Lauren Conrad bans the word "skinny" from her blog
Lauren Conrad is striking the word "skinny" from her website's lexicon for its negative connotations.
In a letter to her readers posted June 1, the former star of "The Hills" explained that she and her editors at LaurenConrad.com, a fashion, fitness, design and dining blog, made the decision to sanction the words "skinny", "thin" and "slim" because they promote "body shaming" and poor-self image.
Although the website's content will still focus heavily on maintaining chic appearances and keeping fat off, providing diet recipes and the latest workout trends, Conrad does not want her readers to think that she is promoting skinniness above all else.
"When we've talked about getting in shape in the past, words like 'skinny,' 'slim,' and 'thin' have often come up. Starting this month, we'll be banning any body shaming terms from the site, and replacing them with words like 'fit' 'toned,' and 'healthy.' The word skinny will now be reserved for skinny jeans. My editorial team and I had a long talk about it, and we want to make sure that the focus is on being fit as opposed to a number on the scale."
"Every body is created differently -- and healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes," wrote Conrad.
Many readers are applauding Conrad's diction directive. "I cannot tell you how excited I was to read this. You will change the meaning of beauty... I hope that you will continue to make positive changes to your site that will not shame women (unintentionally) or make them feel outcasted," one commenter wrote. "I hope that maybe one day your team could also find a way to include more beauty tips for dark skinned women like myself with curly hair."
Other readers expressed their qualms about the decision to euphemistically allude to being acceptably slender. One pointed out that Conrad's clothing brands cater only to "fit" women who fall into a particular size-range.
"I love the idea of this and yet I think you've missed the point. As someone who has a large chest that requires a size 12 or 14 at least, can I tell you how many times I have felt 'body shamed' by you," that reader said. "Not directly, mind you... but the very shameful and subversive way you make anyone larger than a 31" waist feel less about themselves through your clothing lines. When you put out clothes that only go up to a size 8 (and run small at that), you are saying to the 70%+ women that wear a size 12 and up that their body doesn't deserve you. [She] doesn't deserve to feel pretty or sexy or classy. I waited so long for your Rifle+Paper Crown line to come out, only to find out I wasn't even close to wearing the largest size."