Why the term “Curvy” Needs to Be Straightened Out:
A quick lesson on what curve means to the modern woman’s frame and why we get it wrong.
This original post was written in 2015 on my former wordpress. I have updated and modified the content for the present. Since shape is my personal interest I often have conversations about our perception of the modern female physique. Now it seems like there has been a huge shift in the gene pool and women everywhere have turned into a walking version of the number 8. Curve has become a desired commodity and is being injected and sucked out of women everywhere. FYI This is not the curve we mean here...
More and more you hear and read the word “curvy” to describe a woman’s shape. I have an issue and want to establish some guidelines on what curvy really is. I’m happy our culture is starting to embrace fuller figures and shapes outside of extremely skinny runway models, but… maybe we need more clarification.
“Curvy” can be subjective but we should probably understand a few things in more detail...
Curvy is not a type of woman– this bothers me a little because too often ‘curvy’ is the word used to describe heavier women in general. Curvy is less of a body type and more of a description for women with more ample tops and bottoms. I’m all for embracing your size but that generality is a bad idea because it leads to the next point:
Curvy bodies are still healthy bodies– Curves are breast, hips, butts, thighs.. etc and their ratio in comparison to waistlines. So in theory you can be petite and be considered curvy or be ample and also be curvy.
Being curvy is not synonymous with being overweight– I’m no fan of the BMI, I think it is highly inaccurate given the various shapes and sizes of the modern woman. However you can be heavier and be healthy. Having curves has nothing to do with being overweight. Some bodies are built to carry more mass than average! It’s more about your personal health and not a biased standard.
Plus size women still have shapes- I’m not sure if people are trying to be polite or respectful and use the term ‘curvy’ to group all plus size women together but as mentioned before, curvy is not a shape or a body type. Women of all sizes still fall somewhere within the 12 body types that are standard for identifying shape. These shapes are important to understand when wanting to wear something flattering.
No matter the size of the body, Shape can help you determine the best fitting clothing. Having a great understanding of shape is key to finding what’s most flattering for an individual's body.
Now that these points are made I can feel better about using that term “Curvy” what about you? Love thy temple!
#curvy #bodypositivity #12bodytypes #shape #luxorandfinch #fit