If you hadn’t heard
already from the Twitter or on the news, there’s been a new wave of so-called
fat shaming when it comes to this brand. But honestly in my opinion, I think
there may have a point somewhere that’s missing.
To give a short
version of a long and dramatic story, The Cut did a story and took a tour of
the Lilly Pulitzer HQ. And snapped these pictures that were hanging in an employee’s
cubicle. Cue the internet and cue the metaphorical shiz hitting the ceiling fan
that was running on high.
Now I can agree
with every fiber of my bean (yes, bean) that these photos are not ok to be in a
place of business. Does it reflect bad on the company? Absolutely. These were
hung in plain sight and no one thought anything was wrong. And of course, they
covered their butt when they said that it was an individual’s ‘decorations’ and
don’t reflect the views of the company.
And why would they?
They just had a deal with Target to offer plus sizes…online only. They were
able to get well known bloggers on board to help with the angry herd that is
constantly getting thrown out of stores and into the exclusive online store. I
can say that I was pretty stoked for knowing about a line that would be a bit
more affordable than some of the over options there, but yea. Online. Another
mystery of measurements and size guessing. I don’t even have a local Target, I
have to drive a couple hours away to get to one, like I do with the other
stores that only offer online plus sizes or just aren’t close enough to me to
try things on. Big woop. But the point is that I highly doubt that L.P. would
purposely sabotage the projected progress they are trying to make.
Everyone is up in
arms about these pictures and while I don’t blame them, I do think everyone
needs to take a step back and really think about this situation. Was it pointed
towards the plus size community in order to show true colors of the brand? I
half way doubt it but honestly that’s just something we may never know for sure
and even if that is what the general feels are about the b3 women of the world,
what idiot would purposely leave that out? That would be a one way ticket out
of that job if it was left up to me because like I said, they are trying to
expand, even if it’s only online at Target. They are attempting to take that
bungee jump of faith, these pictures essentially snap the line that keeps you
alive. Businesses don’t do that on purpose.
I believe in the
depths of my heart that a deeper issue lies within the company. Think about it.
These are ‘decorations’ in an employee’s cubicle. That employee sees that all
day, every day. The bigger issue is that this person is trying to reach out. It
could be for help, for attention, for just someone to notice. We don’t know but
what you do in your work space speaks volumes about you as a person and an
employee. So to that employee, these pictures tell me that you hate yourself
and your body. You don’t think you belong there. You don’t love you let alone
where you work or what you are doing in life. This is not ok!!!
Any half-assed supervisor
or even a cubicle neighbor should have done something. They don’t promote a
good message or positive work environment. Just pointing them out to say hey,
this isn’t a good idea would have been better than pretending it wasn’t
there. Most places have some sort of counseling or guidance and a company as
big as L.P. would have somewhere to go or someone to talk to and this employee
needs that. This company needs to know what is going on with their employees.
This isn’t a train wreck aftermath, this is someone watching someone else stuck
on the tracks with the train a few miles out and yet they just set up the lawn
chair facing the other direction. Or in plain English, This could have been
prevented!
Everyone is up in
arms about fat shaming that sometimes we forget that there are other victims
out there who are still battling themselves. This person had this toxic message for themselves. How many of us
have done that? For a good number of us, our lives were constant messages about how
terrible we are for our size and that we should be ashamed. I know I did. I had
my voice along with a string of people’s voices saying the worst and it eats
you from the inside out. It’s not easy to get out of but it’s possible to get
out of that mind set and to learn to love yourself. Isn’t that what our Plus
Size Movement is about? Helping us love us for who we are regardless of our
size? I think too many of us are missing that in this situation.
Here’s one article
about it that I got the most information from, so read it and maybe you’ll see
what I see. And I hope that this troubled person gets some help and realizes that she (probably a she) is worthy of love and should love herself.
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