This gorgeous woman is considered a “plus size model”
I don’t even
I can’t even
I know the East Asian market is different and there are many typically petite, zero sized women that are naturally like this. BUT THERE ARE JUST AS MANY THAT AREN’T! :O
Her body size is pretty much the same as Euroamerican plus-size models in terms of porportion.
I encounter “Asians are so tiny!” a lot (you know, being Asian and all), and I always feel rather freakish. Delicious flatchest aside, I have never been delicately skinny post-puberty. I am considered “voluptuous” in Thailand, which is a different category from having a “good figure”. And what exclusion I feel is nothing compared to the fat and pretty Asian women out there being told that they are never, ever going to be considered beautiful because of omg deathfats we are just concerned for your health!1
As someone who’s participated in Asian street fashion, there is a LOT of wank over body size. In Lolita fashion, clothes often come in one size - Japanese size 9, with body measurements of 83-88cm/64cm/91cm. (32.5”-34.5”/25”/36”). There is often added elastic in the back for at least an inch or two of ease, but the size range is still generally very narrow. There are a few brands which go a bit larger - even fewer who make multiple sizes - but also rather more brands which go very much smaller than size 9.
This brings out extreme fatphobics who come out of the woodwork and opine that you are overweight if you do not fit into Lolita clothing, and that such beautiful clothing is only for those who are also ~perfect~ in every way. It’s disgusting.
But you also have people saying that they wish Lolita brands would make clothing that fit “Human-sized humans”, which is also Othering and also not okay.
“Asians are just homogenously smaller,” is an explanation that is offered to outraged overseas lolitas. I disagree. I am definitely not going to deny that there are naturally very small Asians, but I’ve seen Asians of many different sizes. I myself am not a Japanese size 9, and I have to wear large sizes in Thailand - but I’ve seen plenty of larger people. If the daintiness of Asians is so ~natural~ and ~uniform~, then there should not be any anxiety over one’s size. Why, then, is there a thriving weight-loss industry over there? In Thailand, the adverts feature slim young women revelling in their, er, slimness because of this magical weight-loss product - sounds terribly familiar!
There is also a lot of crap about Asian cuisines being ~healthier~ which promotes our ~naturally dainty figures~. I do not know how they can skim over a huge love of white rice, fatty meats, lard, butter, and deep frying everything ever.
tl;dr I guess what I am trying to say is that there are rigid categories of the ideal body all over the world, and that Othering is bad. 8DHello from someone who, at an Aussie 14 (about a US 10 or UK 12), is considered at least XXL in Malaysia! Here I barely count as “fat” let alone “plus size” (in Australia the plus sizes start at 16); in Malaysia I actually get told by shopkeepers that there’s nothing for me to wear.
A lot of South Asians like myself are naturally curvy, but the clothes that are sold in 99% of Malaysian shops are made for small, slim, flat. The mere fact that I have boobs means that I have to go 1-2 sizes higher. Problem is, for my size, the only clothes you can then get are pretty much garish sackcloth types. Even the international boutiques are no better - because they only adjust for one proportion (typically height) but don’t adjust for bust or belly.
It’s so much easier to buy clothes in US, UK, or Australia because I’m average. Stuff fits, and generally I don’t have to worry about things fitting me in one area and being too tight or too loose in another. For a long, long time - and even now to some extent - I hated clothes-shopping because I could never find anything I liked that fit me. Thank goodness for relatives and gifts; that was probably the source of half my teenage wardrobe.
I’m about 70kg, 5 foot 5 (163.5cm). Australian doctors reckon I’m overweight but OK, nothing to worry about terribly. Docs in Malaysia tell me I’m obese and WILL DIE ZOMGS. I point out that their scales are built on bodies that naturally run smaller and they get upset. If I had any chance at being a model in Malaysia I’d be plus-size too, though sometimes I feel like a bit of a fraud hanging around the HAES movement because by Western standards I just sneak in “normal”.
Beauty standards suck, enough said.
I have little to add to this discussion, but the HAES movement does indeed welcome every size! I get a lot of emails from people who say while they fit into “straight sizing” and they are really happy to be engaging with health in a more inclusive, less judgmental way. Of course, it’s a concept that is mostly discussed in FA circles so it’s understandable you might feel a little on the fringe. (But your input is always welcomed!)