MEGHAN MCCAIN: I embrace new beauty standards as a woman who has been fat shamed, She says

For a long time, the tastes of an extremely small minority of fashion editors and trend setters dictated to the American public, and particularly to women, what is and is not beautiful.

That has obviously changed.

This month, Australian Fashion Week attracted attention from around the world when its’ The Curve Edit show featured ‘size inclusive’ models.

And of course, plus sized model Yumi Nu – in all her glory – was recently featured on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.

Some of the backlash has been vicious – and my question is: Why?

What is so threatening about presenting women as they are and not as some unrealistic ideal?

At one time, emaciated ‘heroin chic’ was elevated in both fashion and entertainment as the highest standard in beauty.

I grew up in the 1990s during the height of show like ‘Ally McBeal.’ A time when female stars looked like the cast of ‘Friends’ and the supermodel Kate Moss.

The message sent to my generation of girls was very clear — the thinner, the better.

The ‘heroin chic’ look was such the rage that even President Bill Clinton publicly denounced fashion ads asserting that ‘you do not need to glamorize addiction to sell clothes.’

I am not blaming one person, one show, or fashion outlet — it was a cultural movement. But this era and the people who perpetuated it have not aged well.

Two days ago, Jordan Peterson (right) tweeted a picture of the Sports Illustrated cover featuring Yumi Nu (left) writing, ‘Sorry. Not beautiful. And no amount of authoritarian tolerance is going to change that.’

Brands like Abercrombie and Fitch, which almost went out of business, actively discouraged overweight people from wearing their clothes.

‘A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong,’ said Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries in a 2006 interview. ‘Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny.’

Take a look at their website today. The company completely has rebranded and now offers extended sizing and my personal favorite ‘the curvy jean.’

Fashion trends began to evolve in the early 2000s, but only in the last decade has the emaciated look almost completely fallen out of fashion.

I am grateful, as I raise a young daughter, that beauty standards have evolved with modern times.

Plus-size clothing is much easier to find and high-end labels such as Michael Kors, Tory Burch, Carolina Herrera, DVF, Bagley Mishka, Reem Acra, Christian Siriano and Roland Mouret (just to name a few) sell clothing well into plus sizes.

So do less expensive stores such as Target, Good American, Torrid, and Eloquii.

I know all of this, because I myself am plus size. A size 12/14 depending on what’s going on in my life to be exact and I shop at all of these places.

I have spent my entire career, and I literally mean my entire career, being fat shamed.

I’ve been subjected to this by the media, by people I have worked with, by ‘image consultants,’ people in positions of power and stylists at photo shoots.

Sometimes I believe the most radical thing I have ever done was not diet and exercise to morph my body into their archaic expectations of beauty.

There is a market for plus size clothing and inclusive designers will make more money than the designers that refuse to accept this reality.