Melissa McCarthy is gracing the front cover of Redbook magazine’s April 2016 issue. In the issue, she specifically discusses body positivity and how she wants to impact the stigma surrounding body image, especially for women. McCarthy explains, “With women, there’s this constant weird cultural thing where we’re always supposed to be comparing ourselves with one another.” Although she’s a comedic actress, McCarthy is very serious about the message of body positivity. She believes that, “As long as everybody is healthy, enjoy and embrace whatever body type you have.”
McCarthy’s empowering stance surrounding body positivity isn’t new, but it is important. As she explains in Redbook, women have practically been forced to always compare themselves to other women. But as the actress points out, no one is created the same, therefore, we shouldn’t try to look like a certain person or image. McCarthy’s message highlights the beautiful qualities everyone embodies that make them unique and special. In the issue, McCarthy also explains that she would rather get punched than have her children not believe in their beauty and not have proper self-worth.
McCarthy says that the ideal body image is an “epidemic” that makes girls and women of all ages feel shame about their own bodies when comparing themselves to the “point five percent of what the human race looks like.” The actress believes that communicating a message of body positivity should begin when girls are young because they begin to compare themselves to others and attempt to fit the mold of “beauty standards” early on in life. These startling realizations inspired McCarthy to start her clothing line that is more inclusive to different body types. She says, “ A good portion of women in America are a size 14 and higher.” Her line of clothing, Seven7, recently appeared in stores such as Macy’s and Nordstrom during Fall 2015.
When women feel confident in the clothes that they’re wearing then they can take on the day in a more positive way, McCarthy believes. In an interview with E! Online, McCarthy explains that society needs to stray away from using the term, “plus-size.” She believes that this term stems from society’s obsession with categorizing and grouping people, specifically women. And unfortunately, this same degree of categorizing and grouping isn’t evident when it comes to men, setting up what many see as a double standard. McCarthy strongly encourages people to stop labeling others and simply embrace everyone as they are.
When people say that McCarthy is making a “plus-size” clothing line, she politely corrects them and says, “I make clothes for women.” For example, the sizes featured in her fashion line range from 4 to 28, and she believes that women have so much more to offer than the size or shape of their bodies. “Women are amazing together,” explains McCarthy. The April 2016 issue of Redbook hit shelves March 15 and looks to inspire girls and women of all ages to love the bodies that they’re in.
Feature Image: Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV Photo, Courtesy of Flickr URL