Discussing “what to call” plus size models is an interesting conversation to me, for some reason no one thought to just call us models we had to be set apart from the models and given our own category…even though we are all doing the same thing.
I agree this topic is a little over done, so this post is short and considerably objective i’m not really taking sides. There are a few perspectives to consider here, the perspective of the people who coined the phrase (I can guarantee you it wasn’t a model that coined the phrase “plus model”), the perspective of the women in the world forced to look at models in advertisements every day, and the perspective of the plusies (that’d be me and other plus/curve models).
When i first started modeling, I didn’t really care about this at all, I was too busy trying to figure out how to model in the first damn place. I can understand why the term makes sense, we as plus models are a bigger size than what was considered the standard model size at one point in time. So sure, in that sense we are “plus” because our mass is bigger than the standard 23 inch waist model. From a business standpoint, if you are selling “straight” and “plus” sized clothing it’s nice to have a way to differentiate when going to book models…companies don’t get samples of new clothes in a billion sizes so if they get them in plus sizes they are going to reach out to agencies to book plus models..if they don’t they’ll be requesting to book “straight” sized models.
Women that are not a part of this industry always tell me “how do they even consider you plus? Plus is like those really big girls”. As women we are shown what attractive is from a very young age, your stomach should be flat, no love handles, breasts big (or made to look that way), butt round and cellulite free, and always generally smaller than men because that’s what cute and sexy. So when women tell me I don’t look like a plus size model I know they are trying to compliment me “you’re not as big as those other women”. I don’t need that compliment, even if I was 8 sizes bigger i’d be bomb and even though i’m not i’m happy modelling bigger clothing if it allows women to feel included and marketed to. In some ways people are asking a little too much, we are not going to all see models in advertising that look just like us. We can however require diversity from the brands we support, women often tell me they are so happy when they see women who are their size or even remotely close to their size in advertisements…..surprise surprise if you show women that actually look like the women buying your product you’ll sell more (aerie is proof of this).
As a model i’ve felt 3 ways about this, neither feeling much stronger than the other:
- it can come across as being a “less than” statement….you’re not a real model you’re a plus model…a model who doesn’t have to work as hard to maintain your body, gets to eat whatever she wants, and is not a part of the elite group of “models” in the world. I’d prefer all models be listed in the same place, companies can filter by measurement/size range if needed. Size will never not be a part of modeling, clothes are made in sizes.
- You can call me a plus/curve model if you feel the need just make sure you pay me on time.
- Plus means more and i’m extra as hell and not a size 0 so sure call me a plus model.
This conversation comes up quite a bit on set and for some reason a common question is “well what would you like to be called”…..ummmmm A FUCKING MODEL. It’s really that simple, we show up and put on clothes or whatever is needed and model them same as all the “regular” models out there. Women are constantly being sectioned off into these groups….fat, skinny, curvy, hot, ugly, cute, sexy, etc. I can guarantee if you showed me any woman I could find someone in the world who thinks they are sexy and someone who thinks they’re ugly so there’s no point in making these declarations about what someone is. For every person that admires you physically, there’s someone who wouldn’t agree….and what’s great is that’s ok we don’t have to go through life trying to figure out where we fit…just make yourself your own spot.
So from a business standpoint, sure I see the need to differentiate in some way. If you’d like to know how to label me professionally, just call me a model.
YS