Picture the scene: you are standing in the familiar surroundings of your bedroom, having just purchased the skirt of your dreams from a notable high street retailer and in the process of trying on said skirt…when you discover that the combination of zip-length and waistline do not accommodate your new famine waist/feast booty body shape. What do you do? Do you;
A) have a small meltdown, resulting in a Rudolph nose, blotchy cheeks and Nile deltas of eyeliner streaming down your face?
B) forget about it and move on with your life because these things are just a factor of life and should not impinge on you in the slightest?
C) take to the internet and cause a storm, becoming a pioneering sizing standards activist?
It is with great shame that I tell you, reader, that my response in the heat of the moment was to go down the A route, with disastrous results. The rest of my weekend was ruined and, despite this event occurring around a fortnight ago, my anxiety surrounding the daily switch from pyjamas to clothing suitable for public exposure is sky high.
It was only a few days later when I was alerted to this news story, which thus confirmed a further argument that I literally do live in my own little Niamhy bubble, considering I had been completely oblivious to the controversy that had been sparked online from this one particular selfie:
This was snapped by one Ruth Clemens PhD in the fitting room of H&M, where she was scouring the sale rails for the latest bargains, as we all do. What this image shows is the size 14 Ms Clemens failing to fit into a pair of size 16 jeans. And I, for one, want to salute this lady for her bravery and panache for taking a stand against the retail regime with this condemning letter to the outlet, which has since gone viral:
I will admit that initially I was critical of the praise and publicity Clemens’ post was receiving, simply out of immaturity and jealousy. I begrudged her courage as it only exacerbated my fear that my polemics are merely superficial, the opening situation providing the evidence that I really am neither proud nor comfortable with my adult female body. And it was only as I was removing my too-big size 4 Topshop culottes to try on a pair of size 6 H&M jeans that were displaying a “NO VACANCY” sign to my refuge-seeking thighs that I realised that it is my job to join hands with this Ruth Clemens and call for change. It is society’s mixed signals regarding shape and body image which has made me this way, hating this new body which is just “not right”. What is “right”? Who are you to advertise the need for people to love their bodies on one page of your glossy magazines, only to tell me how to diet appropriately to lose 30 pounds in two weeks on the next? Who are you to tell me what clothes are the most flattering shape to compliment my body shape in order to ensnare onlooking males? Who are you to deny me the right to standardised sizing in high street retailers? It needs to be known just how triggering this failure to regulate clothing size ranges can be. Unfortunately some people, myself included, simply do not have the strength of women like Ruth Clemens to call clothing shops out on their wrongdoings. Instead, we consider what food we can cut from our dinner plate and how many squats we must do to burn 100 calories after we “indulge” on a banana.
I recently had the opportunity to talk on BBC radio about mental health and what must be done in society today in order to reduce the stigma surrounding those suffering from mental health issues. But the truth is that this is not just a problem for those suffering from or vulnerable to eating disorders or depression or any other mood disorder. Whilst I write from the viewpoint of one who has experienced anorexia, this is a universal dilemma, as I cannot name one person, male or female, who would or has not been disheartened by a situation similar to those described above. We must take to social media and follow the example of Ruth to initiate a change in our high streets. I do not exaggerate when I say that it could save a life.
I would like to close by once again thanking Ms Clemens for her fearlessness and as I bring an end to this blog post I hope that it won’t be long before I too can appreciate the new dance moves I have acquired as a result of now having to do the wiggle-boogie around my room in order to get my jeans on in the morning.
-Niamhy xx
High Priestess Resurrected 