Old Navy has recently come under fire for its pricing and representation of plus-size clothing in its stores.
A pair of skinny jeans, for example, in a regular size is $12 less than the same jeans in a plus size. However, the sizing of men’s clothing does not seem to affect the pricing of the clothing at all.
A c hange.org petition is circulating the Internet to prevent the plus-size discrimination by calling out Old Navy. Their treatment, as well as the fashion industry’s treatment of plus-size women as a whole, is ridiculous and unjustifiable.
What’s particularly sad is that Old Navy was on the right track to accepting women of all sizes. If you’ve been to the College Mall Old Navy you should have noticed a change in the denim wall. It’s now split into sections with tags reading “the Sweetheart,” “the Diva,” “the Flirt,” among others. Each is a different style of jeans, designed to fit and compliment women of all shapes.
Customers could walk in and were almost guaranteed to find a pair of jeans that suited their body type. And it was wonderful. But this unfair pricing system almost overshadows those efforts.
Old Navy came to its own defense, claiming the plus-size clothing had to be priced differently as it contained elements specifically for plus-size bodies. For example, stretchier fabric and elements of the structure of the garments that are more slimming for larger bodies.
This defense is unacceptable.
For one thing, according to the Old Navy website and the fabric information listed there, the standard sized jeans actually contain more spandex and polyester — fabrics that lend stretch to the material — than the same style of jeans in the plus size. Even if the garments are altered to enhance the shapes of fuller women, women who require a larger size should not be forced to pay for alterations they didn’t ask for.
Instead of being based on measurement like men’s clothing sizes, women’s clothing is sized on a completely arbitrary scale. The actual size and fit of the clothing changes from store to store, making the number on the tag basically meaningless. The same girl can wear a size 2 in one store and a size 6 in another. A woman, who can fit into the standard sized clothes at one store, might need a plus size at another store.
The way plus sizing is set up, at Old Navy and other stores specifically targeting females, is done is such a way as to alienate girls who wear bigger sizes at that particular store.
The Old Navy website, and countless stores like H&M, separate plus size sections from the rest of the store. This implies a separation between plus-size women and smaller sized women that simply doesn’t exist, especially considering the variations in what plus size exactly means. It also serves to create a stigma around plus size clothing, so that many women are embarrassed to shop within those sections.
The different pricing is just another way to shame and alienate women who wear plus sizes. It doesn’t make sense that there would not be a price difference between a size 0 and a size 14, but there is one between a 14 and a 16. The inflated cost of women’s clothing compared to what it costs to make would cover any ?extra expenses.
The change.org petition is right to call out Old Navy, and all clothing stores, for their blatant discrimination towards women whose bodies don’t naturally conform to a sexist societal ideal.
Plus size is an arbitrary distinction that women did not consent to and is being used against them as yet another way to tax their gender.
No one is surprised that the fashion and clothing industry is using its considerable sway to manipulate the world’s view of women, as well as their view of themselves, but let’s not add insult to injury by expecting women to pay extra for it.
