
In the digital age, there are certain words or phrases that no one likes to read online: moist, panties, iTunes update. And while our disgust towards most of these phrases is just a weird reaction that no one can really explain, thereās a phrase that our society as a whole seems to treat with equal, if not more, disdain: plus-size.
Remember when Instagram banned the term #curvy, stating that it was in accordance with their no-nudity rules (which, come on, was complete BS)? Or Project Harpoon? While thankfully an increasing amount of peopleĀ –Ā including celebritiesĀ –Ā are celebrating body positivity, thereās still something about terms such as ācurvyā or āplus sizeā that perpetuates body-shaming culture which can be found all over the internet.


I talked to some self-identifying plus-size women about their general thoughts on the term. One said: āIt makes me feel frumpy, and I hide the screen when I’m surfing these store pages online from my partner⦠for some reason, I don’t want to be identified as a ‘plus size’ shopper.ā
The term āplus sizeā is most used in the fashion and retail industry, and while more and more designers and stores are becoming inclusive, thereās still evidently an ongoing struggle. For instance, the online retailer ModCloth recently decided to get rid of the term āplus sizeā on their site; instead of an exclusive āPlusā section, they combined plus size clothes and non-plus size clothes (petites, talls, etc.) into an āExtended Sizesā label. In a blog post, they explained the reasoning behind their decision:
āIf āPlusā isnāt a separate section in our shop, then why should it be a separate section on our site? Instead of āPlusā standing alone as its own category, isnāt it really a part of other categories, like maxi dresses are a part of the āDressesā category? Eureka! Thatās it.ā

Okay, thatās a really awesome gesture, but my question is, why the need for āExtended Sizesā at all, then? Like they said, couldnāt all dresses, regardless of size, be just under⦠āDressesā? I love ModCloth, but in my opinion, theyāre not really getting rid of the term āplusā; theyāre just changing it to sound a lot nicer, but the implication is still there. One of the women I interviewed shared my sentiments: āWhy does it need a label?ā
But like I said, Modclothās heart is in the right place. After all, even the most confident people probably have a pang of hesitation when they enter the plus-size section of a retail store or online site. To get around this, some will actively seek out places that donāt brand certain sizes as plus-size. Someone confessed, āI try to shop in stores that don’t have a plus size section, and look for styles that are flattering among the ‘normal’ range⦠I am at the smaller end of ‘plus size’ so can get away with some canny shopping.ā
Now, some might argue that the āExtended Sizesā is an effort to include all sizes, not just Plus, meaning it also includes Petites, for instance. Which is true, but come on, letās face it: very few people, if any, are embarrassed or hesitant to go shopping in the āPetitesā section. No woman hides the āPetiteā page on ASOS if their partner enters the room.
On the other hand though, it seems that the increasing number of body-positive movements we see lately are working, as some people actually like clothing labelled plus-size because it saves them the time and effort of having to actively search for clothes in their size. One woman told me, āPersonally, I sometimes prefer the plus-sized label. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than adoring the clothes in a boutique or at a store just to find out they don’t have any in my size.ā
This just reaffirms the obvious fact that the only thing ābadā about plus-size is the negative connotation that surrounds it; if we treated plus-size clothes like we treated petite or tall clothes (i.e. normally), then we wouldnāt even need to be getting rid of plus-size sections. Itād be where curvy people go to shop, just like people who are 6ā would go shop in the tall section.
So the good news is that as much as society would have people ashamed to be plus-size, some individuals fully accept it. Someone explained to me, āPlus size is something I have embraced as a part of my identity and I think other people should, too. It’s my way of celebrating my body positivity by looking for things that not only fit me but make me look and feel amazing.ā
At 20 years old, I like to think of myself as a fairly confident young woman ā an assertion that has taken me time to be comfortable saying out loud due to my age, race, and gender. Additionally, Iām usually a size 14, and although I know thatās normal, itās taken me a long time to be comfortable sharing that information with people I know, and even longer to now share it with the internet.
I have cellulite and my thighs touch. Iāve had some people call me plus-size, and Iāve had others laugh when I refer to myself as that. Some shops make me feel like a totally normal size and some make me feel like I’m a whale. I sometimes buy plus-size jeans because my bum wonāt fit in ānormalā ones. It seems there’s no consensus on what āplus sizeā even means.
As for whether I am or not – I’ve decided it doesn’t matter. As long as my clothes fit, who cares which section of the shop they came from?
Main Image Ā© iStock/txpeter