Fashion and the Sexualization of Curvier Bodies One of the many reasons why women are drawn to dieting, losing weight, or may consider wanting to change some aspect of their body is because they want to look good in certain clothes. And I will admit that I am one of those people. One thing that fashion does  not consider at all is people with big boobs (and, well, bigger people in general). Personally, I find it difficult to find clothes that fit me properly. Either a shirt fits me on the chest and is super loose for the rest of my body causing this tent like effect that makes me look like I'm 3 times my actual size or a shirt fits the rest of my body well but it is tight around the chest causing me to look like I'm about to take a seat on the black casting couch. There isn't anything wrong with the later when I'm trying to find clothes for clubbing because well everything looks oversexualized on me but there's one problem, I don't go partying and I don't need clothes like that in my wardrobe for an occasion that very rarely comes.  And I find ill fitting to walk into class or work looking like a big titty anime girl. There is a time and place for those things.   But why does fashion ignore people with bigger boobs, or hell curvier women in general? I guess to figure that out, it can be helpful to understand why fashion prefers really tall and skinny models.  Well it began as something that was out of convenience. Taller skinnier people are kind of like hangers. When designing clothes, it's easier to make clothes on a more standard neutral body (idk how else to really phrase it) than to have to take into consideration different curves and shapes. While I understand it's out of convenience, to me it also feels like incompetence. That's like a hair stylist saying that they only know how to style straight hair because it is easier to work with. Not only are you excluding a large group of people that may want your services and give you money (more on that and how it relates to fashion later), but you are also showing your lack of versatility and a presence of laziness in your craft.  Another reason why fashion doesn't want to have curvier models is because they believe that the curves will distract a person from the clothes themselves. I remember reading this one article about how in the 1950s, they wouldn't let Marilyn Monroe model any clothes because they thought that people would be too distracted by her boobs and her butt to pay attention to what she was actually wearing. First of all, that is just plain sexualization. If you're distracted by Marilyn's figure, it's not her problem or the designer's problem, it's yours. Second, the whole beauty with fashion as an art form is that fashion is a functional part of every day life. Key word: functional. So in my opinion, if it doesn't even work for a large portion of people, what does it say about the functionality and again, versatility of the design?   Finally, fashion ignores curvier women because, well it can and it wants to. It isn't exactly a very inclusive industry. But regardless of what beauty standard you have, it will always exclude the vast majority of women because women are very diverse and there isn't one look that fits a large portion of them. Even if someone like Tess Holiday was the mainstream ideal, most women still wouldn't measure up to that standard. Nevertheless, the fashion industry fixates on tall skinny models, and as a result my next question is, what makes this body type seen as so exclusive and unattainable when you can probably twist any body type as exclusive and unattainable. Why tall and skinny?  Luckily, I once had to read a 20 page paper for my college sociology class on why that is so. So apparently it's because women without curves communicate this sense of sexual unavailability and purity. Those two things gives an essence of exclusivity and unattainability. Lots of things that pertain to fashion also have elements of elitism, classism, etc. rooted into it. Especially now in the U.S., I can see why skinniness would be held as a status symbol. If you are skinny, it often means that you have the time to work out and take care of yourself by mfor example, cooking at home and the money to afford high quality food. You can easily go to a vending machine and see that water costs $1.75 while a soda costs $0.99 or go to a gas station where you can get 3 donuts for $3.00 but if you want a salad that's going to be around $6.00.  I also had this experience in college as well. I currently attend a college that is stereotyped for rich kids mainly because a large portion of the student body is represented by upper class white kids. I am going to this school because of scholarship money. In other words, in a way I'm here on a bribe. And being around people who come from a very different background than my own has been a very educational experience for many reasons. While I was expecting a lack of racial diversity when I set foot on campus, one type of lack of diversity  that I wasn't prepared for was the lack of diversity in terms of body types. There are no thic people on campus. Everyone is skinny. If you don't have a six pack you are considered fat. And all of the girls are wearing the same over priced Lululemon leggings and look like they are about to go to the gym for work out. I asked a friend wtf this was all about because I thought I was seeing patterns that weren't there and I thought I was going insane and she explained to me how being as skinny as possible is a huge status symbol among the rich. For a solid semester, I walked around feeling like I was the only one with tits and an ass and eventually that started making me self conscious because I felt like I was a fat cow that stuck out in the crowd. I've even had my really skinny friends get self conscious because of the standards in my university and how whenever there is food present there is always a ton of people talking about dieting and restricting food. Over all this environment hasn't been helpful for me to be more body positive.  The whole idea skinny tall women being painted as a symbol of grace, sexual unavailability, and purity also made sense because I saw and experienced the exact opposite as someone who is short and curvy. I know that curvier women are often stereotyped as being promiscuous. People assume that you are putting everything out there for everyone to see even if you are just wearing normal clothes and simply, well, existing. I remember one time when I was 14 and my friend and I wanted to match t shirts. We were wearing the exact same shirt but because of the way I was shaped, people made me change immediately because it was "distracting" *sigh*. And while women in general regardless of body type fall prey to being sexualized for simply existing, sometimes I feel that it is worse when you are either curvy or bigger. When you are built that way, you aren't seen in a graceful, or elegant way. It's always sexy. I think the following article does articulate this very well. I know it's from the daily mail and they aren't exactly the best source but this one, they're pretty on point about this topic: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3274206/Ashley-Graham-hits-constant-sexualization-curvy-women-fashion-entertainment.html     And even though I haven't even had my first kiss yet, I still had people label me as a fat whore solely on the way that I was shaped. Or in some instances I have had people say that they were surprised by my lack of experience because of the way that I was built. I've also had friends who are petite and people assume that they are really innocent when in reality they are far from it, so there is also that. I also know that this phenomenon is worse for women of color who already tend to get fetishized and exoticized and often times part of their exotic appeal is based on the way they are built. A lot of it dates back to colonization and slavery, and like many issues regarding racism, it's usually worse for black women. Here is an article talking about just that: https://www.theroot.com/let-s-be-real-society-finds-black-women-with-curvy-bod-1790856743  There is a variety of reasons why I wish I was skinnier. I sometimes feel that if I was to lose weight, I wouldn't have to deal with these issues regarding sexualization to the same extent. I also wish that I would have an easier time finding clothes that fit me so that I won't have to shop around in the mall for two hours to find something that is flattering but doesn't make me look like I'm going to go seduce someone. Finally, as much as I want to feel like a free thinking person, sometimes I want to be skinnier simply because there is a social pressure to do so. But I forgive myself because even though these things may seem very petty, they seem petty because they are everywhere and we are very conditioned to accept they are normal to where we don't question it. And paradoxically, they are everywhere because there is a lot that goes into something being ubiquitous, a lot that is the opposite of petty.  In other words, there is A LOT to unpack.