MISSION 

The representation of curvaceous women in all types of media is almost non-existent. Personally, growing up I had no one to look up to that looked like me. There were people that favored some features that I had like darker skin or curlier hair, but there was no woman that truly embodied everything that was me. With this being said I viewed myself as wrong or flawed. Since there was nobody depicted as beautiful that looked like me, I assumed that the things about me that weren't like the people in the media were incorrect. I needed to change or fix those things about myself. Now that I've gotten older I realize that my self-image is truly up to me. There are so many other women and girls that feel under-represented. The media doesn't properly represent women, let alone does it properly represent plus size women or women of color. We let people say these terrible things about us and we internalize them. We start to believe them and turn these misconceptions into false theories we make about our weight. It was the way we were raised. It's gotten to the point where just like we learn girls like pink and boys like blue. We are also brought up to believe that extra weight equals less beauty. We are subliminally raised to believe these terrible things about ourselves because we are curvey. That's what I am here to discuss. If we never talked about it, it will never change. I'm here to start the conversation. I'm the big girl with a voice that wants to see a change in the society that we live in.

 

Rapper/ Hip hop artist Lizzo is an emerging and growing public figure that represents a positive image for plus size women and girls. Lizzo is also that ratchet woman that was talked about in Benita Love’s article. She twerks, she dances, she’s loud, and at the end of the day is unapologetically herself. Just because the term “ratchet” was coined for loud outspoken black women does not mean it has to hold that negative connotation. Lizzo is ratchet in the sense of the definition given by Love but she uses that loudness and that outspoken voice to preach her truth. Lizzo is a dark-skin curvacious woman, and in her interview with Jameela Jamil, she spoke about the fact that no matter what the trend is she will always be that curvacious black woman. She isn't going to change (Lizzo 2019). Right now there is a body positivity movement that aims to encourage all woman. At the end of the day when the trend changes the woman does not. That is an important virtue that I believe not many woman and girls understand. You are who you are. The media should not influence how you feel about yourself. Culture is forever changing. What is cool and acceptable today may not be tomorrow. Curvacious females have to find that confidence within themselves. Lizzo talks about her moments in the mirror. Where she had to stand back in realizing her beauty has to be seen in her eyes, before it can be loved or appreciated in the eyes of someone else, especially the media.

 

The term “Ratchetness” is used to shame black women for who they are. It attacks how African American women look, and how they carry themselves. Artists like Lizzo and Missy Elliott are known for challenging these ratchet ideas. Just because a woman carries herself differently or may not fit into a certain bubble or standard of what is socially accepted, does not mean that she is wrong or less beautiful than another. On one side of the scale, we have Missy Elliott who tends to cover up and wear clothing that does it necessarily accentuate the curves of her body. On the other side of the scale, we have Lizzo who wears more revealing outfits to accentuate her curves and show that she is a full-figured woman. Neither one of these women is wrong for the way they dress or the way they present themselves. Women should not have to objectify themselves to gain attention or publicity in the media (Petsche 2014). Unfortunately, that is the world we live in we see that happening more often than women being praised for their natural bodies. The change we need to see in Hip-Hop media is women being seen as an artist known for their lyrics not for the way they dress or for their bodies or how much money they spend on plastic surgery.

 

An article about Missy Elliot quotes some of her greatest ideals.  The article goes on to speak about how Missy Elliott believes that women do have a voice that is worth hearing (Dazed, 2016). The hip-hop culture is built on the idea that women should be seen and not heard. Women are more often talked about than spoken to. If you keep a woman quiet you can control every aspect of that women including her body, her voice, and her choice. Missy Elliott and Lizzo both take control of their image in the media. By knowing who they are they're able to control how they are perceived. There's no point in hiding because they are out in the open for the entire world to see. They bask in their glory but they also bask in their flaws. Nobody is perfect so there's no point in pretending but it is important to understand that through those imperfections we gain knowledge and courage to fight stereotypes and prove to the world that no matter what we look like, and no matter how much we weigh our beauty lies inside of us. Just like the bounce community accepts all men and women even though they may carry distinct differences, the plus-size community needs an outlet like such. Bounce music is meant to be freeing and lacks judgment. The music and overall standards the bounce community has become a welcoming place for not only the LGBTQ+ community but also for anyone who goes against the grain, including plus size men and women (Fuse 2017).

 

“They don't call us big for nothing,” (Sullivan 2013).  With big personality comes big responsibility those loud ratchet black women tendencies cannot be taken lightly. What some people may see as ratchet is sometimes the only voice that African-American women and plus size women have. Otherwise, they would be pushed to the side and over-sexualized by the misogynistic society we live in.

 

If I have to raise my voice or stomp my feet a little louder I will because my opinions matter and my voice deserves to be heard. I put my curves on display because they deserve just as much love as the next woman.  You call me big, fat, or overweight the trust me it goes way further than the pounds that show up on the scale. My business is larger than you could ever imagine. My curves wrap around concepts that your mind could never reach. In the end, I will outweigh you because you're mind is too small. You can never carry what I carry because you haven't walked in my shoes. You haven't seen what those harsh words do to a person. Our world will never thrive by breaking each other down. The key to success is to build one another up. A community is only as strong as its weakest link, and since our society thrives on breaking down other people our world is full of weak links. My goal is to find those links and help them build an understanding that there's no weakness that can't be overcome. As you journey through my website I hope you find strength. I hope you see that beauty is solely in the eye of the beholder and that there are women like you out here trying to thrive. There is a community for you where there is no judgment. Women like you and I can grow together and build a world that is all-inclusive.