While activism rooted in body diversity has infiltrated traditionally thin-centered departments such as lingerie ads, swimsuit catalogs, and high fashion magazine covers, sports-oriented verticals still seem to stubbornly keep the term "plus size" out of their marketing. That is, until now. Nike used a curve model for the first time in its advertising history via Instagram, according to Huffington Post. In the shot, Paloma Elsesser — a Muse NYC model — is paired alongside a caption detailing how to properly pick out a sports bra.
As an Instagram account that shows a variety of strong, fierce, determined women slaying it with their bodies, it's about time that the brand moved past the mold of "only thin people work out." In the image, Elsesser stands in front of an urban-like setting, wearing lycra pants and a sports bra, and demonstrates how to lift one's arms in order to determine whether the size of your sports bra is the correct one.
But the great thing about this ad is not only that it respects body diversity and opens the door to a wide variety of different humans, but that it also doesn't make a big deal about the woman's body type to begin with. There are no tokenization-vibes or "we're being so body positive" tagline to be found accompanying the picture.
Huffington Post observed, "What’s striking about the image [...] is what it doesn’t have: Any mention of her being plus size or any indication that there is something different about this image compared to the rest on the page. In including Elsesser in the mix, free of context, Nike is normalizing the idea that women of all shapes and sizes care about fitness ― the ultimate goal on the path toward inclusivity."
The photo of Elsesser was also accompanied by another picture of a curvier model in an impressive yoga pose, and all this makes me feel hopeful that this wasn't just a one-off publicity move.
According to Popsugar, "Instagram users applauded Nike for featuring a model who shows being healthy comes in all shapes and sizes. Throughout the comments, words like inclusive, relatable, diverse, and body positive were commonly used."
While this is a great step in the right direction, it's important to note that the company's sports bras only run up to E cups and 40 bands, which means a variety of bodies are still unfortunately excluded. Huffington Post offered that the E size "is considered by some experts to be pretty much the same size as a DD."
While still extremely frustrating, one can only hope that this is just the first step towards catering to to the plus size demographic, which is filled with babes who love being as fierce with their bodies as their straight-size counterparts. Healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes, so fingers crossed that these images keep on coming.
Images: nikewomen/Instagram
