Size DOES Matter

This post is about size. Specifically, clothing manufacturer's sizes. Recently I set out to purchase new underwear. I went to the store, and embarked towards the "medium" size section as usual. I found a very cute pattern an pulled it off the rack. Holding it in front of me, I thought I was holding the clothes of a doll. How would anyone except to fit any adult female into these undergarments, I had no idea. Especially while avoiding the fashion faux pas muffin tops, panty lines, and so forth. I started going through the whole section, and all of the panties were this way! I purchased three pairs of underwear: all larges. One of which is still a bit snug.

For those of you that know me, I am not a large person. I have been underweight my entire life. Why, pray tell, are the panties that fit my bottom larges? What do the people larger than me wear? Most importantly, what is this telling us as women? If my 5'6" 117lb. body is considered large, what is normal? Are these panty companies making clothes for the anorexic and under nourished?

It isn't just panty companies either. Clothing companies are even more to blame. Over the past ten years, women's clothing sizes have changed. This could make sense if one takes into account that the average weight of a female adult has gone up. This would, then, make sense if the pants sizes had gotten bigger. They haven't. They have gotten smaller. Size 6 is now the new size 4 and so on. Why do sizes have to change. European clothing sizes have it right. They are a number, yes: The number of inches. In America we get so obsessed with an arbitrary number that may or may not be descriptive of a size. If your waist is 27inches, you wear a size 27. 28 if you like some room. Easy. Sizes that are based on real sizes. With the continuous changing of American sizes, with them being smaller and smaller, it is no wonder eating disorders and body-view disorders are so prevelant. Young women today are falling victim to this day after day. Size DOES matter, and that little number can kill a girl on the inside.