Mancession and fatties on the runway

Mancession - as annoying as a Staycation

To go along with Andrea's post on The Superior Wife Syndrome, the current recession crisis has created a new word combination, or wombo - "mancession."

In an article by Kim Peterson on MSN's MoneyBlog, she describes how more men have lost their jobs in this recession than women. This is due to most of the layoffs being in the manufacturing and construction fields, while women work in more secure fields, such as healthcare and education. However, women may get the short end of the stick, in that they make less money, are more likely to work less hours or are working part-time positions without benefits.

Case in point, me. I work two part-time retail jobs without benefits. I also relocated to southern California and am living with Lisa for free in order to make more money. The Central Valley is not the place to be if you are looking for a full-time job in fields outside of healthcare, education or tomato truck driver.


Fatties on the runway at London Fashion Week

According to an article in UK's The Telegraph, "Mark Fast’s decision to use larger models at London Fashion Week provoked a row between his management team and caused one stylist to walk out" on September 21st.

Photo by Jane Mingay, The Telegraph

Here's what happened:

Designer Mark Fast decided to use three plus-size models - a size 12, size 14, and size 12/14, whatever that means - on the runway to challenge the idea that only skinny women could wear his dresses.

This decision led to a "team change" (p.c. way to say they fired a team member/had someone quit) in order to make the dream happen.

"We wanted women to know they don’t have to be a size zero to wear a Mark Fast dress," Amanda May, Fast's managing director, said. "Curvier women can look even better in one.”

Fast found one of his models, Hayley Morley, at All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, a runway show which features models ages 18 to 65, from sizes 8 to 16.

Megan's Two Cents:

Kudos to Fast! But sadly, my first thought after seeing the photo of the model in grey was, "She's fat!" And I'm a fat girl saying this. Isn't that awful? I think it's because the dress shows off the worst parts of a plus-size woman - our underarm jobbies, or "wiggly bits," as a British lady would say.

Now, my second thought - when will the runway world show a size 20 (which I am)? Or, heaven forbid, 22?

This is the closest we've got so far:

(warning: partially-nude women at this link)

Lane Bryant Models Start a Body Image Revolution

These Bodies are Beautiful at Every Size - Glamour Magazine