“Real women have curves.” A phrase most of us are familiar with. A phrase that was meant to empower females who may not comply with society’s idea of the picturesque and slim magazine model. It is often used in the context of plus-size women, or at least ladies with a little more meat on their bones. It is also a phase that is incorrect and potentially hurtful.
In the movement for positive body image and self-appreciation, many mantras have been created to further acceptance of women who may not be considered thin. In this plus-sized push, the main idea is to “love your body.” As a size 22 lady, I will always promote health, body appreciation, and respect, but I will never condone speech or behavior that alienates another group.
By sticking the term “real women” on size 14 and above, you dehumanize anyone that falls below that range. It singles out naturally thin women or individuals with eating disorders and condemns them for just being themselves. Real women do not just have curves. They have ribs that might stick out, short torsos, long necks, defined muscles, wide hips, small breasts. Real women are all women and they came in all shapes. This label only adds to the self-image problems plaguing the world.
There is a frustrating internet meme that has been circulating for awhile in which two or more pictures are laid out side by side with the words “When did this become hotter than this?” The more popular one features women like Marilyn Monroe, Bettie Page, Nicole Ritchie and Keira Knightly. It alludes to the idea that the curviness of someone like Monroe should still be preferable to the wispiness of a woman like Ritchie. Bombarded with claims of an eating disorder, Ritchie denied all rumors but asserted in a 2006 Vanity Fair interview that she was “too thin,” and that she did not want young girls looking at her pictures and saying, “’That’s what I want to look like.”
The media is something to be feared when it comes to body image because of how it influences us. The photoshop debate is a completely different story and the effects it has on our self-esteem is best left for another article, but various companies have decided to take on the photo manipulated images and push campaigns using “real women.” For Dove, these “real women” fell between sizes 4-12 — not the U.S. average which is 14 — and were used to market a positive body image alongside products to rid yourself of imperfections. In 2011, American Apparel, a clothing company known for its small sizes held a contest titled the “Next BIG Thing,” in an effort to find plus-size models. Unfortunately the only people who really needed to apply where those who could fit into the upcoming line of size XL pants.
The point is that there is this ongoing skewed idea of the term “real women.” Many people do not know what size range a “real woman” falls into but it is assumed that since we only see skinny women in magazines and on television, the individuals left behind the scenes or out of the picture must be the real people, the “normal” people.
The media has damaged society and it is up to us to change that. It is no one’s place, man or woman, to label a person’s body. Unless health issues arise, another woman’s body is not your concern. We need to eliminate phrases like “real women.” Regardless of our size, shape, color, background and issues, we are all real women in a world that insists on trying to divide us. Fight against those who promote low self-esteem and unattainable body images and you will see a difference, but first we must change the way we view ourselves.