I’ll be honest, I didn’t get into Glee until I heard that Darren Criss of YouTube/StarKid fame was cast to play a new character during Season 2. (As of today I still haven’t completed season one, mostly because I can’t stand the character of Terri, Will Schuster’s first wife.) An American musical dramedy, Glee aired on Fox from 2009 to 2015. The series initially focused on performing arts-loving Spanish teacher William Schuster reinventing the McKinley High School Glee Club, the New Directions, challenging outcast students to follow their dreams by taking part of the show choir competition circuit. While they work on their performances the members of the New Directions struggle with low self-esteem, relationships, race, sexuality, bulling, eating disorders and other social issues. Though working to present show had a lot of flaws (many of the serious issues and problems are resolved in a very ridiculous, unrealistic way) though that still doesn’t take away from much of the positive representation it brought on. Glee is rare in that it made a point to have racial, gender and size diversity with its protagonists, antagonists and supporting cast. They weren’t completely left in the side lines, and even better was the fact that the story lines of these characters rarely dealt with the fact that they were different. Note that I said RARELY, and I will get to that in a minute. As always we will start with the good by looking at four of the plus size characters of Glee. Continue reading
Category: +Size Matters
ABOUT THE SERIES: Whether or not we are conscious of it, what we consume as entertainment has a great impact on our personal growth and identity. In many cases media literacy has been dismissed to be unnecessary, yet the truth remains that media influences social ideals and constructs of such concepts as gender, race and body ideals. Disregarding the significance of media in turn promotes the continuation of stereotypes and fosters a negative self-image especially in girls and women. Critical media consumption aids the fight against the over-sexualization, and under-representation of women, that can lead to the creation of works that aid female empowerment. It all starts with us. With that in mind, “+ Size Matters” will analyze past and present plus size representation in media as doing so sheds light on the beauty/body standards and stereotypes that still need to be broken.
+Size Matters : Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls by Jess Baker
This is a very short video because the book is fantastic as it is so I don’t feel that I have to go on and on about this work, though I could. I am glad that I took the time to read this when I did and I hope that this video motivates you to buy a copy of the book and to share it with someone. It is definitely a “Must-Read” even if you are not plus size. So if you are thin, I know that the book says “Fat girls” but believe me, you too will appreciate this book. I bought bunch of copies for my friends as gifts for this Christmas just to make sure that Jess Baker’s message spreads as far as it can because it really needs to. (I guess you could say that my shopping started super late this year but it was really easy.) Continue reading
My Two Cents: Plus Size Fashion MUST “Flatter the Figure”?
About two weeks ago a designer, Alysse Dalessandro released her first holiday collection for her fashion brand, Ready to Stare. Until this particular day I had not heard much about this designer but I wish I had under different circumstances. Why? Well, it all started with a dress, specifically this dress:
Red Convertible Cupcake Dress and Maxi Skirt | Ready to Stare (Available in S-5X)
My Two Cents: Lane Bryant’s #PlusIsEqual Campaign Not a Total Fail?
Two weeks ago I went down to Times Square for the #PlusIsEqual event. I’ll be honest, since there was nothing shared as to what the even actually was, I had considered not going at all. In the end I took the day off and made my way to the city all the while expecting coupons, or even an announcement of an affordable line offered by the brand once I got there. I got none of that. Continue reading
+Size Matters: Phat Girlz
Growing up in the United States made me accustomed to the Westernized standard of feminine beauty: thin, tall, of fair skin and straight hair. It never once occurred to me that my body type, skin tone and even hair could be considered the epitome of beauty someplace else. That surprise came when I traveled to Jamaica, W.I. back in 2013 for a conference.
Ironically, my workshop dealt with being single and I had started by telling the women stories of my unsuccessful dating life. One of the mature ladies at one point asked why my last relationship didn’t work out and I responded by saying that the young man had a particular type and I didn’t fit it due to my weight. I followed that by explaining that the unfortunate reality is that most of the men I am/have been attracted to just aren’t interested in women that look like me. At saying that the entire group of 60 women fell silent.
Once the workshop was over I was approached by two of the ladies (who were thin, curvy and model-status beautiful) said that I should not be so hung out for not being “the perfect size 8” because on the island men preferred women that looked like me over them. I was stunned. Of course the idea that beauty standards were not the same around the world was something that had been suggested to me prior to this trip when I was a teenager back in 2006, via a film, but I figured it was just a fantasy created for the sole purpose of giving the story of a plus size protagonist a happy ending. That film of course was Phat Girlz.
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Big City, Curvy Girl, Thin Wallet 