INQUISITR.COM / Health & Lifestyle

‘Drop The Plus’ Seeks To Rename Plus-Size To ‘Curve’ [Video]

By Paula Mooney
Published on: 11:25 PST, Dec 9, 2015

There’s a new movement named #droptheplus that seeks to the change the words “plus size” to something more attractive like “curve,” which sounds better to plenty of people. As reported by Today, “plus size” is considered anything more than a size 8, and since the average size of an American woman is a size 12, the “plus size” label just doesn’t seem to fit anymore.

According to the “Drop the Plus” website linked to above, wrong labels must go. The website explains their mission with the following bold statement about getting rid of the “plus size” label and all the connotations.

“The dangers of the ‘plus size’ label and obsession with size, have been discussed and debated for years, now they’re taking off with people around the world joining in and sharing their stories via the new hashtag #droptheplus.”

On Instagram, the #droptheplus hashtag has more than 7,000 posts already, with women displaying how they believe in dropping the plus-size label. Other similar movements have come about through social media and forward-thinking retailers that want to drop the “plus size” label out of their clothing categories as well.

“The origins of the term “plus size” hints at its outdatedness. It arose in the 1920s to describe the clothes that did not meet the decade’s notorious, slender body ideals.”

Women who were once considered “plus size” by retailers don’t necessarily consider themselves plus size. Also, they describe having to walk to the “plus size” section of a retail floor and how embarrassing it can feel to do that while they’re shopping.

As described in the Today video, so-called plus size models have chosen “curve” instead to describe their figures. The “curve” word came to popularity once a model named Jordyn Woods began referring to herself as such. The 18-year-old called herself a curve model instead of a plus-size model, reports TeenVogue — and the terminology of “curve model” resonated over “plus-size model.”

The #DropThePlus hashtag isn’t the only one growing across social media when it comes to body issues and redefining beauty.

“It’s a great step forward that models in the current plus-sized category are now being used by major fashion labels, but it’s a step backwards to have them constantly referred to as plus-sized. When the major labels first started using these models, perhaps the plus-sized term played a positive role in alerting the public to this important change. But it’s now time for complete acceptance, it’s time to drop the label. They’re all models, no matter what shape or size.”

Other hashtags that reflect the growing social media movement called “style has no size” are taking off as well. Initially on Instagram, the #stylehasnosize had already gained 26,017 posts — but it has grown to well over 28,000 posts as of this writing.

As reported by the Inquisitr, the “style has no size” hashtag also features plenty of sexy and curvy women who are rebelling against fat-shamers or those who believe that style only comes in sizes less than 8 or 10. The hashtag is also resonating on Twitter, with “style has no size” reflecting the fact that retailers like ModCloth have removed the “plus size” wording from their website.

Another movement that hasn’t dropped the plus wording but has embraced it is called “this is plus,” reports BuzzFeed. On Instagram, the “this is plus” hashtag shows photos of those who believe that their plus-sized images might go beyond the expectations of what folks normally expect when they hear the term.

Stores like Target are using plus-size mannequins in Australia to make a point that beauty comes in all sizes.

[Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for FULLBEAUTY]

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