My (partial) solution to solving the obesity epidemic

The other day I was shopping around for some athletic shorts, and as I have mentioned in a previous post, I am a full-figured, plus-sized woman. As I was browsing through the racks of athletic shorts, I noticed a trend. 75% of the rack was size small or extra small (why is this even a thing?), 20% were medium, and 5% were larges. Absolutely nothing bigger than a large. Frustrated, I figured that maybe the women's section of the department store would have the plus-sized athletic clothing. How kind of them to make the womens' wear section a one-stop shop for everything above size 14 (please note intense level of sarcasm in that statement). So, I walked around the store to the womens' section, and guess what? If you guessed that there was absolutely no athletic clothing there, you'd be correct! What is up with that? I mean, seriously!

Society keeps telling us that there's an obesity epidemic and demands that people of a certain weight eat healthier and work out to lose weight. However, how they expect this to happen when stores don't carry athletic clothing in larger sizes is beyond me! It's just not logical. You're essentially making it more difficult for someone to do something that they probably don't want to do in the first place. And even if they do want to work out to lose weight, they might become dissuaded or frustrated with how difficult it is to find appropriate workout attire. If overweight individuals cannot purchase athletic clothing in stores, their only other option is to order them online; however, that doesn't make anything easier. They still have to find something online in their size (which will be frequently sold out online), pay extra money to order it (s&h is a pain!), and hope that it fits when it shows up after at least a week of waiting. If it doesn't fit, then it must be returned (additional s&h) and the buyer will either reorder it in a different size, or give up and take a refund.

My proposal: if stores would start offering athletic clothing in larger sizes, overweight individuals might be more likely to start working out and lose weight. This even benefits the clothing companies, because when people lose weight, they have to buy new clothes in their new, smaller size! See, everyone benefits from this, so please, clothing companies and stores, start offering decent plus-sized athletic clothing IN STORES!

Rant about "Plus Size" clothing

I am a full-figured woman in my 20's. Most of the time I am comfortable with my body, but I always get a little jealous of those skinny little nothings who get to wear the trendy "Juniors" clothing. And what do full figured women like myself get to pick from? Usually 2-3 racks of overpriced granny clothing. If I wanted to look like a granny, I'd go to a thrift store or ask for hand-me-downs.

Most estimates place the average dress size of an American woman at size 14-16, so why haven't clothing companies caught up? HELLO, BIG IS BEAUTIFUL TOO! There are some stores that specialize in "Plus Size" women's clothing, but again, most of them sell clothing designed with older women in mind. (One notable exception is Lane Bryant. Bless you, Lane Bryant, and your tastefully modern "plus size" clothing!) Additionally, in most cases if you are able to find trendy clothing in a larger size, it doesn't fit right, because so many of today's fashion trends only flatter the thin or athletic builds. It is so aggravating! And this is just regular clothing, I haven't even talked about swim suits yet! Many (and I would even venture to say most) women despise swimsuit season because going around half-naked is really uncomfortable for some people. It's even more uncomfortable if you can't find swim wear that fits well.

Alright, this rant is almost over, but I still have one more point to make. Why is it that most "plus size" clothing is also made for "petite" women? SERIOUSLY!? It's like clothing makers assume if you're "plus size" you must be short to compensate. What is that about? I have to special order pants from companies just so that they come down below my ankles, and of course that adds an additional charge. All I'm saying is that if men's departments have "Big and Tall" then why can't women's departments?

Well, that was quite a rant. I'm sure there's more I missed, so I'll make a follow-up post when I think of it. Also, I'd like some reader feedback. I'm curious what term you prefer to define "plus size" clothing as. Some companies call it "Womens" while others call it "plus size" or "full-figured," so what do you prefer? Please leave your answer in the comments!

Thanks for reading!