Macy’s Pulls ‘Mom Jeans’ Plates After Internet Outrage
You may have seen a controversial plate making the internet rounds this week: A recent tweet from comedian Alie Ward spotlighted a dish with a design that features three concentric circles; the smallest is labeled “skinny jeans”; the middle, “favorite jeans”; and the largest, “mom jeans.” Macy’s is hardly the first retailer to sell something as clueless as portion-control plates—google the phrase and you’ll get about 125,000,000 results—but this version is very, very stupid. Especially for a mom-jeans-loving mom.
The implication of the design appears to be “lol, moms all let themselves go and eat way too much! Disgusting! Don’t be like them! Keep your food fitting inside the very tiny circle in the center of the plate and you’ll never have to wear mom jeans!” Aside from the frankly concerning disordered-eating messaging that these plates encourage with their attempt at portion control, these plates also don't make any real health sense. The amount of space a food takes up on your plate means absolutely nothing. Having a cauliflower steak for dinner? According to this plate, you’re doomed! Stacked your tiny cheese cubes into a Jenga tower? Congrats on your well-balanced meal.
But the most offensive thing about this plate is the implication that being the owner of “mom jeans” is something shameful. Or that all “mom jeans” are being worn by people—presumably moms—who are not, I guess, taking care of themselves? Who are daring to stuff their mom bodies into jeans? As a mom myself, I find the idea offensive and also almost laughable.
Honestly, these plates are so bafflingly off base that I don’t really know what the designer thought mom jeans even were. My favorite “mom jeans” are high-waist and difficult to sit in for long periods. I would definitely take them off if I was going to eat a big dinner, not put them on—which I would do whenever I wanted to, because a plate is not telling me what to do!
I am not the only one who was confused to the point of rage by these dishes: Macy’s actually responded to Ward’s tweet, explaining that they would be removing the plates from their concept stores that had stocked them. (The plate is still available on the company’s site, Pourtions.)
Look, at the end of the day, I know this is just a dumb plate. But we can—and should—do better. You can’t get “banished” to the mom-jeans ring. Mom jeans are people jeans. People who should eat and wear whatever the hell they want.
Sara Gaynes Levy is a freelance writer living in New York City who covers health and wellness.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
