Wednesday, January 15, 2014 • Page 4
Opinions
Editor: Katelyn Kennon letters@wildcat.arizona.edu (520) 621-3192 twitter.com/dailywildcat
Hail from the editor in chief
BY Sarah Precup The Daily Wildcat
W
elcome back, Daily Wildcat readers! It’s the start of a new semester, which means shiny new school supplies, fresh tears shed over textbook prices and syllabus days galore. It means getting coffee from the UofA Bookstore Starbucks will once again become a feature filmlength experience. And most importantly (though I might be biased), it means a new Daily Wildcat. This semester, whether you’re student, staff or faculty, we want the Daily Wildcat to be more about you than ever: your campus, your questions, your achievements and your news. Look for our new biweekly multimedia feature online called “U in A Thousand Wildcats,” where we’ll spotlight a member of our campus community through photo and video. While you’re online, tell our blog writers what you think about their opinions on everything from politics to pop culture, and your comment could show up in the paper. In print, check the science section every Thursday this semester for not only stories about the UA’s forays into scientific research, but also stories about the science of your mental and physical health (trust me, we know how much instant mac ‘n’ cheese you eat). Stay tuned to the news section for updates on how President Ann Weaver Hart’s Never Settle Strategic Academic and Business Plan is advancing, when the Tucson Modern Streetcar might finally actually carry you downtown and more. Whether you’re a football fanatic or a hockey lover, turn to our daily sports section to catch up on their triumphant victories and heartbreaking defeats, plus our editors’ predictions for games to come. And when you drag yourself to campus for that dreaded Friday class, pick up Wildcat Weekend to fuel your weekend plans with stories about local concerts, bars, food, fashion, plays and more things you can do when you’re tired of just watching Netflix under the covers. To make this semester’s Daily Wildcat shine, we want to speak to you and hear from you. Do you see news happening? Know campus community members doing work worthy of recognition? Think something sketchy is going on around campus? Call, email or Tweet us. (Depending on what the sketchy thing is, it might be good to call the police first. Only one of us knows martial arts.) But we aren’t just looking for news tips. Don’t be shy about telling us what you love and what you hate about the Daily Wildcat. In our articles, features and photos, we always aim to give you the whole truth, and we want you to do the same for us. Today, check out the editor profiles in each section to get to know us, the students who will work late into the night to put a paper in your hands every weekday. We’re here for you, and because of you. Here’s to a great semester. I hope you pick up a copy of the Daily Wildcat every day and take us along for the ride.
— Sarah Precup is a creative writing senior. Follow her @DailyWildcat
Fashion inclusivity still a myth BY Shelby Thomas The Daily Wildcat
U
ntil recent years, women wearing sizes 12 and above were extremely underrepresented — almost nonexistent — in the mainstream fashion industry. While popular retailers for plus-size women like Lane Bryant, Avenue and Torrid have successfully provided trendy clothing options for curvy women, a continued lack of size diversity among plus-size models does not send a message of body type inclusivity to consumers. Fashion’s failure to accurately represent the various shapes and sizes of everyday women, even when it claims to be doing so, is continuing to skew society’s sense of beauty towards the unrealistic. In the past few years, plus-size clothing has grown into a multibillion dollar industry. Research by IBISWorld states that the industry was worth $7.7 billion in 2013, an impressive 2.1 percent average annual increase since the end of
2008. The research predicts a revenue of $10.2 billion by 2018. While I wish I could confidently say that these numbers reflect society’s growing acceptance of the wide array of female body shapes, we still have a long way to go. Though it is crucial that customers feel that they can relate to models who resemble them, there is a vast underrepresentation of women larger than a size 16 in the industry. The fashion industry seems to have a different definition than most people of what is considered “plus-size.” Many plus-size clothing stores sell apparel ranging from sizes 14 to 22; yet, according to Yahoo, the average ‘plus-size’ model wears a size 12/14, “but appears thinner than that size due to her height.” Finding a model to relate to becomes even more challenging when the sizes seen on the runway are smaller than those seen on the shelves. A recent article in The Huffington Post entitled “Even ‘PlusSize’ Models Are Smaller Than Their Target Demographic” examines the “impossible standards that plague [this] sector of modeling.” In the article, model Alex LaRosa, who refers to herself as “visibly plus-size,” discusses companies using models
who wear sizes 8, 10 and 12 to sell clothing that comes in sizes 14 and up. This is especially problematic since 50 percent of American women wear a size 14 or larger, according to PLUS Model Magazine. The fashion industry also seems fixated on only one type of plus-size woman. The Huffington Post’s list of top 10 plus-size models features Jennie Runk, the first plus-size model for H&M’s swimsuit line; Saffi Karina, a model from the UK, who is involved with the UK’s first ever plus-size model workshop; and Robyn Lawley, who was the face of a successful Ralph Lauren campaign. These women are as beautiful as they are confident and they have earned every bit of their success. Yet their tall frames and fashion-acceptable figures only represent one sector of the curvy community. Female consumers should be able to flip through catalogues or turn on the television and see women who look like them, whatever size they are. As long as models are healthy and confident, there is a place for them in the fashion world. The plus-size industry is growing rapidly and its models represent a progressive and refreshing mindset that is necessary for a close-minded public.
Blessy Baiju, a physiology sophomore, said that she has seen some improvement in the industry, though there’s still room for improvement. “From a general viewpoint, I think media tends to portray women as perfect creations with no flaws,” Baiju said. “But lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of plus-size modeling and fashion ideas for women of all shapes and sizes, so I think that ought to show some kind of improvement in the fashion or modeling industry.” Still, women who can’t identify with the straight-size or the supposedly average plus-size models we see in the media are being told that they don’t make the cut. The bottom line is this: Every person, despite their size, should be liberated from the crippling pressure that a little number on a pair of pants often holds. If the women we see strutting down the runway and on the glossy pages of magazines reflected an inclusive and diverse definition of beauty, this liberation would be much easier. — Shelby Thomas is a sophomore studying family studies and human development. Follow her @ShelbyAlayne
Pulse of the Pac This week the Pac discusses a la carte education, “The Wolf of Wall Street” “Embarking on multiple majors may
defeat its own purpose” by Eitan Arom
Challenging oneself is generally a good thing. But by loading up on majors and minors, college students may be making things difficult just for the sake of making things difficult. Those who embark on multiple majors to look more attractive to employers may be defeating their own purpose by forgoing other educational opportunities, both inside and outside the classroom. … Many majors outside the physical sciences require few enough classes that students in those majors have the time and available units to customize their education. By sticking to one major, students have the chance to take courses that actually interest them, alien as that idea may sound to overly ambitious UCLA students slogging their way through multiple major requirements. … This type of a la carte education has more tangible benefits as well. Taking classes off the beaten path of one particular degree can generate career skills and resume items that are more useful to employers than a second major in political science. The Daily Bruin University of California, Los Angeles
Opinions Editor
Meet the
@
Katelyn Kennon Katelyn Kennon, a junior doublemajoring in journalism and creative writing with a minor in anthropology, is this semester’s opinions editor. She strives to be the Leslie Knope of everything she does, with a dash of Bond for good measure.
“‘The Wolf of Wall Street:’
An ugly reflection of us” by Alexander Elder
Just a couple weeks ago, Christina McDowell — one of the many victims of [Jordan] Belfort’s financial scams — wrote a scathing letter to the film’s director Martin Scorsese and main star Leonardo DiCaprio, decrying the pair as “dangerous” for making a movie about a person like Belfort. … Although I sympathize with McDowell’s sentiments, she and many others have deeply misunderstood the filmmaker’s intention, as well as the important obligation film has to hold a mirror up to society and allow an audience to make its own conclusions regarding the reflection on the screen. … The audience, upon seeing how morally repugnant these people are, wants desperately to distance itself from them. Scorsese wisely decides not to grant this wish. He instead imbues these characters, as monstrous as they are, with a sense of humanity. … Some people are drawn by the edgy content of a film, which they deem as “cool.” Consequently, they seldom think about the moral implications of this content. I would contend that it’s precisely when people embrace these films for the wrong reasons that a problematic element of our culture is accentuated. The State Press Arizona State University
The Daily Wildcat Editorial Policy Daily Wildcat staff editorials represent the official opinion of the Daily Wildcat staff, which is determined at staff editorial meetings. Columns, cartoons, online comments and letters to the editors represent the opinion of their author and do not represent the opinion of the Daily Wildcat.
contact us |
“Off the beat: the ‘feminist’ sellouts” by Alex Berryhill
2013 was the year being a feminist became cool. From Beyonce to Miley Cyrus to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, A-listers moved the gender equality movement from radical fringes to mainstream culture. … I’m skeptical, however, of the round of applause these A-listers are receiving for their “contributions” to the movement. Has 2013 really been a step forward for feminists? … I don’t think these celebrities are “icons” of the feminist movement because I don’t consider celebrities who perpetuate the very images that continue to marginalize women as leaders in the fight for women’s rights — even if such images are perpetuated by choice. Doing whatever one wants might be a way of defining women’s enhanced freedom, but it doesn’t define, defend or determine the equality feminists have strived for throughout the past century. … I do think that such a wide breadth of identification with feminism makes an already commonly misunderstood movement even more complicated, misunderstood and ineffective. The Daily Californian University of California, Berkeley
The Daily Wildcat accepts original, unpublished letters from all of its readers
•
Email letters to: letters@ wildcat.arizona.edu
•
Snail mail to: 615 N. Park Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719
•
Letters should include name, connection to university (year, major, etc.) and contact information
•
Letters should be no longer than 350 words and should refrain from personal attacks