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#DropThePlus: Women Campaign Against The Term 'Plus-Size' In A Bid To Boost Body Confidence And Stop Size Segregation

Why These Women Are Campaigning Against The Term 'Plus-Size'
Natasha Hinde
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Women on social media are putting pressure on fashion brands and magazines to drop the term 'plus-size', which they deem to be 'harmful' and 'damaging'.

The #DropThePlus campaign, which is spearheaded by Australian lingerie model Stefania Ferrario and actress and author Ajay Rochester, hopes to encourage worldwide reform that will see the fashion industry casting aside the term completely.

The duo believe that the use of 'plus-size' is 'damaging for the minds of young girls' and want to put an end once and for all to size segregation.

In a post on Instagram, Stefania Ferrario - who is a size 12 - wrote: "I am a model FULL STOP. Unfortunately in the modelling industry if you're above a US size 4 you are considered plus size, and so I'm often labelled a 'plus size' model.

"I do NOT find this empowering."

She continued: "A couple of days ago, Ajay Rochester [@ajayrochester] called the industry to task for its use of the term 'plus size' by making the point that it is 'harmful' to call a model 'plus' and damaging for the minds of young girls.

"I fully support Ajay and agree with her. Let's have models of ALL shapes, sizes and ethnicities, and drop the misleading labels. I'm NOT proud to be called 'plus', but I AM proud to be called a 'model', that is my profession! #droptheplus"

But despite the duo's major aversion to the term, there are those who disagree and believe that it's perfectly fine to use the 'plus-size' label.

Fashion blogger Georgina Grogan, who is a UK size 20-22, told HuffPost UK Lifestyle that she has no problem with the label.

"I am plus-size, I've always been plus-size, I have no problem with the term at all," she revealed. "I don't find it negative in any way. I'm extremely confident and happy being the size that I am and I'm just happy that more and more people are confident enough in themselves to use this term too."

Sir Philip Green, who heads up plus-size brand Evans (alongside Topshop, Dorothy Perkins et al) echoes this view.

Speaking to Women's Wear Daily he said: "You can't be defensive about it, or apologise about [plus-size fashion]. Why should the category be any different from petite?"

SEE ALSO:

Plus-Sized Models Officially Sell More Lingerie Than 'Normal' Models

Elle Magazine Causes Outrage By Calling Calvin Klein's First Size 14 Model Myla Dalbesio 'Plus Size'

SLiNK Is The First Plus Size Magazine In The UK - Is It Putting Women Into Yet Another Box?

But, regardless of whether 'plus-size' is the right terminology to use or not, the campaign has had an overwhelmingly positive response from young women - especially those with low self-esteem and body confidence issues.

"I think it’s a really positive achievement," Ferrario told theFashionSpot. "There have been a lot of girls reaching out and telling me about their body image issues and struggles with self acceptance.

"The fashion industry has a huge influence on youth. What kind of message are we sending out to young impressionable girls? That models over a size [US] 4 are somehow not normal, and only size 0-2 models are?"

And the lingerie model notes that when the fashion industry drops the term, so too will retailers - and women of all shapes and sizes will be able to shop from the same rail, rather than be segregated based on their size.

One Twitter user tweeted her thoughts on the matter, and we couldn't have put it better ourselves: "I am a girl. And I don't want people to categorise me or others as "plus size"! We all are beautiful the way we are! #DropThePlus"

Industry Insiders Sound Off On The Term "Plus-Size"
Isaac Mizrahi: "I don't like segregation, I like incorporation."(01 of07)
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During an interview with HuffPost Live, Mizrahi expressed his disinterest in what he called the "segregation" that plus-size shoppers and models experience. "I don't want to speak to a plus-sized woman differently than I speak to a woman," he said, adding, "I don't like segregation, I like incorporation, I like integration. If you're going to do clothes, you need to do them in a whole size range." (credit:Eugene Gologursky / Getty Images)
Tanesha Awasthi of Girl With Curves: Bloggers should be labeled as bloggers.(02 of07)
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In an interview with Who What Wear, Awasthi spoke about the future of plus-size. As a blogger, she mentioned her "frustration" with being labeled as a "plus-size blogger." She said, "One day I hope the blogging community at large will recognize fashion bloggers as bloggers and not lump us into size categories." (credit:Steve Jennings / Getty Images )
Hayley Hasselhoff: "Calling it 'plus size' doesn't do it justice."(03 of07)
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Hasselhoff is no stranger to the runway, having walked British Plus-Size Fashion Weekend in February 2014. In response to other international plus-size fashion weekends, Hasselhoff showed her support, noting that it shouldn't be polarizing. "At the end of the day, it just means 'curvy,'" she said of the phrase, and she also adds, "That's why I think the word 'plus-size' in the industry is very different from people's mind view of what 'plus-size' really should mean."

The model acknowledged that the British Plus-Size Fashion Weekend is good in showing a diverse set of models, but noted that all runways should be on-par with the major catwalks shown in New York, London and around the globe. "Calling it 'plus size' doesn't do it justice," she said, adding that "It's about women with curves, and women of all shapes and sizes. I just hope one day (events like this) will get the same respect." (credit:Getty Images)
Ivan Bart, IMG Models Senior Vice President and Managing Director: "We want to be an ageless, raceless, weightless agency."(04 of07)
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IMG made news when they added models like Ashley Graham and Julie Henderson to its roster. Though these women were traditionally pegged as "plus-size," IMG made the revolutionary choice to keep the models in line with other talents, such as Gisele Bundchen. Bart told Cosmopolitan, "We want to be an ageless, raceless, weightless agency," and added, "We just want to represent the best people in the industry." (credit:Cindy Ord / Getty Images)
Ashley Graham: "I am a model, and I happen to be curvy."(05 of07)
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As an IMG-represented model, Graham has definitely made waves in the industry. Last year she told The Huffington Post, "At the end of the day, I know who I am. I am a model, and I happen to be curvy. She acknowledged that she considers herself as a model, and nothing else. Later, she went on to say, "If you have to categorize me as curvy or plus-size, that's fine." (credit:Michael Stewart / Getty Images)
Evans, UK retailer: "Why should the category be any different from petite?"(06 of07)
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London Fashion Week always ends in a bang. But, last September, UK-based plus-size brand, Evans debuted their Design Collective for Evans collection on the runway. The head of the retailer's parent company, Arcadia Group, told Women's Wear Daily, "You can't be defensive about it, or apologize about [plus-size fashion]. Why should the category be any different from petite?" (credit:John Phillips / Getty Images)
Nikki Gloudeman, co-editor of Ravishly.com: "Forget the label altogether."(07 of07)
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Gloudeman penned an essay against the use of "plus-size," and made the point that its use connotes people as "directly at odds with what society has fallaciously and damningly peddled as 'desirable.'" After reviewing different synonyms of the phrase, like curvy, she determined that there shouldn't even be a describing term for different shapes. "Forget the label altogether and stop trying to call women anything other than what they are: human beings inhabiting the body they've been given," Gloudeman said. (credit:Nikki Gloudeman)
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