Beauty Isn’t a Size

April 6, 2018

Dear Victoria’s Secrets CEO Lex Wexner:

Have you ever wondered how diverse your company would be if you allowed there to be different races and plus size models? We chose to write to you because we noticed there is mostly one race and one body type that is being shown in your commercials, runways and even in your stores, and there are rarely any clothing and underwear made for plus size women.

The issue that we are addressing in this letter is the problem of body image. We feel the cause of this issue was because a lot of companies and people in the society made beauty expectations and started to tell people what you need to be pretty. The group that has mostly been oppressed by this issue are  the males and females who don’t fit the standard and or criteria for what beauty is. Also groups that have been harmed are youth because all the social media and society is giving them the impression that they should change the way they look in order to be pretty or that some of their flaws are things that make them less pretty and that affects them growing up in their society. That results to a recent discovery being that At least 30 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the U.S. (ANAD.org)This shows that beauty standards could be a possible leverage on high rates of eating disorders. It also affects the community because it causes men and women to develop low self esteem and that can really mess with their life. We feel the people who benefit from this inequity is companies who only promote skinny models or clothing for those models. The reason they benefit is because people want the clothing so they find ways to change their body type in order to fit the clothing and it gives the companies more money. People are experiencing internalized oppression because they start to feel bad about the way they look because people say things about them and that leads to interpersonal oppression because others judge people who don’t look like them. The allies are companies who promote plus size clothing because that gives more unique women a chance to be apart of something that others judge them. One company that promotes unique women are Target because on their website you can see the display of plus size and diversity(Target.com).The opponents are companies who still don’t get the picture that size shouldn’t matter and that they should be more diverse.

Some tactics that supportive modeling industrys and clothing brands have made visible to the world are campaigns for example the brand American Eagle/Aries they have models with not the “ideal” body type for women and set campaigns off for women who might need clothing for more gifted women. Also other companies such as Forever 21 and Fashion Nova. According to the site American Eagle ( https://www.ae.com/ ) you can see the campaigns they set out for their customers. These companies are earning way more on that aspect of their company’s and also gaining a lot more supporters because of what they are providing and helping women improve self a stem to feel comfortable in their bodies and still wear their wonderful clothing such like yours but we need more sizes available to all body types.Those companies are protesting and doing all these campaigns and hashtags online which is spreading awareness to all these people who want to wear your beautiful undergarments and clothing. In conclusion I strongly support that you start these campaigns and improve body positivity and make sizes more available because a lot of people love your clothing and brand but we would all love to see it more on people with not a figure your models represents on runways and in stores and online clothing stores.  

The steps we will be taking to help make a change is create a hashtag and spread it around to make sure everyone is aware and helps make a change about all these companies who don’t have different races/plus size women. We will direct message them through social media and make sure they know how this affects a lot of women and they need to realize it. We are also going to make flyers and put them in the girls and boys bathroom to make sure everyone knows they are beautiful no matter what and to also use our hashtag and spread around to make sure they hear us and we make a change. We are confident in this plan because a lot of people are always on social media and through social media the word really gets around. People spread the word and raise awareness, it’s how people communicate these days. We are also confident about the flyers in the bathroom because everyone uses the bathroom on a daily basis and for them to see that flyer it will make them realize that a lot of companies aren’t diverse, they don’t have plus sizes and they don’t women of different races. And by them realizing that it well help us spread the message we want to spread to the world.

In conclusion, the message we want to spread is all sizes and races should be included and not excluded because it will make your company more diverse. People won’t feel oppressed by thinking im not good enough to be a model because im not skinny and a size zero or because i’m a different race they shouldn’t have to worry about any of that. It will help everyone have a positive mindset and it will help the companies be diverse. You are also known to be a very impressive and wonderful company and you will be a role model to all companies and they may follow the same lead your company will if you choose to include different races and plus size models. You are a huge influencer to the modeling industry also because of being known for your amazing runways but we as a community here in the bay area we would love to see more races and plus sized models hit your runway.  

Sincerely,  

Natalie, Nacia, and Leslie

Annotated Bibliography:

“American Eagle Outfitters Men’s & Women’s Clothing, Shoes & Accessories.” American Eagle Outfitters, www.ae.com/.

This is a brand who sells a lot of clothing items and support body positivity and will use plus sized models and not only plus sized models but also women who are all types of weights and all types of bodies. Their clothing line consists of a range to undergarments to shoes even clothing.

“Eating Disorder Statistics • National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.” National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, www.anad.org/education-and-awareness/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/. ANAD.org is a website used for educational awareness. It has many choices for people to get educated about. This is credible because there are a lot of people with eating disorders so that they can fit society and the fashion industries perception of beauty. This is also credible because there are professionals giving us the information

Forever21. “Plus Size.” Shop Forever 21 for the Latest Trends and the Best Deals | Forever 21, www.forever21.com/us/shop/catalog/category/plus/plus_size-main.

This is a store where they provide trendy and affordable clothes for all women even plus sizes and advertise plus modeling and clothing for young women and women of older age.

“Fashion Online For Women | Affordable Women’s Clothing.” Fashion Nova, www.fashionnova.com/.

This a clothing site where it offers women affordable and all sized clothing. It has a Plus size clothing area to shop for and not only that they models are not idea body types you would think would be shown as models.

“Homepage.” Target, www.target.com/. Target is a shopping store that just recently added plus size to their clothing department. Their company is credible because their starting to get more business because of their plus size. This is also credible because they are proving my argument correct.

#Beautyisntasize510 #BeautyIsFromWithin

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