Lane Bryant might have gotten back at Victoria Secret with the #Imnoangel campaign , but does the picture really capture what plus sized women (transgender women included) look like? Jes Baker, a known body advocate, had something to say to the CEO of Lane Bryant: you aren’t representing all the plus size women.
According to her website The Militant Baker, Jes is “a fiery body advocate, fat model, mental health professional, self-love enthusiast, professional rabble-rouser, crazy cat lady, Tedx speaker , soon to be frreal book author, feminist and total pain in the a**.” So it is fitting that she would take a stand against Lane Bryant’s ads. She wants the world to know that there are more types of plus sized women than those shown in the ad.
With the help of photographer Jade Baell, Jes found a group of women that were willing to take off their clothes for the camera. She joined them in her own campaign to #EmpowerALLBodies . She wants women of all shapes and sizes to accept who they are and love themselves. This includes transgender women as well.
The open letter to Linda Heasley , Lane Bryant’s CEO, covered a major pressing issue for Jes.
“Personally, I question how empowering these images can be for ‘all women.’ #ImNoAngel only shows ONE shape while redefining the sexy plus women; that shape being the traditional hourglass: a body with a waistline considerably smaller than a larger bust and hips. This is almost always (and is, in this case) accompanied by a flat belly. This shape is ubiquitous in plus-size modeling and some say that only showing one type of body isn’t an issue (after all, at least they’re plus-sized and on the F train, right?!?), but I disagree and would like to share with you a little bit about diversity and why it’s more important than you think.”
Jess brings it to the attention of Heasley that all the women in the add are, well, rather fit to some degree. They all seems to have a perfect plus size body. Not every plus size woman looks like those featured, as Jes Baker goes on to say. She suggests to Heasley that Lane Bryant use a bit more diverse cast when making a campaign against media-fueled beauty.
“I’m going to ask you to consider including some of the following next time: cellulite; 90 [percent] of women have it. Bellies; many plus women don’t have flat torsos. All abilities; we’re all inherently sexy. Transgender women; they’re ‘all woman’ too. Small boobs and wide waists; we’re not all ‘proportional.’ Stretch marks and wrinkles; they’re trophies of a life lived.”
Jes Baker notes in the open letter that the women in the Lane Bryant’s ad are beautiful, and she loves the inclusion of different skin tones. However, the women all have a similar body type, the hourglass figure and large breasts. All women do not look like that and Jes Baker is on a quest to help everyone love themselves despite not being what media defines as beautiful.
Linda Heasley has responded to the open letter but her response has not been released.
@lanebryant ‘s Linda Heasley responded. Waiting for permission to post it, and will once I have the green light! <3 #EmpowerALLBodies
— The Militant Baker (@militant_baker) April 23, 2015
Do you agree with Jes Baker’s #EmpowerAllBodies campaign?
[Photos via Jade Beall/Jes Baker/The Militant Baker]
