(no subject)
Apr. 6th, 2005 10:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
On Salon today:
"Clothing company Torrid makes cool clothes for overweight teens. Its bodacious bras and extra-large camisoles help salvage fat kids' self-esteem. But do they also encourage obesity?" (You'll need a premium membership or a day pass.)
Do they take advantage of it? Of course they do, that's their business model; there's a market for their product, and they're making good money selling to it. Do they encourage it? Eh, not so sure about that. If you're going to blame any retail establishments for "encouraging obesity", you should instead start with fast food restaurants who try to sell you on the idea that a breakfast sandwich with 730 calories and 47 grams of fat is a good idea, especially for people whose most strenuous exercise of the day consists of climbing up into the driver's seat of their H2, or perhaps vigorously typing out an email.
I was a fat chick decades before Torrid came along, and trust me that overweight teenagers (regardless of their actual level of health and fitness) get more than enough crap as it is without also being forced to shop for unflattering and unattractive clothes on the two racks in the back of the store where plus-sized clothing is hidden while their friends run wild through Wet Seal. Piling on yet more reasons to make them feel bad about themselves is not going to help anything at all.
I feel a longer rant about this brewing, but I'm sticking it on my "to do" list for now.
"Clothing company Torrid makes cool clothes for overweight teens. Its bodacious bras and extra-large camisoles help salvage fat kids' self-esteem. But do they also encourage obesity?" (You'll need a premium membership or a day pass.)
Do they take advantage of it? Of course they do, that's their business model; there's a market for their product, and they're making good money selling to it. Do they encourage it? Eh, not so sure about that. If you're going to blame any retail establishments for "encouraging obesity", you should instead start with fast food restaurants who try to sell you on the idea that a breakfast sandwich with 730 calories and 47 grams of fat is a good idea, especially for people whose most strenuous exercise of the day consists of climbing up into the driver's seat of their H2, or perhaps vigorously typing out an email.
I was a fat chick decades before Torrid came along, and trust me that overweight teenagers (regardless of their actual level of health and fitness) get more than enough crap as it is without also being forced to shop for unflattering and unattractive clothes on the two racks in the back of the store where plus-sized clothing is hidden while their friends run wild through Wet Seal. Piling on yet more reasons to make them feel bad about themselves is not going to help anything at all.
I feel a longer rant about this brewing, but I'm sticking it on my "to do" list for now.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 03:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 07:23 pm (UTC)Although if I'm going to be completely honest, the many times you would fixate on the idea of finally dating someone who weighed less than you didn't do wonders for the self-esteem. I do note that you haven't done that recently though, which helps a bit.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 03:43 am (UTC)If Torrid had existed when I was in high school, I might have grown up with some femme tendencies, rather than being the baggy-shirts-and-jeans butch I am now.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 03:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 04:35 am (UTC)So obviously, lowering their self-esteem even more will help "combat obesity".
no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 03:42 pm (UTC)Exactly.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 06:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 03:53 pm (UTC)I do know that it is impossible to encourage people to lose weight by shaming them through their having to wear polyester gunny sacks
If that trick actually worked, there wouldn't have been such a market for Torrid in the first place.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 02:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 04:24 pm (UTC)