Something is lacking in the current push to include plus-size models in mainstream fashion publications (or "separate-but-equal" media outlets such asVogue Italia's "Vogue Curvy").
What's lacking, specifically in the fashion establishment but less so in the satellite world of "fatshion" blogging, is representation of models/women of color. I want to speak specifically about black plus size models/women because there is a very particular perception of blackness conflated with female fatness as compared to other races, and it's an identity I inhabit on a daily basis.
A popular (white) misconception is that fat is more acceptable in the black community. This is patently untrue. Hip-hop
culture is often pointed to when one is making this argument. If you watch any hip-hop music videos at all, it's clear to see that the fat on the women featured is in specific places. Booty, hips, tits. As the inimitable Sir Mix-A-Lot stated, "When a girl walks in with an itty-bitty waist and a round thing [booty] in your face, you get sprung." (emphasis supplied) There is definitely a line between acceptable fat and unacceptable fat. Those fat women who are fortunate enough to be considered "thick" are subject to an even more extreme hyper-sexualization of their bodies than average sized or thin black women are. As the features considered sexually desirable not only by black men but also white men are exaggerated on a fat female body, these women are often portrayed as more sexually available, yet can also be portrayed as ghetto princess or hoochie - "Jezebel" and "Sapphire". But cross that line dividing "thick fat" and "just fat" and you quickly enter the territory of the desexualized fat black woman: the Precious, the mammy........
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