Self-Positivity

By Juliana Barreto Pinto

Fashion diversity

On many occasions during my life, I have felt uncomfortable with my physical appearance, like many other women do. This phenomenon, I believe, happens because unfortunately in this society we have been told since we were little how we "should" be, dress, or look... according to fashion brands, magazines, and the beauty industry. We are told: "You should be a certain height because it looks more stylish and the clothes look better", "you should have these measurements, because if you go over the limit you are already out of the desired standards", "you should not eat certain foods to avoid getting fat or gaining extra kilos"... among other things. 

From my experience, growing up surrounded by all these images and comments, I began to have many insecurities and complexes about my body. I knew it wasn't right to see myself in such a negative way, much less at such a young age. However, it was also not something I could honestly avoid. Fortunately, as time went on and I worked on my mental health to increase my self-love, I was able to find some peace with my body. I began to change my ideologies, and I was slowly learning to love myself more and more.

And well, not only I started to change my perspective on stereotypes, but also, surprisingly, the fashion industry started to do so as well. Since a few years ago, it has started to be more conscious about the fact that there is not much diversity within its practices and started to take certain initiatives to generate a change. Unfortunately, this change is still not enough or very evident, provoking controversy and generating discomfort especially among women. 

Taking the catwalks of major fashion brands around the world as an example, models are usually standardized, to say the least. Most, if not 100% are slim (they have specific and in some cases unhealthy measurements), are over 6 feet tall (1,80cm), and are mostly Caucasian. It is somewhat discouraging to think that you have to be of a certain ethnicity or have certain physical characteristics to get more visibility in your job (in this case as a model), or in general to get more privileges within the industry such as being at least accepted to walk on a runway. 

Chanel Autumn- Winter Haute Couture Show 2021

In this regard, I was reading an article recently in Glamour magazine about how racism has existed on the runway for many years. According to the Fashion Spot platform, as of 2015, at fashion weeks 78.69% were Caucasian models, and the remaining percentage were of other ethnicities. A quite significant and worrying difference due to the obvious preference in fashion castings for white women, as well as the lack of opportunities for models of other ethnicities such as latinas, black, or asian to give an example. It's amazing how even top models in the industry like Naomi Campbell, or Chanel Iman, have suffered the sting of racism in their careers at some point, receiving comments like "We've already found a black girl, so we don't need you".

Naomi Campbell Met Gala 2019

Regarding the issue of weight or physical build...we all know that nowadays "plus size" models (not really the preferred term by many people as it is offensive or discriminatory in many ways) or curvy models, are more popular and there is a greater acceptance of them in the industry. However, there are still cases of rejection, for example, Ashley Graham who is one of the most recognized top models in the industry has received criticism and rejection from both haters on social networks because of her physical appearance, as well as fashion brands. She said that once, different fashion brands refused to dress her for a Met Gala because none of them was willing to make her a custom suit, since her measurements were higher than the "norm". 

Ashley Graham

All of this makes me wonder how bad the world is when it comes to acceptance of others. Yes, it has improved a lot in recent years, especially in the fashion industry, but we still see cases of rejection that should not happen in the 21st century. 

It can sometimes be somewhat encouraging to know that we are not alone in this, and that even the beauty canons of the world suffer from this as well, but we shouldn’t have to have this “comfort”, or we should not even have to think that it is a relief that models or actresses are also being rejected because of the way they look. We should all be able to feel comfortable with our appearance and not be afraid to show ourselves as we are regardless of nationality, race, religion, sex, etc.

We should all ask ourselves from these examples mentioned above, and the thousands out there, what is wrong with our ideals of beauty that we should change, and how could we make the world more inclusive and open to diversity?

All change starts small, and it will sound very cliché, but change starts with ourselves: Love the skin you're in! In the end, you are the only one who can decide if you have a good relationship with yourself or not. Your best ally and friend is your body. Love it and respect it as you want others to.

So I would like to ask you what would self-positivity be for you?

Feel free to answer on the comments and share if you felt identified!

Until next time Style Legion!,

Juliana, The Fashion Speaker ;)