If there’s one thing I hope always rings true on My Fashion Cents it’s that no matter your size or body type, every woman deserves to feel beautiful – and that beauty is solely in her hands and by her own definition. Which is why these recent stories about body image and labeling body types have caught my attention. Both Amy Schumer and Melissa McCarthy have found themselves on the receiving end of some pretty large judgements about their bodies lately. And whether the intentions were positive or otherwise, can we all agree that there are more prevalent issues to attend to than whether a woman is or is not “plus sized” and how that may or may not be a reflection of her qualifications? Read ahead for more on how these actresses have been zeroed in on for their physical appearance.
AMY SCHUMER:
What might have been a moment for body positivity turned into a larger discussion about labels “reserved for women” when Glamour featured the comedienne’s name on the cover of their all-plus-size issue. And while editor Cindi Leive tweeted that the magazine didn’t mean to label Amy Schumer as “plus sized” but rather wanted to celebrate her message about body positivity, the actress (who declared she fluctuates between a 6 and an 8 in clothing sizes) was upset that she was never told she’d be mentioned in the issue and worried about the message it might send young girls. Schumer took to Twitter and Instagram to ask her fans and followers what they thought before posting a video of herself in a bikini running along the beach.
Bottom line seems to be we are done with these unnecessary labels which seem to be reserved for women. pic.twitter.com/VUnrgFseRl
— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) April 5, 2016
Bottom line: The fact that we are still debating who is and is not plus size is incredibly disappointing. Let’s celebrate the actress/writer/comedienne for her incredible accomplishments, instead.
MELISSA MCCARTHY:
With talk of a Gilmore Girls reunion pretty much everywhere you turn, fans have been wondering if beloved character Sookie St. James would be making an appearance on the show. Sadly, some rumors turned to whether Melissa McCarthy’s weight loss (75 lbs so far) was the deterring factor in her not reprising her role. Writer, director and producer Amy Sherman-Palladino continued to insist that was not the case, but rather an issue of timing and availability (and sources say McCarthy may actually be announcing this afternoon on Ellen that she’ll be joining the cast after all). Still, there are those who feel that may not necessarily be true. Whatever the real situation may be, McCarthy mentioned in an interview with Refinery 29 how ridiculous it is to have to answer questions about her body that would never be posed to her male counterparts:
It’s like, ‘Can you imagine them asking some of these guys I work with, ‘How do you keep your butt looking so good?’ It would be like, ‘What the fuck are you talking about? Why are you asking about the shape of my butt?’”
Bottom line: Why is this still an issue for women? Why are talent and professionalism still so egregiously overlooked for women in arguably most industries? Until we take this gender gap seriously, regardless of the industry, women will continue to have to stoop to unfair standards for qualifying their work. Let’s hope these conversations and discussions are a step in the right direction.
