Brand Posts Body-Shaming Meme — and Some People Are Not Happy About It
The holiday season is all about excess: maxing out credit cards, overdrinking, and indulging on sweets, treats, and other rich foods.
Beauty brand Soap & Glory attempted to convey this collective feeling of exorbitance with a meme featuring a pair of jeans with the text “It’s All Fun And Games Until Your Jeans Don’t Fit Anymore.” The caption, which has since been revised, originally read, “LOL… help?! We’ve totes gone from eating pigs in blankets to BEING the pigs in blankets.”
Yet the company’s attempt to relate with its followers backfired since many of them considered the meme a body-shaming post.
A photo posted by Soap & Glory (@soapandglory) on Dec 28, 2016 at 1:47pm PST
As tikidiva wrote, “Wow this is bad. And to be real, the last thing I want to do when I’m feeling out of shape is shop. So, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.”
“Insulting women isn’t the way to gain fans. How disappointing,” bloomiebloomie added. And belkastrelka agreed: “Thanks for calling women that have gained weight “pigs,” @soapandglory. Shameful.”
In a repost of the meme on her own account, SarahLikesThings wrote, “This is what 2016 looks like. @soapandglory body shaming is ok if we put it on a pink background, huh?”
A photo posted by Sarah McDonald (@sarahlikesthings) on Dec 28, 2016 at 5:38pm PST
Some followers, however, did find the meme funny. For example, katrineramsay commented, “Far too relatable.” And kym_sa_2016 wrote, “I have jeans in thin, oh dear, and omg!! sizes!!! But I know that’s no excuse so will embrace January.”
In response to the criticism that the brand was body-shaming, Soap & Glory shared the following message:
“To the few of you on this post who feel we’re trying to make women feel bad – you’ve completely misunderstood the vibe of this post! It’s a silly meme that trends every Christmas and we thought it was funny! Obviously none of us are ACTUAL pigs in blankets. Aside from the lovely time spent with family & friends, FESTIVE FOOD is one of our fave things about the holidays. If you’ve followed us for a while you’ll know one of our fave hashtags is #SNACKATTACK because.. well.. we can’t say no!! Hope everyone is indulging just as much as we are xxx”
Some said the apology wasn’t sincere and wanted more. “Well good to know we all just misunderstood this,” one commenter wrote. “It seems you may have also misunderstood the implications brand messaging can have on young girls and women. You may not realize you are influential but you are. This may be a silly meme but we all need to rise above tired tactics of calling women pigs because they gain weight over the holidays. You sell body products to make women feel better about themselves. Why not focus on positive messaging?? Is it an easy joke? Sure it is, but aim higher than that. Be better than that.”
Another wrote, “HAHAH WOMEN ARE FAT! #notfunny Good lord you idiots, it’s almost 2017. Get a f***ing grip on life and stop finding body shaming hilarious like a 4-year-old boy.”
The brand, a favorite of many budget-minded beauty editors, was originally a spinoff of Bliss. Soap & Glory is now owned by U.K. pharmacy giant Boots and is sold at Walgreens in the U.S.
The reality is, after the holidays, many can relate to feeling this way. But so many women — of all sizes — are conditioned to hate themselves for gaining a a pound. This message coming from a beauty brand that sells products that ostensibly make women feel good about themselves reinforces a self-hating dynamic. Women and girls should love themselves as they are, no matter what the scale — or jean size — says.
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