Amy Schumer isn’t plus-size, goddamn it—and why it matters
Yesterday, Amy Schumer got pissed at Glamour magazine for calling her “plus-size.” Schumer wasn’t pissed because the lady mag exaggerated her weight—she didn’t care about that—but rather was alarmed that the magazine allegedly referred to her body as an example of what plus-size looks like, on the cover of its recent issue aimed at women size 12 and above. As Schumer noted in both a tweet and on Instagram, she fluctuates between a size 6 and a size 8, and while she thinks “there’s nothing wrong with being plus-size,” she’s worried that if she’s listed in a magazine as plus-size, girls and women will look at her and think a size 6 is on the bigger size of what’s acceptable, and that’s just not true.
After Schumer tweeted her discomfort at being lumped in with women like Melissa McCarthy, Adele, and Ashley Graham—all of whom are lovely women that Glamour says should serve as plus-size inspirations—she used Twitter to ask for thoughts, most of which seemed to be in support of her assertion. Elite Daily published an article called “Sorry, but Amy Schumer is definitely not plus-size” in which it supported its headline but also noted that the Glamour piece raised an issue of agency. As Elite Daily put it, “If I were Amy Schumer, Adele, or Melissa McCarthy, I would prefer my body not be labeled with such words—plus-size, skinny, thick, or anything—without my consent. While it’s wonderful Glamour promotes these ladies as inspiring, none of these women labeled themselves “plus-size” in the past, so why should Glamour be allowed to categorize them?” Schumer’s Twitter followers responded pretty much in kind, with Schumer retweeting the following two thoughts:
For its part, Glamour denies that it meant to lump Schumer in under the “plus-size” distinction, telling People:
The cover line on this special edition—which is aimed at women size 12 and up—simply says “Women Who Inspire Us,” since we believe her passionate and vocal message of body positivity IS inspiring, as is the message of the many other women, of all sizes, featured. The edition did not describe her as plus-size. We are sorry if we offended her in any way.