Women Are Turning On Oprah Because Her Magazine Says Fat Chicks Shouldn't Wear Shirts Exposing Their Stomach
BF – Writer Tamar Anitai was flipping through an issue of O, The Oprah Magazine when she came across this style Q&A with the magazine’s creative director, Adam Glassman.
According to the magazine you should only wear a crop top if you have a flat stomach. Anitai responded to the “advice” by adding this caption to her Instagram:
“Surprised to see this level of #bodyshaming in Oprah magazine. The feature is about women feeling healthy. Part of health is self-esteem and that’s intrinsically connected to body image. Stop telling women what they CAN’T wear. We can wear and do and be ANYTHING that makes us feel strong, powerful, passionate and in charge of our own destinies. I hope young women and women of any age don’t feel like they’re restricted by editorially imposed fashion ‘rules.’ The only rules are there are no rules. Wear what you love, what makes you feel confident, and own it. Confidence is power, and it’s contagious.”
Fashion blogger Sarah Conley, who was tagged in Anitai’s post, took to her website, Style It, to reply:
“Last night, my friend Tamar tagged me the above Q&A she came across while reading O, The Oprah Magazine. I was shocked to see this kind of body shaming language from any magazine, much less one named after a woman who has had her weight scrutinized throughout her career. Furthermore, I’d hoped in the era of the fatkini, plus size bloggers, and Instagram hashtags that we’ve moved beyond such narrow-minded thinking, but I can see now that it’s time for a show & tell.”
My first thoughts reading this were “Fuck this, not everyone can wear everything.” And Oprah is a great standard bearer for bigger women who could still dress attractively and look professional so she seems like the wrong person to target here. But I’m generally the least receptive to the “fat shaming” Internet outrage so maybe I’m wrong, maybe the big girl crop top look should be a thing. Let’s look at some of them and figure out of the outrage is deserved or no.
Honestly I wouldn’t say this is a good look or anything but I’m really in awe of how soft and smooth her stomach looks considering she’s got a Kool-Aid Man thing going. Impressive but still nah.
I don’t think it counts as a crop top if you’re showing 2% of your stomach and the rest is clearly tucked away into Spanx. Lasorda gunt like you read about.
I’m not hating the look on the right but, again, any hurt on this girl is pretty cleanly tucked away so that seems like a cheat. I’m still fairly offended by the Italian deli meat arms in the left one, though.
It seems odd to call a person made mostly of gelatin this but HARDOOOOOOOO. Also “pry it off with the Jaws of Life” is a wordier but more accurate representation.
OUTRAGE-O-METER VERDICT: 5.5
Even the biggest girls have to realize no one should want to be out there with rolls deliberately spilling all over the place like a regular crop top situation would, it’s just trashy. If you can make it look neat like some of those girls and aren’t covered in lasagna belly, fine, show that stomach off. If not, either get some self-respect or let people throw a circus tent over you.