Our Plus Icons: Do They Deserve To Be?

THIS IS ONE INTERESTING PIECE THAT WE THOUGHT SHOULD SHARE HERE. IT'S A PIECE FROM CASSY JONE-MCBRYDE, A FEATURE EDITOR OF DAILY VENUS DIVA,AN ONLINE PLUS SIZE MAGAZINE.
ENJOY:

I have seen a growing trend lately.

Plus size women that we revere as advocates for the community beginning to lose weight and denounce their former curvy bodies. I wonder if they ever were our advocates?

I began writing this piece ready to quote chapter and verse the statements of some of these women to show how contradictory they have become. I was prepared to blast them for shunning us. As I began to write feverishly I started to question why I was so upset? When did I begin to hold them accountable for my voice in the community and when did they ask to be my voice for that matter?

Several celebrities as of late have become famous while curvaceous. On their road to stardom they exclaimed they were proud of who they were, never changing for anyone and proud to be curvy and talented. As they walked on stage to accept their Oscar, Grammys or Emmys or as they rose to the top of the best sellers list we yelled from our living rooms, tweeted their win and celebrated with them.

As their popularity rose, they slowly began to drop the weight. The latest weight loss machines came calling and offered to transform them from their former selves to a new slender, better version. Our curvy Icons began to no longer speak positively about who they were before but instead giggled in anticipation as to what they will eventually become when they are thinner.

We looked to them to be our voice because we FINALLY had the platform we felt we needed to speak about the issues that plague us. Through them we can demand change right?  As our proclaimed Icons popularity grew, we failed to hear our rally cry during their appearance on Jay Leno or Entertainment Tonight. It was replaced with  ”I am now happier than ever!” and “Now the world  has opened up for me!”. We looked at these statements as a slap in our face.

Really? Happier now? Weren’t you happy when you won your awards and was recognized by your peers?

Maybe they weren’t happy at all. I began to look at these former plus divas for what they truly are, women just like you and me. Women that may battle with the same frustrations as every curvy girl goes through. Perhaps when they look in the mirror they still see that curvy girl that has a hard time seeing the beauty everyone else sees. They began to believe the hype of those around them who promise them the world if only they lost weight. I can’t say that many of us would handle the scrutiny from the media any differently. We could easily fall prey to the same societal pressures or not.

But did these women ever reach out to us for support or did we assume the hand was already extended just because our curves connected us. They never looked to us for enlightened awareness of the plight of the community. We have to stop behaving like we are lovers scorned, upset that they didn’t call after we courted them for months. Just because they accepted our proverbial roses of praise with enthusiasm doesn’t mean we were ever dating.

It is now time for us to stop placing curvy women in the spotlight on pedestals unbeknownst to them. They never asked to be our role models. Now don’t get me wrong, I still celebrate when I see a curvy diva make it. A win for one is an advancement in the movement. We get so excited that we forget that we may not be witnessing the birth of an Icon or a revolutionary in the movement, although what they may have accomplished could spark a revolution. We should all celebrate them when it happens, keeping in mind what it is-one win, one step

 

Let’s start by becoming that Icon or revolutionary where we are.

Create your own platform for change. Don’t wait for the next big thing to happen. When we begin to do that we no longer need validation from anyone else. Listen to what curvy celebrities are really saying in interviews and statements to the media. You will find that sometimes it strikes similarities to the conversation we have with ourselves. We will then begin to understand why they did what they did, leaving us feeling less jilted.

Written by Cassandra Jones-Mcbryde

Cassandra Jones-McBryde serves as Features Editor for Daily Venus Diva. She is US Director of the Fuller Women Expo, responsible for bringing together a number of outstanding local and international speakers and celebrities, seminars and workshops that attract attendees, sponsors, vendors and exhibitors from throughout North America. She also the Founder of The Fuller Woman Network which is a network of women from across the world who share our mission of self-love. Cassandra is also the co-founder and C.E.O. Pretty Girl Project, a non profit organization that helps girls realize their inner and outer beauty during critical stages of development.