As more and more celebrities use their voices to support women's rights, it's become trendier and more aspirational to call yourself a "feminist." And with this, feminism has inevitably been co-opted as a powerful marketing tool. You might not like the idea of feminism being commercialised in this way, but at this stage, there's probably no turning back. In 2017, you can even buy yourself a 'Keep Calm I'm A Feminist' mug - yes, really.
But if brands want to use feminism to boost profits, it's important that they at least do so thoughtfully and with an awareness of the fundamental principle that feminism is about equality for all women. For this reason, it's incredibly disappointing to see that Metro has spotted a supposedly feminist T-shirt by Missguided being sold in just two sizes. The T-shirt is only available in a "small-medium," which apparently means a UK size 8-10, and a "medium-large," which seemingly equates to a size 12-14.
Ironically enough, the T-shirt is emblazoned with a definition of feminism which reads: "A doctrine or movement that advocates equal rights for women." In this case, those equal rights don't seem to extend to women any larger than a size 14. Given that the average clothing size worn by a woman in the UK is now a 16, this T-shirt is effectively counting out the majority of women.
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