Clothes shopping

I biked up to the Hollywood Fred Meyer to go clothes shopping.

It was depressing. "Add a size!" exclaimed the bras, and "smooth out back fat." All of the pants talked about their "slimming" properties. Despite having taken women's studies, philosophy of love and sex, and having read Reviving Ophelia both as a kid and again a couple of weeks ago - actually going to the store and observing at length the advertising attached to women's clothing horrified me. This is how weight conscious we are, this is how seriously we think we need to manipulate our bodies? When I go clothes shopping, I'm looking for things that fit my body, not things that mold it into some shape it isn't.

I think I will take that screen printing kit I have and make a shirt that says "I love my body." Maybe on the back I will write "and that shouldn't be remarkable." It really shouldn't. I feel like doing something revolutionary. Seeing all that garbage tagged onto clothes, it was as if I'd walked in and everyone was smoking their cigarettes inside the store - so regressive! I wonder what there is to do. Are there body image support groups I could volunteer to lead, or something? I don't even know what society is trying to do about this issue.

I came home with just a couple packs of underwear. I didn't find any bras I liked. I actually found a lot of good pants, but my size and shape may change significantly as I exercise this summer, so I'm going to hold off on buying them. I learned a lot about what brands to go for, anyway. I found pretty much exactly what I looking for in terms of a shirt, but the medium was too big in the shoulders and the small was too small in the arms. Maybe that will have changed by the end of the summer too.