Here’s The Thing
Meet the invisible majority. Most American women are plus-size, but they make up less than 2% of the images we see. We want to change that.
Beginning today, we are breaking the plus-size woman out of the niche and into the mainstream. During the launch week, 67% of the bodies you see on our site, in our newsletter, and on our Instagram and Snapchat channels will be plus-size. To do this, we’ve made significant changes within Refinery29 to fully represent the 67% this week, and beyond. For the last six months, we've been shooting stock photography and redesigning illustrations to more accurately reflect the women who make up the majority of our country. And we’re partnering with Getty Images to make this collection available to other outlets that wish to join us in closing the representation gap.
Making this change, even on one website, wasn’t easy. Not only have we faced practical challenges, but we’ve had to reckon with deeper issues of bias and prejudice along the way. Effecting real and lasting change on a grand scale will require collaboration with more websites, media outlets, and, of course, you. As an audience, your power is significant and undeniable, and we can’t go anywhere if you’re not along for the ride. So if this is the kind of change you'd like to see, start by looking at the images before you. The first step is simple: See the 67%. The next steps, we'll take together. Who's with us?
The Unconscious Bias Problem
We can’t afford to ignore the 67% anymore.
Here’s a term to get familiar with: unconscious bias. This is not the overt prejudice you see in the headlines but the language in between the lines. Not showing the 67% in normalized ways has real consequences: Plus-size women earn less and are more vulnerable to discrimination. That’s why we need to see more of you on our site (so show us!).
-
-
@UserHandle
-
@UserHandle
-
@UserHandle
-
For all our work in representing women, we had failed to reflect the majority. Once we recognized this gap, we could not un-see it.
-Kelsey Miller
-
-
@UserHandle
-
@UserHandle
-
[About the word "plus-size"], you’re taking your biggest category of people and telling them, ‘You’re not really worthy.’ I find that very strange.
-Melissa McCarthy
-
-
@UserHandle
-
-
@UserHandle
-
Plus-size women are not niche, but the norm; not just a lone column in a magazine, website, or community—they are the community itself.
-Christene Barberich
BE SEEN
Join the movement
It is time to challenge the disparity of the 67%. Join forces with us to demand media feature women of all sizes, from all races and backgrounds, with equal representation. Using #SeeThe67, share how YOU want the media to be inclusive.
#
Copy
We’re making our images available to everyone.
R29 and Getty Images are offering everyone — from major magazines to independent bloggers — access to license our collection of images featuring women of the 67%.
I #SeeThe67 and now you can, too. Help spread these images to make the majority more visible.
http://gtty.im/2dgn3Cw
Copy