Positioning the Marketplace as Inclusive

In this section we look at the destigmatizing discourses relating to the marketplace. As discussed in the first results section, experiencing stigma makes the consumer evaluate the marketplace as threatening. The marketplace extends stigmatizing social discourses and becomes the stigmatiser. The consumer feels threatened by potential stereotype encounter and low marketplace performance (Schmader, Johns, & Forbes, 2008). This leads to reactions of avoidance, withdrawal and disidentification with the marketplace. Stigma literature explains that negative stigma outcomes result in an increase in social distance between the stigmatizer and the stigmatized. The community helps reduce this distance, as the marketplace is no longer perceived as threatening. It helps encompass the structural stigma imposed by the marketplace (Bos et al., 2013).

The community alters this negative marketplace perception. It supports its members in approaching the marketplace and lights the way to a stigma free consumption. These practices help counter many of the stigmatizing elements discussed in the literature review. There are three communal practices that support this. The group pinpoints the stigma free marketplace, enables a consumption that is stigma free and reinterprets the marketplace as an arena for stigmatized success. This helps alleviate the negative marketplace perception, and makes stigmatized consumption a domain of possible success. The community provides consumers with the necessary resources to achieve their consumption objectives and to generate positive marketplace outcomes. These practices help reduce the stigmatized’s isolation. The

community practices help them identify the shops where they can fulfill their needs. This increases their chances for success and reduces the threat of the shopping experience. Also, many of the recommendations include mainstream stores. Visiting more these stores also contributes to reducing their social isolation from the nonstigmatized. Hence physical stores that tailor specifically to overweight women are perceived negatively by the community participants as they help fulfill this social isolation.

a. Uncovering the stigma relevant marketplace.

Our members face marketplace structural stigma. This comes from the lack of availability of fashion that fits the bodies and the needs of the overweight consumers. Many community members discuss the challenge they face to find clothes that fit their bodies.

Several describe the hassle of having to try a high amount of items when they go clothes shopping. They describe this situation as humiliating and painful and often resulting in failure. Consumers describe these consumption failures as triggering emotions such as disgust, which push them to move away from shopping. Many of them report the lack of stores offering their sizes. They also explain that the majority of large sizes are mostly available online and that the few stores that offer their size hide the big size section in the back of the store. Amélie describes her frustration with online shopping.

Honestly, this is a nice conversation! Especially that I am in the same stage of being “fed up”. Because, what I want to wear does not exist in my size and even less at affordable prices

Online ordering is “the” solution but I still find it nicer to try clothes beforehand….

Anyway, this puts me in a dead end from a style perspective…

Thanks for this post it’s reenergizing!”

Thannnnnks for your replies girls !!!

I know that there are many solutions, new stores with beautiful stuff etc, but I am not really knowledgeable about them. And even if I know that all girls face a situation where some things fit some girls better than others. It’s true that visiting stores, trying many things and NOTHING fits me… it kills me, it’s beyond my control. When it comes to online stores, I bought once on DuoBoots, NewLook and Asos, and I was disappointed by almost everyone of my orders. The slim pants were not really slim. The dresses too wide in some areas and ugly in others, with a not so nice fabric. The boots that were supposed to be my size were not really.

It’s not an objective way of thinking. But all this annoys me and does not make me want to do it again (especially when I have to pay customs fees and duties on top)

I may be stubborn to want to keep wanting to shop in stores whereas

“I am big and I am supposed to do it online”… this solution upsets me. I like to touch the fabric, try, think, try something else that fits as well, hesitate which one to purchase, and not “purchase what fits”

which I have been doing for a long time.

I don’t like getting clothes that do not really look good but in which I look merely ok and that I do not want to return because it will cost me a lot so I might as well keep them. Whereas in a store if I had tried them I would have simply dropped them.

I know that the fashion for overweight girls has evolved , and that it’s a bit daring to complain about it oh well…

Anyway, thanks for the information regarding the store in Lausanne, I will try to stop by next time!!!

And yes, I will give up on high boots, or low boots that are worn over pants. I will keep wearing low boots under the pants. I just want them to be warm and comfortable ( and cute). Yes only this!

Oh thanks for the info Causséa, it seems they have lots of stuff but they have no store close to where I live…!

Finally, thanks to all for your comforting words. Sometimes we are not so alone.

Joining the community allows these consumers to change their marketplace

evaluation. They go from perceiving it as marginalizing to more inclusive. Many members explain how the community helped them discover new consumption possibilities. This is because many discussions increase awareness of stores that fulfill their specific needs in terms of sizes, styles and attitude. The forum is filled with member testimonials of positive and negative experiences regarding their marketplace interactions. This helps these consumers steer through marketplace offerings while reducing the likelihood to experience exclusion.

Many of our members report their lack of awareness about these niche marketplace offerings prior to joining the community. Many older community members discuss how one can no longer complain about the marketplace offerings as there are so many alternatives to

consumption for the overweight. In addition to the discussions in the forum, the community is also a space where advertisers can promote products tailored to this group. Moreover,

community moderators post articles where they introduce new brands, stores, innovations and new products to the community.

Portraying the marketplace as inclusive and minimizing negative marketplace encounters is destigmatizing to members because it reduces their perception of the

marketplace as threatening and encourages them to pursue the marketplace. In this regard, Patty explains how discovering the inclusive marketplace through vlr helped her recover the pleasure of shopping.

Hello, my name is Patty and I suffer from the buying fever because of VLR (or THANKS to VLR!).

When I joined in 2004, I did not dress well… I wore what I found and I did not find much, because I had stopped looking. I could not find anything, so I ended up giving up.

I was wearing large, shapeless and black clothes that belonged to Mrs. crow. Sometimes (rarely) a garment stood out (thanks to the

designer René Derhy that was among the first to understand that it was possible to dress big girls).

One day, I come here and what do I see? Clothes my size? Real ones?

With cuts, shapes and colors? Oh? Does it exist?

So practically from one day to the next, the one that used to wear almost the same thing all year long started digging (Torrid, Yours Clothing, mail-order, hypermarkets, stores…) and my wardrobe filled up nicely. It made my husband and my mom very happy! (she adores clothes, she’s is size 40/42 so things are more simple for her!) Now, buying clothes has FINALLY become pleasurable and that makes me feel good! (but it’s not the case for my bank account, although it’s ok I don’t overspend! Well not too much)

And since some time, I started relooking my man, who is also oversize!

Building a trustworthy stigma free shopping environment is critical for engaging in consumption. For example, being in a new environment reactivates potential stigma encounter and revives fears associated with it. This was the case of Geraldine who moved to a new city and reports shopping avoidance and perceiving the marketplace as a burden again. She feels a high exposure to stigma and asks for community support to help her identify the stores where she can get her needs met without having to face potential stereotyping.

Uncovering the stigma free consumption arena is also associated with a downside.

Some stigmatized members engage in compensation to alleviate their longstanding frustration. Several of our members like Nadine, report resorting to overconsumption.

I am replying to another topic “buying clothes and not wearing them anymore”. Many of the members said that this happens, because at last they find nice things their size, whereas before they were totally frustrated with clothes.

With the pleasure of finding nice things their size also comes the temptation and the desire to purchase, sometimes not well, and sometimes too much, but always with pleasure!

Do you also face the same situation, since you come to VLR, and you see outfits of the day, blogs, mag advice on clothes, the BAV and the girls’ advice…

Did you change your perception on how you dress and how often you shop? Do you suffer from the buying fever?

b. Reinterpreting the marketplace as an arena of success.

Our data analysis shows that the media play a major role in building the failure image of the overweight consumers. Many new members perceive their marketplace struggle as a

“dead end.” The mainstream media scene excludes the overweight whenever it comes to portraying attributes such as beauty, fashion and attractiveness. Some of the discussions we analyzed reflect on how some iconic fashion designers such as Abercrombie and Fitch refuse to make clothes for the overweight. The failure image is fostered by advertising related to weight loss products that show people that have succeeded in loosing their excess weight.

These media discourses put the responsibility of weight loss on the consumer. They feed into the belief that overweight people failed in the marketplace. Our members report feeling a sense of guilt and failure regarding this issue.

Joining the community helps members alter the integrated self-perception of being unable to succeed in the marketplace. The group allows them to discover overweight consumers that have managed to succeed in the marketplace. These act as role models they associate with and aspire to. Indeed the community’s newsletter is filled with beautiful pictures of overweight models who are successfully dressed and who look attractive and confident. Also, the forum is rifle of discussions of members who show a high progress in destigmatization and who have achieved success in consumption. These portray a positive image of themselves, not only through discourses, but also sometimes through posting their pictures. The community also gives the possibility to its members to create blogs where they give accounts of their struggles in destigmatizing. Self-destigmatization is associated with reaching self-acceptance and using the marketplace successfully. Members describe this as a process where they endure ups and downs. In their interactions, members engage in

intracommunal comparison. They foresee their journey as a multilevel process where they position themselves as” just starting”, “advanced” and “having reached self-acceptance”.

Many members such as Emilie, explain that being exposed to destigmatized consumers encouraged her to engage in self-destigmatization. It makes her believe that success is possible. She says:

When it comes to clothes, VLR contaminated me but at least now when I want something I know where to look for it. And more importantly, I can exchange point of views about outfits.

Seeing well dressed curvy and very very cute girls ( yes yes girls!, we are cute), made me want to give more attention to myself. And also telling myself that we can be well dressed despite our extra weight.

The only thing that blocks me now is my bank account. I know that the moment I will be in the green, I will let go a bit and give in to some websites ( torrid among others…) and some products…

Similarly, Marilyn explains how being exposed to images of consumption success increases her self confidence. She is able to project her own potential marketplace success.

I don’t know where to write this, but I need to say it. I have been hesitating to do it since a long time but I think that there is room for it here, so let’s go:

Thank you VLR (Administrators names) I got here because I wanted to understand why, I was losing weight instead of gaining when I stopped dieting. So thank you for all information concerning the food education! And also, thank you Google! When I requested “I lost weight with no diets” I was afraid to end up in websites that sold useless solutions. After this, I wanted to move a bit. I was tired of feeling stiffness in my body, being tired for nothing. In the forum I was able to find plenty of advice, and explanations on how to exercise in an efficient manner and to get the maximum out of my workouts.

Later, I started reading further, and I learnt many things about many topics including human nature! And now when my daughter wants a piercing, I am able to talk to her and advise her. And now after seeing many “outfits of the day” in blogs, reading all the fashion and

clothing announcements that Anne (the admin) puts on the front page, I know one can dress well and find nice shoes no matter the size or the objective( everyday, outing, exercising). And this is fabulous! How can one feel good in their skin when dressed like a bag, or not

comfortably? Well now no matter how a person feels it’s possible to find clothes in which we feel good and pretty. And this is great for the mood and for becoming self confident. So it’s nice to screen for us and to share good tips.

Well being in life comes from so many things… So thanks again VLR!

Many of the role models within the community are recognized for their success. This recognition extends beyond the community boundaries and includes their social environment such as family members, friends and co-workers. Community members, visualize how consumption success carries destigmatizing benefits. Several members report how their success in achieving fashionable styles makes them feel “normal” or “experts.” Some of them explain that succeeding in the marketplace makes them receive positive feedback from their surroundings such as “ Give me the reference of the stores where you shop” or “you do not look fat”.. These comments are often countersterotypical and help place the overweight within the norm in this stigma related domain. Also, the social recognition they get fosters normative legitimacy (Coskuner-Balli & Thompson, 2013), which distances them from their stigma. The community shows stigmatized members how adopting mainstream fashion codes makes the

consumer send an identity signal that is common with the mainstream. Schmader et al. (2013) explain that signaling a common identity deflects attention from disparities and draws

attention to a higher level boundary that includes both the stigmatized and the stigmatizer.

c. Extending the marketplace

The community uses members’ creativity to expand the marketplace. Members collectively increase their options by going beyond the marketplace offerings tailored to the overweight. Members use their experience and know how to challenge the mainstream marketplace categorization of some products. First of all, this happens through using some products differently from how manufacturers intended them to. For example, in some

instances, the overweight need to solve some problems that are specific to their category. This is the case of leg friction. Indeed many members complain how one of the main reasons for giving up wearing dresses and skirts is coming from the pain associated with their legs rubbing against each other. In this regard, some of them recommend using an anti burn balm cream to ease leg friction. Similarly, Aisha suggests alternatives to a member who has trouble finding her ski suit size and that had stopped practicing ski.

If you have never practiced ski before and you are just starting you can very well wear a comfortable jean or any other pants and wear waterproof pants on top such as the ones bikers wear to protect themselves from the rain. It probably costs less and is as efficient.

Second, members push the marketplace boundaries through tapping into other markets.

For example, when Janine exhausted all her options and failed to find a ski suit, she gave up skiing. Members helped her solve her problem by suggesting a ski outfit in the male section.

Similarly, other members were encouraged to tap into the pregnancy section.

Third, several members complain about the high pricing of the little clothing available for their category. For example, one member was complaining about purchasing a pair of jeans her size that costs almost double the price of a regular sized one. This not only reinforces the stigma but also limits the number of garments they can acquire. The community once more extends their possibility of increasing the number of acquisitions by offering its own parallel marketplace. One area of the forum is dedicated to members who are interested in

selling/exchanging their clothes. In addition to solving the pricing issue, this submarket also

helps solve the availability problem. Many of the members report their satisfaction with this option.

These communal strategies help members tap into new products and categories and enlarge their marketplace offerings. Pushing against marketplace boundaries opens new ways for the consumer to use the marketplace and encourages marketplace pursuit. It also supports destigmatization through positioning members as competent and holding expertise that rivals the one of marketplace legitimate actors.