Word Play: “What’s a better word for ‘plus-sized’?”
Lorrie wants to know if I can come up with a better word for “plus-sized”. As someone who used to happily shop at Lane Bryant, and who will likely always be only a few really large meals away from shopping there again, and who thinks that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes–this subject is near and dear to my heart. So here goes:
zaftig This one is so Mode magazine circa 1999. Anyone else remember Mode?
Rubenesque see above
Women’s Why do department stores do this? What an absolute failure of imagination.
full-figured This reminds me of girdle ads from back in the day.
BBW Um, just because you are the first B, doesn’t mean that you are automatically the second B. Okay, snarkiness aside, on the flip side of that, BBW bugs me because it suggests that beautiful big women are the exception rather than the rule. Kinda like when folks marvel at a pretty, dark-skinned girl, as if “pretty” and “dark-skinned” are rarely found together in nature. I dunno…maybe that’s just color-struck folks in the South, but it bugs me.
thick Popularized by rappers, see Knowles, Beyonce. Bacon is thick; women are not.
big girl Also popularized by rappers.
juicy (just kidding)
real woman Didn’t Lane Bryant have a frequent shopper program which featured “Real Woman Dollars”, or something like that? I like the idea of acknowledging that average women don’t look like walking lollipops (I see you <insert random Hollywood starlet here>), but this also suggests that smaller women aren’t “real” women. The last thing we need is more words used to pit women against one another.
plus-sized I don’t exactly know why this one bugs me. Maybe because it reminds me of this from the 1970s:
Well, Lorrie: I tried. I got nothing.
But maybe a kind reader has a good one?
Pic courtesy of Found in Mom’s Basement
Currently reading: Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist’s Quest to Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, Or Why Pie is Not the Answer by Jen Lancaster
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:57 am
Gah. My grandmother still goes with “shapely” which always makes me think of triangles for some reason. But no, I don’t have the answer either.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:19 am
I like to use “Phat to Death..” That’s a term of endearment reserved for use and intended for adult females ONLY!
~blk
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:34 am
Blk, I know “Phat” is supposed to be a compliment, but…I dunno. I think it’s a guy thing.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Such a tough one. I can’t stand any of the above language! Volumptuous? Real figured?
September 4th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
I was totally traumatized by having to wear the Pretty Plus and Chubby lines from the catalog stores. And none of the cute clothes came in those sizes. I’ve struggled with weight my whole life. I just wish there was no distinction. Just one store. Just one line. In 50 different size. It’s called Women.
September 6th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
My mom says big-boned, but she usually just means big. lol
September 7th, 2008 at 7:39 am
as a young boy, i hated going to the husky department
now, as a man, i go to the big & tall store
good grief…i feel like charlie brown
September 7th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Michael, you raise a good point. The men’s stores just put it out there: Big and Tall. That’s it. I guess it’s presumed that men (and boys) have thicker skins?
NaySue…I totally forgot about “big-boned”. That’s not even biologically accurate, much less flattering. I always got an apologetic “She’s big for her age.”
September 9th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
…i also used to write for mode back in the day.
September 9th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Kewl, Michael. Um, *sheepish look* did you ever get to meet, Angelique? The black model who always graced their pages? (I’m so lame!)
September 10th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
i think i did meet her; i went to a few of their parties and met some of the models. one of the former mode models is maiysha…whose disc came out this week.
http://blogs.uptownlife.net/michaelagonzales/?p=32
September 10th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Michael, I caught your piece on Mayisha. Your ““Maiysha sounds like the future” stuck in my hand. I will check her out. Thanks for posting the link!