An Observation

[Content Note: Fat bias.]

I really dislike it when I get a catalog from a plus-size clothier who uses absolutely no fat women in their catalog. (Ditto their websites.) It's not just a visibility thing (although that, too!), but also just a practical issue of wanting to see how clothes look on fat bodies.

Not all fat bodies are alike, so what any given piece of clothing looks like on another fat woman may not be how it looks on me. But it would still be nice to see some of the clothes on fat bodies that look something like mine.

There is a reason that fat retailers don't use fat models and mannequins: They say it's because fat people don't want to see bodies that look like ours; that we, like everyone else, are so entrained in fat hatred that we reject the appearance of fat models and mannequins.

That may be true for some fat folks, but I think there's a lot of fat folks who would very much like to see clothes presented in a way that gives a better picture of what they'd look like when we wear them.

And, frankly, part of the reason fat folks tend to respond negatively to seeing clothes on fat bodies is because the clothes look like shit on fat bodies, because they're not really designed for fat bodies in the first place. That's a design issue which has nothing to do with the self-loathing of which we're universally accused.

Design clothes that look good on fat models and mannequins, and maybe more fat people will have a positive response to them.