Is "Plus Size" the new gimmick?

Fat girls everywhere lately! Fat girls in the news, fat girls in Sports Illustrated, fat girls in the news about being the real first fat girl in Sports Illustrated. Fatness everywhere. I say its a great thing, but let's talk about what might really be happening. Namely, "plus size" being a new gimmick. A trigger phrase. A new media buzzword, if you will.

Marketing tools- we know they exist. Its like "Gluten Free", "Green" and "Farm Raised." Can you tell I've been clean eating lately? The media and every advertising agency everywhere knows what gets the world all worked up and lately... it is fat girls. We have been breaking molds (not a fat joke, promise). We have wonderful and beautiful women doing things that society has told us forever that we couldn't do and it really makes people talk.

Now, I'm a girl that loves my attention, (public blog anybody?) but I also like to make sure that I am not being exploited. I think we are on a precarious line now. As a group, we have insane buying power. Most American women fit into the "Plus Size", 67% according to Business Insider and we spent 17.5 billion dollars in 2011 on clothing. Why aren't we using that to our advantage?

We are being bullied by the fashion industry, ladies. Everyone is throwing around the term "plus size" to generate buzz and revenue, but they aren't giving us what we want. They are taking our money then asking for more in shipping costs because we can only shop online and they know it. They keep us in line by telling us that fat girls are harder to make clothes for. They, all the while using "plus size" to get link clicks, are taking advantage of the fact that we want something better.

Should we be happy with where we are? Fat girls are now getting attention, we have more clothing options, we are breaking our way into typically straight size modeling contracts... so why are you complaining, Elle? Well, first I'll say that I've never been very good at settling. The second issue is that I know they are capable of more, but simply wont do it. The next time I hear "plus size shoppers are picky" I want to see it followed by "so we are giving them clothes in store to try on." When someone says, "plus size shoppers don't want to spend the money on high end fashion" I want to hear "so we are making an affordable luxe looking option" right after.

As a group that has spent decades being bullied individually and together, we have to stand up for ourselves. The wheels have been set in motion with the blogger movement, people are talking about us,  but now is when it is most important to set boundaries. We have to negotiate for what we want instead of just taking what they give us. We shouldn't have to settle just because they threw us a bone. Am I happy we have come so far? Absolutely, but I want more because I know it can be done.