TV Host Calls For Body Shaming Plates To Be ‘Banned’ In US

PA Images/Alie Ward/Twitter

Podcast and TV show host Alie Ward called out the store Macy’s for selling ridiculous body-shaming plates, saying they should be ‘banned’ throughout the US. 

The Did I Mention Invention? presenter shared a photo of the crockery on Twitter yesterday (July 21), where she made her disapproval clear.

One of the plates is decorated with three circles, increasing in size from a small ring in the centre to the largest circle which almost fills the plate.

Wikimedia Commons

Written along the small circle are the words ‘skinny jeans’; the middle reads ‘favorite jeans’ and the biggest says ‘mom jeans’, suggesting the circles are indicative of portion size and limiting your food in order to fit into certain pairs of jeans.

The second plate has a smaller ring reading ‘foodie’, while a larger outer circle reads ‘food coma’, marking a judgemental contrast between what they’ve deemed an ‘appropriate’ a portion size for someone who likes food, and a size for someone who over-indulges.

Alie captioned the photo ‘How can I get these plates from @Macys banned in all 50 states’ – and I’m definitely with her on this.

What right does a plate – or rather, the maker of the plate – have to determine how much we should eat? Everyone has a different lifestyle and a different diet – a small portion for one person might be a large portion for another and that’s perfectly okay.

It’s incredibly dangerous to suggest you have to eat the amount determined by a small circle in order to fit the category of ‘skinny jeans’ – where the emphasis seems to be on the skinny. It could lead people to feel guilty or uncomfortable about eating anything more than what the circle suggests, which in turn can have a harmful impact on mental health and food.

Alie later said her wish for them to be banned was an exaggeration but she still wanted to point out how inappropriate the product is.

She wrote:

“Banned” was hyperbole — I just think this logic is flawed, harmful & people shouldn’t make money off of making women feel bad.

The plates are also judgemental of what it means to wear these types of clothes, suggesting anyone who prefers to wear mom jeans over skinny jeans is more likely to eat large amounts. Mom jeans are simply a style – you can get them in small and large sizes and it’s no indication of how much someone eats.

Actor and activist Jameela Jamil responded to Alie’s tweet, condemning the existence of the body shaming plates.

She wrote:

Fuck these plates. Fuck these plates to hell @Macys

One Twitter user argued the product wasn’t ‘that serious’, saying they were ‘cute’ and funny’, but many people were shocked to see the body-shaming plates.

One person explained how the image had an immediate effect on them, writing:

Macy’s have since responded to the tweet, admitting the ‘body shaming plates’ were inappropriate and saying they would remove the plates from their stores.

The company wrote:

Hi, Alie — we appreciate you sharing this with us and agree that we missed the mark on this product. It will be removed from all STORY at Macy’s locations.

Nothing and no one – least of all an inanimate object – should be able to judge another person for the amount they eat.

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Emily Brown

Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.