How can I get these plates from @Macys banned in all 50 states pic.twitter.com/1spntAluVl
— Alie Ward (@alieward) July 21, 2019
Over the weekend, writer/actor/podcaster Alie Ward tweeted out an image of a plate set apparently sold at Macy’s. Tagging the company, she wrote, “How can I get these plates from @Macys banned in all 50 states”. The plates featured concentric circles with cutesy body-shaming portion labels like skinny jeans/favorite jeans/mom jeans.
The replies to that tweet are filled with people telling her it’s just a joke, or that she has the option to not buy them—two things that are both obvious and not at all the point. This isn’t about one woman’s aesthetic, it’s about the pervasiveness of body-shaming and calling out companies trying to profit off of it.
Fuck these plates. Fuck these plates to hell @Macys https://t.co/BNOmGszf03
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) July 22, 2019
The plates come from a company called Pourtions and their “mom jeans” plate is only the tip of this iceberg.
It’s not surprising to see things like this for sale. Attacking women’s self-esteem is a highly effective (and lucrative) marketing tactic. What is surprising is that Macy’s agreed with Ward and acted quickly, promising to remove the line from stores.
Hi, Alie — we appreciate you sharing this with us and agree that we missed the mark on this product. It will be removed from all STORY at Macy’s locations.
— Macy’s (@Macys) July 22, 2019
Some people will look at these plates and other items and see nothing wrong—just a cute way to eat healthy. But the shaming happening here is antithetical to real health. (Health also goes beyond waistlines, which the company’s mission statement says “are exploding like the national debt.”)
It is possible to encourage portion control without reinforcing the message that eating is a shameful act, without telling someone that their eating habits make them “foul.” Messages like that are insidious and have a way of devastating our self-image, especially when we are surrounded by different variations on that same theme, which we most definitely are.
fixed them pic.twitter.com/Uqj68iwvYz
— Liz Climo (@elclimo) July 21, 2019
So good on Macy’s for acting so fast and recognizing their error. It would have been great if they never chose to sell the line in the first place, but hopefully, this was a lesson learned for them and any other giant corporations paying attention.
(via Washington Post, images: Pourtions.net)
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