Melissa McCarthy Talks About Body Shaming Ahead Of Holiday Clothing Line
Now that Melissa McCarthy has a fashion line that she’s promoting, the comedian is opening up about body shaming. Recently, the comedian launched her own fashion line, which is carried by Nordstrom for sizes that range from sizes 4 to 28, a wide range that you may not find on a “regular” rack.
Speaking of how the entertainment industry discriminates against plus sized woman, the Spy actress told E! the following.
“I don’t believe in kind of sectioning and segregating people in anything. I think most women in the U.S. are a 14. I think like 72 percent of women are a 14. So I think it’s a little insane if you’re in this business to tell your biggest section of clientele that you don’t want their business.”
Melissa isn’t just worried about fat shaming in Hollywood but how it extends to society, especially younger people who deal with bullying on a daily basis because of their image.
“It doesn’t make women feel good. I have two daughters and I think, ‘My, god—every time they see one of these things it’s supposed to be a joke [but] it just chips away and chips away and chips away.’ ”
If McCarthy’s fashion line seems random, it’s not, because prior to her acting career the star attended FIT (The Fashion Institute of Technology). This doesn’t seem to be a side career that will disappear or represent just a moment in McCarthy’s career. The comedian said, “It’s really fun getting to talk to a bunch of customers and actually find out what [they] like and what doesn’t work. I’m up for the good and the bad to improve it.”
Melissa McCarthy’s Clothing Line Has Arrived https://t.co/jRdPh2nf14 pic.twitter.com/TPrgHgBI83
— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) November 3, 2015
This isn’t the only time McCarthy has talked about her clothing line, Melissa McCarthy’s Seven7, and the way plus sized women are treated in society. On the heels of her deal with Nordstrom, the comedian turned designer voiced her opinion to USA Today.
“It’s as if as soon as you are over a size 10, you should lose your sense of style.
“Women come in all sizes. That’s the most logical thing. That’s the big part of the fun for me, making clothes for all women.”
Her goal is to have every woman “feel good in what they are wearing,” despite the fact that society tends to put women into categories and “make things that should be easy very complicated.”
She repeated this statement on simplifying things for women to Refinery: “I just think, if you’re going to make women’s clothing, make women’s clothing. Designers that put everyone in categories are over-complicating something that should be easy.”
Melissa McCarthy just launched her holiday clothing line with Lane Bryant! https://t.co/ovx8PhVsWx pic.twitter.com/b8zLtUivh5
— JustJared.com (@JustJared) November 14, 2015
By putting out this clothing line, McCarthy hopes that there will a variety for plus sized women, and that they will be seen as people who love fashion and hot trends just as much as the next person.
Although she’s advocating for plus sized women, McCarthy has also gone through somewhat of a transformation, dropping 50 pounds over the last year. The actress attributed her weight loss to a change of mind, telling Life & Style, “I truly stopped worrying about it. I think there’s something to kinda loosening up and not being so nervous and rigid about it that, bizarrely, has worked.”
In addition to her clothing line at Nordstrom, McCarthy also has her own line at Lane Bryant. The actress added holiday items to her clothing line, which is also available at Macy’s and the Home Shopping Network.
[Photo by Jason Merritt / Getty Images for Lane Bryant]
