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Celebrities on the Term 'Plus Size'

SERENA WILLIAMS

Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock

"We're launching what will be called 'Serena Great,' because I don't like the word 'plus.' We have the 'G.O.A.T.' collection, and now we're launching the 'Great' collection. The 'Great' is our plus size. It's been in the works for forever and we want to roll it out a little bit at a time. We want to get rid of the word 'plus' and we want it to be 'great.'"

— on her Serena clothing collection, to HelloGiggles

LENA DUNHAM

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

"I think fashion should be for women and it should be for all women. We did an interview recently on Lenny with Beth Ditto who just launched a line that is technically plus-sized but what she really cares about is just putting women in clothes they can feel good about, because so often we've assumed women who aren't size zeros just want to put themselves in a tent."

"I think Amy [Schumer's] entire thing is trying to sort of like break down barriers and be bold about her own opinions and what I think she was trying to do was stand up for women and say we're not supposed be categorized in this role, we're supposed to just be allowed to exist."

– Dunham to PEOPLE

AMY SCHUMER

Getty

"Plus size is considered size 16 in America. I go between a size 6 and an 8. [Glamour] put me in their plus size only issue without asking or letting me know and it doesn't feel right to me."

"Bottom line seems to be we are done with these unnecessary labels which seem to be reserved for women."

on Instagram

ASHLEY GRAHAM

Dia Dipasupil/Getty

"I think the word 'plus-sized' is totally outdated … It shouldn't be about labels. I don't want to be called a label, I want to be called a model."

– at a SXSW panel

MELISSA MCCARTHY

Steve Granitz/WireImage

"Seventy percent of women in the United States are a size 14 or above, and that's technically 'plus-size,' so you're taking your biggest category of people and telling them, 'You're not really worthy.' I find that very strange. I also find it very bad business. It doesn't make a lot of sense numbers-wise … I just don't get why we always have to group everything into a good or bad, right or wrong category. I just think, if you're going to make women's clothing, make women's clothing. Designers that put everyone in categories are over-complicating something that should be easy … I don't like the segregated plus section. You're saying: 'You don't get what everybody else gets. You have to go shop up by the tire section.'"

– to Refinery29

TESS HOLLIDAY

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

"To be honest, myself and several other plus-size models happily embrace the term. It's hard for me when I see people who want to ban it, and they're basically working for plus-size companies and are the face of plus-size brands, yet they don't want to be called plus-size … I think the whole thing is actually very silly, because the term has never been used in a negative way. It's never been used as hurtful, it's something that's basically just for women to kind of find where they want to shop, I guess. I do think it's very important, especially for young women who are kind of coming into their bodies, and older women who are becoming more OK with their bodies, to have terms for being bigger. When they look online, or look in magazines, they see that label, or see that term, they feel like they're not alone. They have something to identify with. I'm really a firm believer in calling it what it is. And I don't really see anyone losing sleep over the fact that they're called plus-size."

– to Paper Magazine

KAROLINA KURKOVA

Seth Browarnik/Startraks

"I don't like to call them plus-sized because I don't think they're plus-sized. I just think they're beautiful, curvy women. Women come in different shapes and forms and I think we should celebrate it. Not everybody's going to have the same body type I have, and I'm not going to look like somebody else. So I think we have to celebrate that."

– on Style Code Live

REBEL WILSON

REX/Shutterstock

"To me, getting an A+ in school is better than getting an A and I'm being called 'plus.' I kind of like being curvy and eating dessert every second night so that's kinda why I am the way I am. I think all you should be worried about is if you're healthy. If you're unhealthy, you should maybe do something about it."

– to E!

ROBYN LAWLEY

Stephen Lovekin/Getty

"Personally, I hate the term plus-size. It's ridiculous and derogatory – it puts women down and it puts a label on them. Women love seeing women they can relate to. It's not about the tiny 19 year-old model with no personality. People want to see curvier girls. 'Plus-size' modeling is in itself [a] very small [industry] – they just need more girls to do it, and more amazing straight-sized models going into it."

– to Australian Cosmopolitan

MEGHAN TRAINOR

Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty

"I've always hated the word 'plus-size.' It bugs me. When I first signed up with FullBeauty, and I talked to them, I was like, 'I don't want to be labeled as this plus-sized girl coming in,' and they said, 'Absolutely not, we don't like that term either.' Which is why we like to say 'full beauty' [and] why I was immediately excited to work with them. Everything Melissa [McCarthy] said is completely accurate. [They're] a big part of our society, women who are size 14, and how are you going to criticize us? The word 'plus-sized' should be gone."

– while discussing her FullBeauty campaign with Elle

STEFANIA FERRARIO

David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images

"Unfortunately in the modeling industry if you're above a U.S. size 4 you are considered plus size, and so I'm often labelled a 'plus size' model. I do NOT find this empowering. A couple of days ago, Ajay Rochester called the industry to task for its use of the term 'plus size' by making the point that it is 'harmful' to call a model 'plus' and damaging for the minds of young girls. I fully support Ajay and agree with her. Let's have models of ALL shapes, sizes and ethnicities, and drop the misleading labels. I'm NOT proud to be called 'plus', but I AM proud to be called a 'model', that is my profession!"

– on Instagram

TYRA BANKS

Mireya Acierto/WireImage

"I don't like the label 'plus-size' – I call it 'fiercely real.' On Top Model we call it fiercely real. I don't want to use the term 'plus-size,' because, to me, what the hell is that? It just doesn't have a positive connotation to it. I tend to not use it."

– to HuffPost Style

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Reinaldo Massengill

Update: 2024-07-19