Why I think that #droptheplus is a bad idea…
…at the moment.
(and other hashtag ideas we should use instead)

We’ve worked so hard to make plus size socially acceptable (and we’re still not done with it!). The last two years have been a major success for fat people, not only women but also men. And yet people keep using the hashtag #droptheplus, asking everybody to stop saying or using the term “plus size” – as if it were a bad thing!

Let’s not lie – fat isn’t the same as skinny (duh!). And it will still take a long time for everybody to understand that even though we don’t all look the same (especially when it comes to our body shapes), all (sizes) are equal. Of equal value and equally beautiful.

#dropthenegativity • #mybodyismyfriend

It isn’t wrong to use a special term to describe plus people, as long as we don’t make it a negative one. So:  #dropthenegativity!

Mankind has always liked and will forever continue to describe things, that’s why we have such describing adjectives as skinny and fat, but also tall and short, blonde and brown-haired, green-eyed and blue-eyed,… and usually, these adjectives are used in a neutral or even positive way. It’s never bad to be a tall, skinny, blonde and blue-eyed girl. Or being a short, skinny, brown-haired girl with green eyes. The only bad thing a girl (and also a boy) can be is fat. Fat is ugly. Fat is negative. You could even start to cross out “fat” in the dictionary and replace it with “ugly” – nobody would even care. Just that you wouldn’t have a specific word left to really hurt somebody. “You’re fat!” – it’s not “you’re resentful, envious, deceptive or intrigant” that’s bad. You’re only disgusting when you’re fat.

Why do we always see our body as our enemy? It’s a gift, a miracle – and it is our friend!

#proudofbeingme • #dropthestupideuphemisms

And yes, I do understand that maybe, by dropping the plus, the fat, the ugly, we’ll be able to make fat the same as skinny. But still – even if we don’t mention the difference, it will still be there, you can see it and people will notice it and – at least in their heads – make up their minds about it. If they don’t think about you with the word “plus size”, they’ll probably do it with the word “fat” or “curvy” (or one of those horribly ridiculous words for fat women like “fluffy” or “queen-sized” – please just stop using them, they’re embarrassing!). And that’s okay. Because we don’t look the same. And this is something we should be proud of. Proud of diversity. Proud of us being individuals and not copies.

#curvysexa-fuckoff
(well, maybe don’t use this as a hashtag…)

I’m more than disappointed when I see people use the hashtag #droptheplus, especially when it comes from plus people themselves. We even have plus-size role models and pioneers like Ashley Graham saying that they don’t want to be called plus. And this makes me angry. Because people like Ashley are not only changing the world as a plus model (!) but also making money out of it. Ashley isn’t known for being one of the regular models on the cover of “Sports Illustrated” – she was the first plus-sized model to be there. She’s being paid and is known for being plus and being amazing just like that – and yet she prefers being called a stupid and ridiculous word like “cuvysexalicious” – because being sexualized due to your curves seems to be better than being called fat (well… – but we could be at a point where especially thanks to her we could turn “fat” and “plus size” into something positive!).

#fatisnotevil

Dropping the plus would be the same as ignoring who we are. Because we need to claim back the words fat and plus size and make them as neutral and positive as all those other describing adjectives – because being fat is nothing else but the same as all the other body types. As long as we feel good being ourselves like that.

There may come a day when the world is ready to stop describing and dividing in categories, but until then, let’s just stop being so superficial. Let’s be fat and skinny, tall and short, blonde and brown-haired, blue-eyed and green-eyed – and show everyone that this is just the surface of endless adjectives that make us wonderful, amazing and beautiful. Because we’re more than just our bodies.

#morethanjustmybody