The ironic fact about body-shaming is, and this I say from personal experience, that people often indulge in it thanks to years of conditioning – without even knowing that it is something which should be condoned.
Many young people, of various ages, spend a major part of their adulthood enmeshed in the throes of mental disorders like anxiety, low self-esteem and the like because of being subjected to incipient or malignant body-shaming at some point in their childhood. Not to mention, their lives as children was far from savory.
And this is harder for women because sad as it may seem, oppression has always been worse for them, from witch hunts to the circumstances that gave rise to the #metoo movement
For the longest time, the world of high fashion was considered a place of worship by many young women. Sadly, it was never as inclusive when it came to body-size diversity.
Victoria’s Secret, for example, was one of the many brands that were notoriously wanting in this department.
And what you must understand here is that high fashion is a huge deal when it comes to talking about things that can be done in order to achieve gender equality. Because the notions of ideal body shape trickle down from that field and emulate. So, if that sphere is made inclusive, tolerant and diverse, it can really make an impact, changing many lives in the process.
Something that happened recently at Times Square might just be one of the many stepping stones towards that positive change.
Ed Razek, chief marketing officer at L Brands, the company that owns Victoria’s Secret, had very infamously shot down the idea of trans-gendered models walking the ramp for VS, in an interview with Vogue. Khrystyana Kazakova, a plus-size model was all but appalled when she heard the big-shot’s thoughts on diverse casting, as she informed the New York Post.
As a result, she thought she should do something about it and she went all-out, organizing an all-body-inclusive fashion show right in the death of winter. And she welcomed models of all genders from all over the world.
The turnout was equally heartening, showing how women and people of alternative sexuality care about the examples they set for the world.
More than 200 models from all over the world flew in for the event and plus-size brands like King Size, Swimsuits For All and Woman Within sponsored the wardrobe for the models.
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Kazakova was later interviewed by The Independent and she made an excellent point. According to her, the thing is that plus-size models and their whole essence is subsumed by the patriarchal fashion hierarchy under the broad term, being “curvy”. But it is not about that. The walk wasn’t about that either.
It was about promoting the fact that people deserved to feel safe and comfortable under their own skin.
If anything, this walk should help those young people bullied for their body shape and sexuality realize that life is not just a series of running-away sprees. It is about being patient and finding the courage to love the person they see in the mirror.
