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Any-Body in Argentina: Seeking Size Law Compliance
September 2011

By Sharon Haywood
Originally published on September 1, 2011 at Any-Body.

Fashion in Buenos Aires is no frivolous matter. Apart from being the fashion capital of Latin America, the first season of Project Runway Latin America was held in Buenos Aires and almost a third of the reality show’s participants were Argentine. Home-grown designers have no shortage of venues to showcase their work: Buenos Aires Fashion Week, Argentina Fashion Week, and Buenos Aires Moda all attract national media coverage. And most recently, the Buenos Aires government has launched Buenos Aires Runway, where the country’s newest designers exhibit their work via regular fashion shows and conferences. Considering what big business fashion is in Argentina, it’s perplexing that retailers sell clothes that only about 30% of average-sized women can wear.

That’s right. Seven out of ten women struggle to find their size in the latest trends. What’s more discouraging is that this reality exists in spite of municipal and provincial laws created specifically to eradicate designers’ and retailers’ preference for smaller sizes. The size law in the capital requires that retailers stock eight sizes (usually AR 36-50/UK 8-22/US 6-20) and the law in the province of Buenos Aires requires sizes AR 38-48 (UK 10-20/US 8-18); both laws mandate standardized sizing. Compliance is frighteningly low at less than 25%. Despite that the provincial law has been on the books for six years and the municipal law for two years, it’s obvious that the current consequences for not adhering to the law—fines and store closures—have not increased size law compliance. Which is why Any-Body Argentina, a grassroots movement born out of the Endangered Bodies global campaign[1] is employing an alternative tactic. 

Instead of taking a punitive approach our size law campaign focuses on the positive. Our original aim was to reward stores that demonstrated 100% size law compliance but we discovered we had set the bar too high. Over several months, our team investigated stores throughout the capital trying to find one store—just one—that fully complied with the law. We couldn’t. So we adjusted our focus and short-listed a handful of near-compliant brands, both Argentine and international to further research, with VER and Portsaid sharing the top spot. So as not to rely solely on our independent investigation of stores, we collected data by conducting interviews with teens and women both inside and outside of a major shopping center and we widely distributed an online survey[2].The results confirmed our investigation: 50% of women shopped at the top two stores we identified.

On July 1, 2011 we launched our size law campaign by officially recognizing these two Argentine brands, VER and Portsaid for offering the most extensive range of sizes in the country. We awarded them with a sticker that can be found in their store windows, which allows consumers to easily identify women-friendly retailers. Both brands presently display the Any-Body Argentina sticker in almost 100 stores throughout the country and we continue to collaborate with the two brands to support them in reaching full size law compliance.

The reaction to our campaign has been encouraging. Within weeks of launching, the country’s three major newspapers covered our initiative: Clarín, La Nación, and Página 12, in addition to television coverage by CNN Español and Moda Bit. Even more exciting is that a major Argentine brand has approached us wanting to be recognized; currently we’re working with the brand to ensure it meets a basic level of compliance. (We have also identified other clothing brands, both for teens and women, that we would like to see displaying our sticker.) And of course, the continual feedback from Argentine teens and women keeps us inspired. My favorite to date is from Vanina C: “Thank you for defending our rights so that women have the freedom to choose.” We’re ecstatic that women have choices at VER and Portsaid but we also recognize that the current fashionable options are still limited.

On this side of the equator, spring is just a few weeks away. As the new season’s collections hit the racks we’ll be there, investigating the range of standardized sizes offered. Our commitment to achieving size law compliance is more than about eradicating size discrimination. In a country with the second highest rate of eating disorders in the world, where over 90% of women are on a diet, and more than 50% would like to be one dress size smaller, size law compliance translates to greater mental and physical health for Argentine girls, teens, and women.

 

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[1] Originally called Endangered Species.

[2] Data collection is ongoing.

Success! MTV Networks Won’t Air “Monster”
June 2011

Written by Sharon Haywood, co-editor of Adios Barbie
Published at Care2 Causes, June 30, 2011

It’s not easy to forget those uncut clips of Kanye West’s music video “Monster” that were leaked online back in December and January. But thanks to you, MTV and VH1, part of MTV Networks, have chosen not to air the official version of “Monster,” which bears much resemblance to the earlier excerpts. We believe that your signatures on the Care2 petition, an incredible 16,000, played an enormous role in their decision.

Fetishized violence assumes the video’s starring role: nearly naked women dead by hanging, decapitation, and just dead (or drugged) enough to be played with in bed like a sex toy. It’s what prompted us (Melinda Tankard Reist, Collective Shout, Coalition Against Trafficking Women Australia and Adios Barbie) to create a petition against the official release of “Monster.” But it was YOU who took the time to insist that violence against women is unacceptable, even if labeled as art.

In March, we discovered that MTV sent West and Def Jam (the creators of the video; its parent company, Universal Music Group or UMG only distributes Def Jam content) back to the production studio to make edits. It was a move in the right direction but we knew we had to keep the campaign alive. You recognized that hate speech is not the same as free speech and your support continued to grow into the thousands.

When the video was officially released on June 5, the anticipated edits were practically non-existent. Except of course, for the disclaimer, which I wrote about at Adios Barbie earlier this week:

The only thing that was strikingly different from the leaked clips was the disclaimer at the beginning of the video: “The following content is in no way to be interpreted as misogynistic or negative towards any groups of people. It is an art piece and shall be taken as such.” It might as well have read: “Warning: The following content may cause physical and emotional upset such as nausea and seething anger” because the final cut still contained the same sexually violent images that sparked our activism in the first place. It’s obvious that the inclusion of a disclaimer tells us that someone at Def Jam, UMG, or even West himself is paying attention to our protest. Note to artists and producers: A disclaimer does not erase nor excuse misogynistic content.

It seems that MTV agrees. This past week, the network confirmed that MTV and VH1 will not provide airtime to “Monster.” Although UMG, the other target of our petition, refused to provide a statement and take a stand on the issue, we have delivered a potent message to the music industry. Preventing the distribution of one video won't automatically produce responsible and respectful depictions of women overnight but we have taken one positive step forward. It is because of each and every one of you that MTV Networks paid attention to our message: Eroticized violence against women is not entertainment. Keep the message alive.

 

 

We challenge the culture that teaches women and girls to hate their own bodies

Endangered Species is an international summit planned for March 2011. The aim is to save future generations of girls from the misery that turns women against their own bodies. The challenge – to make people understand how and why this is an emergency, to show them how they can do something about it, and to inspire them to embrace change.

There are 5 summits that will happen around the world:
March 4 in London, UK
March 18-19 in New York, USA in conjunction with the Women's Therapy Centre Institute
March 16th in Buenos Aires, Argentina
March 8th in Melbourne, Australia
March 26th in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Put a Stop to Kanye's Monstrous Video & Sign Petition
January 2011

On January 10, 2011, the petition I co-authored with Melinda Tankard Reist on Care2.com's petition site went live. Here is the overview:

HipHopConnection.com has leaked a video teaser for the Kanye West hit song "Monster" and what we've seen is beyond disturbing. In just 30 seconds, viewers take in image after image of eroticized violence against women:

• Dead women, clad in lingerie, hang by chains around their necks.
• West makes sexual moves toward dead or drugged women propped up in a bed.
• A naked dead or drugged woman lays sprawled on a sofa.

If that's not enough, a behind-the-scenes clip of the video includes a semi-naked dead woman laying spread eagled on a table in front of Rick Ross as he eats a plate of raw meat. It is likely we can expect more brutal images in the full-length video. The victims in this video are clearly women. Only women. And the men, Kanye West, Rick Ross, and Jay-Z are far from bothered by the female corpses. They seem to enjoy being surrounded by lifeless female bodies, apparent victims of a serial killing. >The official release date of the full-length video has not yet been announced Let's make it clear to Universal Music Group, the controlling company of West's record label, Roc-A-Fella Records, and MTV that the music industry's portrayals of women's pain, suffering, abuse, objectification, and victimization as valid forms of entertainment are not acceptable.

We call on Universal Music Group and MTV to combat violence against women by refusing to support, promote, and/or give airtime to West's "Monster" video. Please add your name to the petition.

If you'd like to read my personal reasons for initiating this action, read my interview with Care2.com here.