Amy Schumer and the Plus Size Debate

[readyin07]

Add Amy Schumer to the list of women who are done with being labeled by their size.



After the comedian slammed Glamour magazine for including her in their "plus size" bonus issue sponsored by Lane Bryant, she tweeted that qualifying women with labels is pointless.



"Thanks for sharing your thoughts everyone except the people who told me what I 'should feel' or what I 'should have focused on,' " Schumer tweeted.



"Bottom line seems to be we are done with these unnecessary labels which seem to be reserved for women."

Earlier Tuesday Schumer Instagrammed a photo of Glamour's special issue cover, explaining that calling her "plus size" is potentially harmful for young girls.



"I think there's nothing wrong with being plus size. Beautiful healthy women. Plus size is considered size 16 in America. I go between a size 6 and an 8. @glamourmag put me in their plus size only issue without asking or letting me know and it doesn't feel right to me," she said.



"Young girls seeing my body type thinking that is plus size? What are your thoughts? Mine are not cool glamour not glamourous."



A spokesperson from Glamour told PEOPLE that they didn't mean to offend Schumer.



"First off, we love Amy, and our readers do too – which is why we featured her on the cover of Glamour last year. The cover line on this special edition – which is aimed at women size 12 and up – simply says "Women Who Inspire Us," since we believe her passionate and vocal message of body positivity IS inspiring, as is the message of the many other women, of all sizes, featured. The edition did not describe her as plus-size. We are sorry if we offended her in any way."



But Schumer now joins the many other models and celebrities who are calling for an end to the term, including Ashley Graham, who modeled for the cover, and Melissa McCarthy, who was included in the roundup with Schumer, among others.



"I've always hated the word 'plus-size.' It bugs me," Meghan Trainor previously told Elle. "Everything Melissa [McCarthy] said is completely accurate. [They're] a big part of our society, women who are size 14, and how are you going to criticize us? The word 'plus-sized' should be gone."



"I don't like the label 'plus-size' – I call it 'fiercely real,' Tyra Banks told HuffPost Style. "I don't want to use the term 'plus-size,' because, to me, what the hell is that? It just doesn't have a positive connotation to it. I tend to not use it."

[epphd]

Glamour fucked up. Simply by categorizing women by size was the first fuck up, but then using a term that has a specific (albeit arbitrary) meaning and adding someone to it who does not fit that meaning was a colossal fuck up.

It would be like devoting an issue to astronauts, and featuring Matt Damon or Stephen Hawking. Sure, one played an astronaut and one studies space - but that doesn't actually make them astronauts.

I'm not sure I'm loving Shumer's response either, to be fair. But if it were me I'd struggle with being offended, then being disappointed in myself for being offended, then being confused.

This was AS in January:


WTF do I know though. I am 5' 7.5 and weigh 135 pounds. I am sure I'd look like a giant compared to most actresses and models so maybe I'm plus size too. Maybe we should just call women "women."

[readyin07]

For some reason when I posted this my link to the article and my comments disappeared.

Anyway, I am with you.

I think the last sentence of her tweet was spot on. However her original Instagram message did kind of reek of "But...but...I'm not plus size," which misses the mark for me. And she right off the bat goes in with "There's nothing wrong with being plus size..." using the label, but then in the tweet declares that the label is dead. IDK, she could have done better.

[mbcdefg]

If Amy Schumer is "plus size," then I guess I should be hanging from the ceiling at the Museum of Natural History.

[frkls]

i get what she's saying about labels, but holy defensive amy schumer! this really doesn't sound like it's about "women." it sounds like it's about AS being pissed that they called her plus sized. i mean, i doubt she would have cared about the issue at all and what it says to women/young girls if she hadn't been in it.

[imobviouslystaying]

My eyes are rolling at everyone in this story quite frankly.

Tyra for that fucking "fiercely real" bullshit.

Amy for being all but but but I'm not plus size! (You sometimes are, honey.)

The phrase plus size.

Lane Bryant just because I hate them.

People who are using Amy's size to feel some type of way about their own size.

The clothing industry as a whole that continues to segregate by clothing size is the first fucking place.

Just all the annoyances all right here.

[epphd]

Apr 5, 2016 18:38:52 GMT -5 imobviouslystaying said:

My eyes are rolling at everyone in this story quite frankly.

Tyra for that fucking "fiercely real" bullshit.

Amy for being all but but but I'm not plus size! (You sometimes are, honey.)

The phrase plus size.

Lane Bryant just because I hate them.

People who are using Amy's size to feel some type of way about their own size.

The clothing industry as a whole that continues to segregate by clothing size is the first fucking place.

Just all the annoyances all right here.

I agree. I'm not sure how we stop this bullshit - I do like the language of the bolded though. That's really what it is.

[imobviouslystaying]

I'm also mad at Amy for not being more idk, articulate and for not stepping outside of herself. She seems more upset that they called *her* plus sized than anything else. She is personally offended.

Homegirl is too funny and too smart to have so easily ignored the opportunity to give this topic the discussion it deserves and instead, makes it sound like it's her feelings that are the problem.

Also, this "between a six and an 8" is a damned lie. Google her and you can tell that she obviously fluctuates in size and in a size bigger than an 8. So instead of taking what Glamour was trying to do and pointing out how they fucked it up, she can't even take the time to acknowledge the lack of representation in general of women size twelve and up but instead makes sure we aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllll know that she's not a size twelve.

I mean fuck, a 12 isn't plus size either. Why not point out that shit?

Instead, she's all, well no I'm not as fat as those girls. Why are you labeling me? I mean labels are kind of bad but no really, why are you labeling *ME*?

No

[imobviouslystaying]

Also, it should be noted that Glamour is the magazine that did this:

www.celebitchy.com/68295/lizzi_miller_incident_spurred_glamour_to_do_all-plus-sized_model_layout/

and since then it's made a serious effort to include women of various sizes in their magazine, both in separate spreads and inclusive of other spreads. They've also made efforts to include larger sizes in their fashion editorials and focus on plus sized and petite sizing in their issues.

And despite my rantings about segregating by size in the store, I do think it's valuable despite my annoyance as the term plus sized itself to make sure women outside of the beauty myth "norm" do get some focus in terms of styling, fashion tips, etc. Because honestly, you can't dress all figures the same.

I had a separate incident last night that got me on the topic of treating everyone the same but it applies here as well. Bodies are different. It's okay to acknowledge and work with those differences. When you treat everyone the same at all times, you can and often do end up excluding people.

Fashion and beauty needs to be more inclusive and diverse but we do not achieve that by treating everyone the same.

[sparrowsong]

I'm assuming this has to go with her Annie Leibovitz photo shoot where she has rolls on her tum from being a normal person sitting down.

Meh. I think everyone knows that Hollywood and runway plus size is not the same thing as normal world plus size. There's Kate Winslet and there's Keira Knightley. It is all very stupid.

Didn't Tyra feature plus size models a couple seasons of ANTM? she used that term a lot! Eyeroll..

[msmerymac]

Ugh, why do people always talk about "plus size" as 14 or 16? Like, "average women are 14 and 16 and considered plus sized!!!! I'm an average American woman!" Or try to play it off like they're proud of being plus sized, but they're sure to let people know they are a 14, so barely plus sized. Women who are an 18, 20, 26, 32 are plus sized too. Or woman-sized? And they exist. I'd like to see someone who is a solid 26 stand up and defend he size, but Americans don't like to see women that large on TV, unless they are making fun of them, so...

[imobviouslystaying]

Apr 5, 2016 20:10:09 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

Amy Schumer constantly jokes about how fat she is so I need her to pick a lane and stay in it.

She lost some weight recently so I'm starting to wonder if the truth here is that she's salty about being smaller and yet still considered plus size.

[StrawberryBlondie]

I'm probably biased in this because I hate Amy Schumer, but I really dislike her response.

[readyin07]

I also need to see how the issue lays out, but I also see Glamour's point that she is a woman to admire in terms of embracing your body how it is and that it doesn't really say she is plus size specifically -- at least in the snippet we saw. I in no way think she is actually "plus size," but let's be honest she doesnt have a "perfect body" (I mean how many people really do outside Hollywood?) and she definitely embraces that you can have some rolls and still embrace your sexuality and beauty and I think that is a great message for a "plus sized" audience if we are going to use that terminology.

[imobviouslystaying]

Apr 5, 2016 20:16:04 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Ugh, why do people always talk about "plus size" as 14 or 16? Like, "average women are 14 and 16 and considered plus sized!!!! I'm an average American woman!" Or try to play it off like they're proud of being plus sized, but they're sure to let people know they are a 14, so barely plus sized. Women who are an 18, 20, 26, 32 are plus sized too. Or woman-sized? And they exist. I'd like to see someone who is a solid 26 stand up and defend he size, but Americans don't like to see women that large on TV, unless they are making fun of them, so...

Well apparently you aren't plus sized unless you are bigger than your friends, Amy Schumer, some models in a plus size spread, or really most people.

[andwhat]

Apr 5, 2016 20:24:09 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

I'm probably biased in this because I hate Amy Schumer, but I really dislike her response.

This is how I feel. And no how, no way is she a 6-8. And get claiming to be, but at the same time talking about the affect this has on young girls is pissing me off.

Sent from my SM-G920V using proboards

[daisyn]

I'm confused... She said they called her plus sized and the mag said they didn't. Which is actually the fact?

Also why are they nude?  Does glamour regularly have nude models or only if you weigh more.  You can be in the mag "larger" ladies but no clothes for you!

[imobviouslystaying]

Apr 5, 2016 20:41:05 GMT -5 daisyn said:

I'm confused... She said they called her plus sized and the mag said they didn't. Which is actually the fact?

Also why are they nude?  Does glamour regularly have nude models or only if you weigh more.  You can be in the mag "larger" ladies but no clothes for you!

The one I linked was just one spread a year or so ago. The issue we are talking about is different.

Also, that one had nothing to do with larger but no clothes. That's just an odd assumption to make. The fact of the matter is that for the most part, we cover up larger women. Like eww, we don't want to see all that. We also suck it into shapewear, make sure everything larger ladies wear is "flattering", lift the boobs with a good bra, etc.

For the most part, we make larger women feel like they can look good but only dressed a certain way, a certain mostly clothed way. That picture I linked was aimed more towards accepting our figures, our curves, rolls, the way our bodies move and meet and is created, just the way it's created.

I would wager to guess that most women feel less confident when they are naked, even ones with oddles of self esteem. I mean shit, I think I look hella cute most of the time. But buck ass naked it's hard to see your sagging boobs, uneven skin tone, the pebbly texture of your thighs, the obvious fluff of your tummy unrestrained by denim, khaki, or even just a the cotton knit blend of your undies and be cool with it.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Apr 5, 2016 20:39:58 GMT -5 andwhat said:

Apr 5, 2016 20:24:09 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

I'm probably biased in this because I hate Amy Schumer, but I really dislike her response.

This is how I feel. And no how, no way is she a 6-8. And get claiming to be, but at the same time talking about the affect this has on young girls is pissing me off.

Sent from my SM-G920V using proboards

You know, I don't even care what size she actually is. Her response would strike me as just as terrible if she were a size 16 or a size 4.

[pinkeggs]

I agree with everything said here about her response. It was very "there's nothing wrong with being plus size, but why are you calling meeeeeeeee that!?!"

Also, "fiercely real"? Congrats Tyra, you just officially became a parody of yourself.