that fashion is when you are wearing something different and unique. I like this even if we shop in the same place, the same shops, we are all different personalities and we all have different styles. Look at me and Sami even though we are best friends we are different with different styles. If you continue to read this blog you will see this. :P
Now that you have heard from the both of us and have a better understanding of what this blog is about, we want to remind you of one last thing, while we might be larger ladies, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and if you don't like what you see here, then so be it. Everyone is different and to each, their own.
Thanks
Jesse & Sami
p.s. Don't forget that our blog is based on the fact that beautiful is always bizarre!!
My weight doesn't stop me wearing and doing what I want. The way I see it, other people aren't going to like everything about you and will find a way to try to demoralise you. I say screw them, be confident and wear what you want to. It is your life to make it what you will. Somebody once told me that fashion is when you are wearing something different and unique. I like this even if we shop in the same place, the same shops, we are all different personalities and we all have different styles. Look at me and Sami even though we are best friends we are different with different styles. If you continue to read this blog you will see this. :P
Now that you have heard from the both of us and have a better understanding of what this blog is about, we want to remind you of one last thing, while we might be larger ladies, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and if you don't like what you see here, then so be it. Everyone is different and to each, their own.
Thanks
Jesse & Sami
p.s. Don't forget that our blog is based on the fact that beautiful is always bizarre!!
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