Evaluating Refinery29's "Bold" Choice to Showcase More Plus-Sized Women

http://www.refinery29.com/67-percent-project-plus-size-body-image/

When it comes to internet mags, I have to admit I don't play favorites. I tend to use curating tools like 'feedly' to get my 411 instead of visiting specific websites directly each day. But this morning I was inclined to visit a few homepages as part of a research project—and when I showed up at Refinery29, I noticed something new.  Actually, I should say I didn't notice ANYTHING new until I saw two separate headlines about a mysterious "67%" and decided to click one. The 67% in question is the percentage of women who are a size 14 or higher in the United States. These women are rarely (if ever) represented in the media, so Refinery29 has launched a new initiative to ensure that 67% of the models on their site are 'plus-sized' models. Before we get into singing their praises (and believe me, I will) let's circle back to the fact that I DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE this site-wide makeover until it was explained to me. Although I rarely visit R29's homepage, which might explain my total oblivion to the visual shift, I do subscribe to their newsletters and follow them on social, so I've been exposed to their imagery consistently enough over the last couple years to know what's 'normal' for them. This leads me to believe that I didn't notice the changes either because I am an oblivious human in general (possible, I guess) OR because frankly, I don't care. Please hear me when I say this so that you don't twist the intention behind my words—when I'm walking down the street and I see a woman who's bigger or smaller than me, I don't care. When I turn on the TV and I see a woman accepting an award who's not wearing makeup, I don't care. When I look through a magazine and I see a larger body contorting herself into a yoga position I could only dream about twisting my own body into, I might be like "dayummm girl," but I DON'T CARE about the size of her body. Because it is not my fucking business to care. It's not my business whether or not a woman wants to wear makeup; it's not my business what outfit she decides to wear; it's not my business whether she wants to work or stay home with kids; it's not my business whether a woman attempts to be crazy athletic or not at all.

A person's decisions are between her and the people she chooses to help her champion them.

So when I see beautiful photos on a website, I don't care if the models within are big, small, blue, green, white, black, or polka-dotted. And I'm not trying to sing my own praises on this one—because I don't think I'm alone here! I understand that there are horrible people out there who actually give a shit that a complete stranger would walk around without eyeliner on her face. They might visit R29 this week and turn hot red at the sight of so many women whom they don't want to paste onto their insanely basic "#goals" vision boards. They might complain to other terrible people who also think it's their right to set the standards for how other people should live their lives, and they might actually be kind of loud and mean because that's how insecure people get off. But I think there's enough statistic evidence (cough67%) to suggest they're outnumbered.

So good on you, Refinery29, for joining the effort to normalize the normal. 

I have to admit I wish it had come easier for you—I wish you didn't feel the need to justify your actions off the bat with like 4 dedicated pages explaining why you felt this shift was important (and alluding to the fact that you had to push through a lot of bullshit to make it happen). I wish you could have pushed these changes out swiftly and silently, to really TEST how your audience would react to it. Given us an opportunity to show our true colors. You could have come out with your explanation a week into the makeover, describing some of the feedback you'd received from anyone who noticed the move, to shed a full light on the kind of person you write to every day. I think that would have encouraged your audience to really think about who they are and to seriously question how they see other women and why. But I also get it. I get the desire to over-explain, to highlight the need for awareness, to build support right out of the gate so you can prove to your shareholders—and the media as a whole—that there's a community out there that's craving this shift in consciousness. So for this "bold, brave" move, I thank you. Because even though I don't think it SHOULD be considered bold or brave to represent a large majority of people as an editorial outlet, I can appreciate that in this particular case, it is.

Here's to big, beautiful, plus-sized change. 

Happy Monday. ✨