Plus-size women across the country are embracing every curve and lump on their bodies and taking a stand against our society’s rigid beauty standards. This movement is beautiful and inspiring. Marginalized groups should appreciate its efforts.

There has been an influx of plus-size models on runways and in catalogues. Tumblr blogs for plus-size women have sprung up, encouraging a wider range of fashion choices.

However, there is one major issue with the plus-sized movement: its frequent use of phrases like “real women aren’t a size zero” and “only dogs like bones” put down thin women.

These phrases and the mindset that coincides with them are completely counter-productive to the plus-size women’s movement. On the surface, it seems like women who say this are only striking back against those who have bullied them, shamed them or made them feel worthless.

But, the enemy is not skinny women. The enemy is those who have enforced these impossible beauty standards.

These standards are enforced at an early age. Girls are told the most important thing they can be is beautiful and the number one way to attain that beauty is by being thin. This is reinforced every time a retouched celebrity graces the cover of a magazine or when plus-size women are used on TV as a sidekick or a joke.

Girls have images of thigh-gaps and pronounced collarbones thrown at them constantly. They start to believe this is the only way to be beautiful.

The plus-size movement should be an escape from this, but instead it is reinforcing the importance of women’s looks.

Stating that real women do not wear size zero jeans creates another way to tell women they are not good enough and all of their value and self-worth lies in their outer appearance. This message again conveys the idea that academic awards won, empathetic actions made and other positive contributions to society do not mean as much as her perceived beauty.

By flipping the script and targeting skinny women instead, the plus-size movement is doing anything but abolishing the bully-mentality it aims to confront.

The plus-size movement and many others like it are uplifting because they encourage body diversity, a realistic view of different body types and self-love. However, there is an aspect to these movements that still put glaring emphasis on a woman’s looks.

We as a society need more movements that encourage women to look past appearances and deeper within themselves. We need to remember that what matters more than our body is what we do with it — how we give back to our communities and families, the things we create and the people we love and care for. That is where our womanhood lies.

It will be damaging to never hear this message, as it will rob millions of young girls of their childhood, innocence and happiness. It will also rob our society of leadership, innovation and creativity from more than 50 percent of the population because women are consumed with worrying about being a size zero or a size 10.

Mandisa Shields is a freshman newspaper and online journalism major. She can be reached at meshield@syr.edu.

Published on January 23, 2014 at 2:27 am