Last week, Reddit was ground zero for the latest battle royale in the war on fat. It’s bad enough that society has such a low tolerance for heavy women on television and the big screen, but now we can’t even stomach the sight of heavy mannequins in our stores. When a user posted a photo of a larger-than-average mannequin along with the comment, "Anyone else horrified that they make obese mannequins too now?" the Internet responded with hatred.
People were actually angry about the mannequins, and many commented on their size. The whole thing ignited a heated debate on whether or not overweight people can ever be healthy and whether or not overweight mannequins can in some way promote an "obese lifestyle."
Why does it bother people so much that mannequins are made to reflect the size of the people wearing the clothes? It's kind of ridiculous and sheer fantasy when you go into a plus-sized shop and all the clothes are pinned to smaller-sized mannequins. It doesn't give an accurate idea of what the clothes will look like on. Are we just a society in denial? Would we prefer that we all go through life Photoshopped, and if we can’t be molded to fit the impossible standards, we should be locked away like Quasimodo in a tower?
We cannot keep lying to ourselves about obesity. It is real, and the sooner we face it and try to get healthy, the sooner we will all be better off. Getting mad because mannequins are fat is not the answer. Heavyset mannequins are not the problem. They are only a symptom of the problem.
We need to get mad and motivated that we are becoming unhealthier as a nation and do something proactive about it. It’s like the old saying, "Hate the sin, not the sinner." I say, hate the unhealthy lifestyle, not the plus-sized mannequin that's just a reflection of what so many Americans look like today.
Do overweight mannequins offend you?
Image via ReddityDoopity/Reddit
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Comments 73
Not at all. It is reality
@Frances, no, it could never be me. Because I would never abuse my body like that. And just because more and more people are getting fat doesn't make it ok. If a fat person avoids looking in the mirror from the neck down, what does that tell you? All these folks saying that they are just fine with how they look are lying to you and to themselves.
No they do not offend me at all. It's about time they gear towards the real world.
Overweight mannequins? Just how much do the mannequins weigh?
Anyone who complains or is pissed or disgusted by this is a fucking asshole and thats all that really needs to be said. Fine, if you think it promotes unhealthy lifestyles, then all the size 00 anorexic freak mannequins need to be removed too. Starving ones self is dangerous, stupid and not healthy after all. SO yeah, no more double standards. Shallow assholes.
being big girl all my life, I could relate to everything you all wrote here. I've lost some weight, but I will need to lose 50 more lbs to reach my so called 'ideal' weight, although every physicians know my problem is that my frame is extremely big and heavy. One said, I am build like line-backer, which is very close to the truth of how I am built.
I am 180 lbs, size 8-10 clothes (depends on the brands), I am physically active..very active. Am having problem sitting still, tend to be over-impulsive, not ADD/ADHD tho, but I do have metabolic problem. That's why I have problems losing weight, which is not helping those scale numbers.
I hate skinny mannequins. They are so distorted and no real human being looks like that anyway.