Another day, another controversy. This time, it’s the popular clothing brand ASOS, which is under fire for an Instagram post that called the model featured in the image “plus size.” While the model is noted as sporting a fuller figure, the plus-size community immediately reacted to the image claiming that the model certainly couldn’t be regarded as plus-size and the brand should remove the wording altogether. See the image for yourself, below:



Photo: Courtesy of Instagram/ASOS

“How ridiculous that this women is considered ‘plus size.’ What a world we live in,” wrote one critic about the post. “Can’t you just call her a model? We can all see she’s not a size 8, but that doesn’t mean she’s ‘plus-sized.’ I bloody hate that phrase! So many negative connotations when, actually, she’s got an insanely gorgeous and healthy figure,” wrote another.

After receiving backlash over the image, ASOS quickly reworded the caption, removing the “plus size” term and instead writing: “Model and travel film-maker@NaomiShimada is all over this season’s fave ASOS slip dress. #AsSeenOnMe.” ASOS even responded to individual commenters, writing: “You’re right, that label sucks. We’ve amended the post.”

While this change was meant to remedy the criticism, people were once again unhappy with the caption, with plus-size community members mad that the term had been assumed to be negative since it had been removed from the post altogether.

“ASOS haven’t done anything wrong. There is nothing wrong with being plus-sized. It’s not a negative,” one commenter pointed out, while another said “you’ve made plus-size seem like a negative thing. Which it isn’t! Shame on you.”

While it can be argued that ASOS didn’t handle this incident as well as it could have, it’s not the only brand that has come under fire for the portrayal of its clothing line. An Australian dress company was recently criticized for using sexist language (which it intended to be humorous) to sell its clothing, causing outrage among its consumers.

Whichever way you feel about how ASOS handled its controversy, there’s one thing we can all agree on when it comes to these kinds of instances: You simply can’t please everyone.

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