Shirt
Ashley Fries, Opinions Editor
By Tara Gouldey
When I scroll through Facebook, I always see various clothing companies that I have liked throwing glittering exclamation points, hearts and smiley faces amongst their posts to gain attention: ‘New sale! Clearance! One day only!’ As a consumer, I am in their clutches. I will click the link and meander slowly down their business page when low and behold another plus-size clothing post has aggravated hundreds of women to digitally tear each other’s throats out.
It is infuriatingly obvious that these arguments are stimulated by the company’s post. Forget all the flowery photos of grinning models, cute purses or accessories. This is what is important, not the fact that you could save 10 dollars off of a shirt from last season.
Firstly, we all have views about body types based off of what we are taught is beautiful in this society, but why do we feel the need to share those thoughts? The oppressive reign of altered pictures and diet ads doesn’t help. Do you become better human being by alerting someone of flaws you think they possess? Some may think that other women have a stain which marks them, but this awareness of a problem is a reflection of the lack of self-confidence within them, not the person they are scrutinizing.
Secondly, does someone become a better, more caring individual if they weigh either 30 pounds more or less than you do? The answer is no. Weight is all relative. As humans, our worth should be measured by our personalities, our kindness towards others and the joy that we bring to the lives around us. People should not be considered better or worse based on their jeans size.
Worst of all, I am sure that I am not the only one to feel helpless when seeing both sides of the scale fight each other. When making a comment, I am sure to offend one side or the other, even when it is not my true intention. So, most of the time I just hide the post or unlike the page. That, my friends, is just as bad as sweeping the issue under the rug.
We should all try our best to build people up, not tear them down. As we age, we will face many other issues that are more important in our lives than this meaningless debate.
Categories: Freeform