I looked at the photos of the half-naked woman on the computer and prayed that no one walked in and asked what I was doing.
I imagine myself wearing a tight leather garment. But somehow, I know that I will never be like that. My hair didn’t fall on my shoulder. My breasts will never seduce temptedly from the corset – I have been breastfeeding for more than a year and have noticeable sagging. How can someone want to see me, a new mother, dressed that way? ,I wonder. I think my underwear is not sexy enough.
My body has changed.
I feel confident and proud of the progress of my baby until I compare myself to the images on the screen. My expectation is to find a garment that makes me feel sexy and capable. My goal is to walk into a room, take my husband’s breath and remind him why he chose me. But whenever I have the courage to look for underwear, I end up feeling worse than getting up.
I want to feel like a “hot wife” for the first time, but browsing these clothes makes me feel frustrated and overwhelmed. I feel worse and worse when I continue to scroll from the top of the page to the bottom of the page after the site. There is no shortage of clothing, but women look the same – this level makes me feel uncomfortable. Huge beauty changes the breasts, long and slender legs, often white skin. I can’t imagine any costumes look good, because no model shares my body shape.
No woman looks like me.
It’s almost like “You are 18 or older” and the message should be followed up “Are you sexy enough to fit these clothes.” At least then I will know where there are no people like me in the underwear world. I hope I can say that my search has improved over time, but it has not gotten better. It reflects industry-wide issues that marginalize all of our “marginalized” people.
While the fashion industry is working to increase diversity, recent data from New York Fashion Week still reflects a lot of homogeneity. Only 27.9% of the castings have a color model, 0.43% of the models are “oversized” (also known as the No. 8 in the fashion industry), and only 0.29% of the models have more than 50 models. The fashion industry’s trend set is based on the tone of the beauty industry model – they disappoint most of us.
I have more than one way. I am a natural brunette woman, she found herself surrounded by white skin and long, smooth hair. But it goes far beyond this. Less than two years ago, I gave birth, so I had a slight soft candy and stretch marks. Bringing my son into the world will affect my stomach, but it will also change my breasts. In the past year and a half, I sacrificed my breasts to feed the baby, so I didn’t have the lively chest of the past. My cup size changes every day, and finding a good bra is challenging. I am only 5 feet 3 inches, so my legs are not as long and luxurious as the women in the catalog.
We are moving in the right direction.
Fortunately, I married a man who did not discourage me and found beauty in my new form. But I did not accept myself as he did. I know that the clothes look a bit similar to the models on the models and are frustrating. The process of underwear shopping reminds me that I don’t conform to the beautiful image of society.
Usually, I force myself to look at my negative emotions and buy something. This is a boycott and reminds myself that I should be represented. Millions of women shared my point and the organization is working to fill some aspects of the diversity needs, such as NAJA and their “Nude for All” series. Sadly, these efforts have little effect on body diversity – even their underwear models are thin, mostly white or light skin, and have very loose curls or straight hair. There is no universal solution, so despite the diversity of tones, my body type is still not represented.
The lack of diversity in underwear is not just a race issue – it involves scale, unrealistic physical goals and market homogeneity. As with everything, the intersections in our regions are most affected.
But we still have a long way to go.
Progress is being made – just as the model of the ASOS swimwear show does not touch visible stretch marks – but each of these women meets the slender standards of the model industry. Women of all sizes have stretch marks, but women who are burly are more likely to be criticized for their performance.
Worst of all, many people have shown less to me – plus women of the size, women with disabilities and many other women are almost invisible. There are no fashion representatives that make many of us feel that we need a sexy license.