Amy Schumer has slammed Glamour Magazine for featuring her in its dedicated 'Chic At Any Size' issue, which is code for: 'plus size' issue.
Schumer posted to Instagram on Tuesday asking why the magazine had featured her - "without asking or letting me know" - considering she is UK size 10-12 (US size 6-8). What message, she asks, does this send young girls about body image?
Although the magazine doesn't use the term 'plus size' explicitly on the cover or in direct relation to Schumer, a Glamour spokesperson told Time that the "special" issue is aimed at women size 16 and above (US size 12 and above). Not that it takes a rocket scientist to work that out, looking at the cliche line about 'rocking curves' or having Ashley Graham as cover star in the place of the usual slim celebrity.
But, Schumer aside, I'd like to know why Glamour decided to have an issue to celebrate plus size women in the first place. Is it making up for (decades of) lost time?
Having an entire issue dedicated to plus size women only serves to highlight how exclusive the magazine is the other 11 months of the year - and has been every year since it first launched in 1939.
Plus size women have been blatantly excluded from media for decades. I'm the same size as Schumer and models our size are routinely used to advertise clothing for women size 16 and above (US size 12 and above), meanwhile clothes for Schumer and myself are marketed by women UK size 6/8 (US size 4/6). Put bluntly, it's pretty fucked up.
The term 'plus size' is admittedly problematic. I view it in the same way I view all-female quotas: I don't particularly like the idea of labelling women on account of their size, but I believe it's necessary to right decades of wrong. We need to be able to talk about issues around inclusion and diversity in a succinct way if we are ever going to get the message to the people who have been running things (and excluding people) for so long.
This is why The Huffington Post UK Style is proud of our Fashion For All series. Built on our core values of inclusion, diversity and positivity, it looks at age, race, body type, disability and gender boundaries. Through this initiative we ensure that diversity and inclusion is woven into our stories each and every day.
Magazines and media have to stop taking on important women's issues and using them in a tokenistic way to boost sales. Whether it's feminism or positive body image, these core values need to be lived and breathed every single day.
How about including women of all sizes in all issues, Glamour? We don't need a special issue, because all bodies are good bodies, all day and every day.