eBusiness Weekly
Prince Rayanne Chidzvondo
Our bodies aren’t what need to be changed, it’s our perspectives, and it’s the conversation — the mind-set of the 10 year-old girl who still clings to her baby weight thinking she is nowhere near perfection.
Let’s kick body shaming right out the door; there’s no place for that here.
Perfection is shallow, unreal and totally uninteresting. This idea has become a movement across the globe but more far-reaching disruptions are still necessary, especially with regard to how the category is portrayed in the media and actual availability of plus-size wear.
I once overheard a conversation between two beautiful women. One asked the other if they were going to go to a pool party the following day, and the woman responded; “Not unless I spend the entire night working out, my body is nowhere near bikini ready!”
I wanted to pull her aside and tell her that every body is bikini ready, no matter its shape or size!
What does it mean to be a plus-sized woman in Zimbabwe, when finding fashionable clothing and models on the plus side is still challenging?
In order for those perspectives to change, the media we are surrounded by must change as well. Representation is important in that it changes our perceptions of what we deem to be possible, and that it changes our opinions of what we see as realistic.
Everywhere, stores and brands are scrambling to address the diverse fashion needs of plus-size women — or at least we think so. But can an industry stuck in aspirational television standards of beauty finally face reality and walk it like they talk it?
They say an African woman is supposed to be curvy, full and voluptuous. Before exploring the plus-size ideology, it is worth mentioning the differences between plus-size and curvy models, because, despite what many people usually think, there are actual differences between these two terms.
Plus-size and curvy have often been considered as synonymous and the fact that they are not is sometimes confusing. Plus-size models may also be curvy, and curvy models are not necessarily plus-size.
As the etymology of the adjective “curvy” explains, curvy has to do with body measurements rather than sizes, as it refers to women with a waist-hip difference. Curvy women have what we typically describe as a body “with curves”, meaning that it can come in all sizes. For a clearer picture, Ruvheneko and Pokello are curvy, Misred, Gonyeti and Olinda Chapel are plus-size.
When life gives you curves, plus-size or both — flaunt!
Although there are some sustainable brands selling bigger clothes, the move to sustainable fashion has left plus-sized people behind completely. An estimated 67 percent of women globally are considered plus-size, so who is really representing this majority?
Bulawayo-based plus-size model, influencer and fashion blogger Sithandekile “Kapitol” Khumalo (The Mongolian Teletubbie) has been influential in voicing the acceptance of plus-size women and wear.
She represents the essence of how sexy is not size, a calorie is not a war and a woman’s body is not a battleground. There’s nothing wrong with being on the plus-size but there’s everything wrong with the conversation. Ideas of plus-size being unhealthy, one plus-size fitting all and plus-size women hating their bodies? No. Simple.
“Just because you are thick or chubby doesn’t mean you can’t slay your fashion game, women need to know they can work those threads in all ways they can. Fabulousity is contagious, let’s start a pandemic.”
“If body types like mine were shown in the media I watched as a kid, I would have known that anyone can be a Disney princess — because skinny does not equal beautiful, and fat does not equal ugly. Labels are only as strong as the power the media assigns them — and I hope that one day, a little girl like me can realise that being fat doesn’t mean you can’t be a princess, and it doesn’t mean you aren’t beautiful,” she says.
The Zimbabwean fashion industry has been minimal in changing how consumers see beauty, representation matters yet the movement of plus-size women still gets less spotlight.
Media and fashion houses are still commonly very exclusionary and embrace plus-size women in periods and definitely not in a consistent manner.
The misconceptions around plus-size women are disheartening. The idea of plus-size women being unhealthy, hating their bodies and not being allowed to wear some things such as short skirts, crop tops and bikinis.
As such, women spend so much time worrying about how they need to change their bodies, obsessing over things such as the ‘beach-readiness’ of their body or the quickest way to lose weight or try and look ‘skinny’ in something.
Plus-size model Michelle Mungeni believes, “I am a plus-sized woman. I deserve to see myself represented in mainstream media. Most companies don’t sell clothing that fit me properly, and if they do, the clothes are expensive or exclusively custom made.”
“Plus-size representation is facing the reality of women having not been included in the mainstream for a while. It’s being the face of reality, thick thighs, cellulite and absolutely no Photoshop or anything cropped, nothing altered.”
“Thick thighs save lives and every woman needs to embrace her body, flaws and all. Knock ‘em dead in a plus-size bikini and rock the runway, strutting like a queen because you represent the majority out there.”
“If the media is meant to reflect the people of our society, and every body type is different, then each one must be represented in a way that does not demand any more or less of women than who they are.”
Fashion Consultant and Entrepreneur, Bakari Sibanda highlights, “For a long time, plus-size fashion wasn’t tapped into. This has been changing over the years, thanks to the plus-size women being comfortable with themselves and then voicing out about inclusion. This has seen the designers and boutiques catering them.”
“As it is a new avenue that’s being explored, designers are only doing as per client order. So far, Edgars and Truworths are the only major retailers that have really went all the way to accommodate women of all sizes.”
“Time and time again, these companies continually use women who don’t represent the majority of our country, because our society believes that thin equals beautiful.”
Curvy women fairly get their share of exclusion, with their distinct belonging usually neither skinny nor plus-size. Tanastwa Masangomai, a curvy plus-size commercial model, represents other women like her who have been turned down for not being skinny or plus-sized.
“It’s a struggle getting an agent when you are neither skinny nor plus-size. I’m curvy, and most people believe that sells because it’s a standard body for African women but it is all say. In Zimbabwe, they go for people that are already in the spotlight to boost their brands.”
“Look at Pokello and models like Misred, in reality no one wants to be represented by a curvy or plus-size model,” she says.
Nilton Makazhu of Iconic Model Management Zimbabwe and Miss Plus-size Zimbabwe, took a revolutionary turn in introducing a pageant for plus-size women.
“At Iconic Management Zimbabwe, we were pioneers of plus-size models and we have worked with a lot them. We noticed a difference in approach as we initially started recruiting plus-size models in 2016, the models lacked confidence and had low self-esteem.
“That has dramatically changed as now you find out that the plus-size models are more daring and bold because they are representing something far bigger than them. This I owe to the industry embracing the full figured woman as valuable commercial tools.”
The ignorance surrounding shaming curvy and plus-size women can be seen everywhere we look. Advertisements constantly display thin women as the ideal standard and plus-size women as the unappealing alternative.
Time and time again these subliminal messages attempt to tell people that because being big is different, it should not be accepted. Not only do these negative ideas spread an offensive stigma, but they also affect women mentally.
The goal of size acceptance is to encourage health and acceptance; it is better than our thin obsessed culture which has done more harm than good. There can be thin models, just adding positive plus-sized representation as well, is one of the many hopes of this important movement.
In the meantime, it’s worth remembering, as Michelle puts it, thick thighs save lives and everybody is beautiful!
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