Average size woman, plus size model

Margaretta Sackor

Contributing Writer

The average starting size for a plus-size model is size 12. I wear a size 12, I weigh around 200 pounds, give or take a few, and I’m told I don’t look it.

“You are not that fat.”

“You sure you weigh 200lbs?”

“Nah, you are just fat in all the right places.”

When a young girl is told her body size is too big to be like the models on the pages of magazines she’s steadily turning, it breaks her whole world apart. Insecurities of never fitting into that world manifest into bad eating habits. You stop eating regularly attempting to shrink your waistline...just a little bit. You drink more water to disguise the hunger. You eat little bits of snacks here and there and later attempt to throw it all up. I know because that girl was me.

Today, I am more confident than ever but the fact still remains: stereotypical body norms alienate women all over the world every day, even me. I wake up in the morning, look at my belly in the mirror and feel disgusted. I look at my chubby face and get mad.

Bodycon dresses don’t look good on me because they show all my bumps and rugged round edges. My thighs seem to jiggle on their own as I walk. They rub together, burning and creating bumps on my upper thigh.

I am an average-sized woman living in America but I could be a plus-size model.

I’m not saying being a plus-size model is bad. I’m talking about what being called plus-size does to the mental stability of women. Plus size is just a nicer way to say fat - to say you aren’t welcomed into the thin-girl social club.

Ironically, plus-size modeling has turned into one of the most accepting industries in the beauty world. But imagine what those women had to go through to get to where they are.

SHAUN JACKSON Staff Columnist

Recommended listening while reading: “20 Something” SZA

Is there some sort of indicator to know you’re doing the right “thing” in life? Like, is our generation expected just to sacrifice happiness for the sake of a good paycheck?

First, take a deep breath. You might feel unfulfilled right now, but I think you’re exactly where you need to be. I have been thinking about this a lot as a 20-something myself, and let me tell you — I have friends who have graduated and are working jobs that don’t pertain to their degree at all just to get by. At the same time, I have friends who work jobs in the field of their degree, have full benefits and paid time off. The one thing we all have in common is we have no idea what we’re doing. Our generation wants control over

There will always be a feeling of inferiority. Thoughts of self-hate screaming you aren’t good enough, you don’t look good in your swimsuit, nothing looks sexy. Sometimes, heels feel like they are squeezing your feet in or you are too heavy to walk in them. Body contour clothing doesn’t help but you still buy tons of Spanx but at the end of the day it all rolls into your body. You even try out a revolutionary body corset everyone is talking about but it suffocates you so it’s a no-go.

When I go shopping in my favorite stores and realize my size isn’t on the regular racks, but rather in a special section of its own, it’s cringe worthy. The goal is to make it easier to find but it feels more like a beaming red light singling me out.

I still go to the “other” sections and pick up clothing I know won’t fit, later just ripping apart my self-esteem further. I’ve feel stuck in a sort of limbo at times. The other sections definitely don’t fit, but the plus-size sections don’t always fit around my waist.

Now there’s a general rule in the plussize modeling world: your waist should be 10 inches smaller than your hips. Unless I’m lucky and find a pair of jeans made to contour my body, I’m stuck with jeans that either fit around my thighs but are too big on my waist, or jeans that I can barely pull over my thighs but fit my waist. This is the