In a new editorial shared over the weekend, the model poses in a pair of jeans that could fit her two times over. Writer Gina Tonic unpacks the problems underpinning the insidious image
It’s been a hard year to be plus-size. On the runways there was a noticeable absence of curve models, celebs keep coming out admitting that they’ve been taking ‘miracle’ weight loss drug Ozempic, or otherwise denying it completely while looking like they’d recently been exhumed from the nearest graveyard. More and more working-class Brits are turning to Turkey’s bariatric surgeons or homemade injectables even with the knowledge that these methods for weight loss aren’t only dangerous, but can end in their literal death. And perhaps most worryingly of all, multiple headlines have proclaimed that thin is back ‘in’.
If the culture is shifting back to applauding slim bodies and the promotion of achieving smaller frames through any means necessary, it naturally follows that the culture of insipid fatphobia in memes, fashion, and the media is about to come back bigger than ever. The most recent indication that this prediction is due to come true? The M Magazine editorial featuring Emily Ratajkowski – commonly referred to as EmRata – that dropped this weekend.
Among photographs of the slender supermodel posing in various iterations of jeans and a nice top stands one jarring image – EmRata poses in low-rise, wide-leg denim held up under her abs by one hand, as the other languishes at her side. The problem with the pic is this: Emily’s standing in one leg of the pair of jeans, while pointedly holding open the other leg to reinforce that she could fit into trousers this size twice over. The juxtaposition of the self-proclaimed feminist making a mockery of those who do have to wear the precise waist size of jeans she’s filling one leg of is to create an indirect but deliberate point: thin is in, and EmRata is worth double any fat person.
By using clothes that could, do, and are even too small to fit some members of the population to emphasise her thinness and, in turn, her privilege in existing in a slim body, EmRata has let down any plus-size consumers of her content in one image. It is especially discouraging to take this photo as a fat person when our community, notably, struggles to find clothing that fits our frames with the same ease as our thin peers do. This is even more true in the world of high fashion, where custom fits for plus-size celebrities allow houses to gaslight audiences into believing they offer inclusive sizing when extended sizes are nowhere to be seen on the shelves of their stores or drop-down options of their e-commerce sites.
Scroll above to the second photograph to see the image in question.
Privileged people dressing up as their marginalised counterparts has long been used as a way to reinforce discrimination and disparity between those of different races, genders, and abilities. By taking the piss out of what would just be another pair of jeans in a fatter person’s hands, EmRata and the team behind this image are doubling down on the privilege that a thinner person receives in fashion and in society as a whole. Emily can wear plus size jeans in a magazine and get paid for it, while actual plus size people not only struggle to find jeans that fit them and that they like, but struggle to pay for them due to sizeist wage gaps – not to mention the multitudes of other ways fat people are maligned in society.
As I write this, the post has been live on Emily’s Instagram for over two days and while her comment section is full of discerning views on this particular image from her cover shoot, the model hasn’t released any statement in response to their concerns. One commenter admonishes EmRata’s right to call herself a feminist while participating in the making and sharing of this image: “Writing a book centred [on] body image and then doing the second photo is crazy”, while others are more forthright in their anger: “Not sure how u think wearing oversized jeans made for a much larger person and accentuating your smallness promotes healthy body image like you preach in your books/social media. shame on you”. If there’s any hope to be found in this situation, it’s in the hands of commenters like these who ensure fat audiences who see body shaming visuals like these aren’t left on their own in their distress.
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