There have been some really interesting stories this week! Here are our favorites:

Lillian Behrendt muses on American Apparel’s (and other “youth-centric” brands’) stifled sizing accommodations.

I am in my early 20’s. I will wear stupid pants. So will just about everyone else who is my age. Stupid pants are an important part of human development. By not catering to the enormous market of plus-sized/fat/whatever young people, American Apparel, the INDUSTRY LEADER in stupid pants (not to mention stupid shirts, stupid shorts and stupid nipple-baring leotard things) is missing out on a lot of money. – Lillian Behrendt

American Apparel also denied the valuable dollars of plus-sized, body-embracing erotic artist, April Flores (who is quoted in the above article). When asked for a size larger than 2X (which is likely the equivalent of an XL), Flores was told, “That’s not our demographic” and was referred to the men’s section. Lovely.

Definatalie talks tights, and gives a lengthy list of DIYs, as well as resources for plus-sized indie tights/leggings creators.

Over at Eat The Damn Cake, Kate points out how we’ve all learned (thoroughly) how to recognize the things we hate about our body… But what about the positive?

But what about when you look down at your thighs and just like them? Without having to think. Without having to convince yourself that they’re actually OK. That maybe they’re not quite as hopeless as they’ve always seemed. What about when you look at them and think they’re a pleasing shape? What if you like the way they squish out when you sit down? Maybe that feels womanly or voluptuous or sexy or just indescribably cool. - Eat The Damn Cake

Rant Time: What the hell is up with the influx of eating-disorder-promoting t-shirts? Aren’t we in 2010? Wasn’t this fad over in the late ’90s? I mean, honestly… With Perez Hilton coming out with his god-forsaken “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” shirt, and then Urban Outfitters (who we already hate, thank you very much) started hawking this adorable “Eat Less” tee. Both parties have since pulled the shirts because of major public outcry, but good lord – what did you expect, idiots?

William Leith, in a piece for the Telegraph, gives his perspective on female body image issues from a man’s perspective – and it’s not what you think:

For men the holy grail is within reach – you just need to get fit, and then you’ll be fine; then you can think about something else. But the messages aimed at women are much more complex and confusing. As the American social commentator Warren Farrell has pointed out, women’s magazines often contain articles about being Superwoman, which are next to adverts about being Cinderella.

In other words, the words tell women how to be independent and in control. But the adverts, where the money is, tell them they have to be beautiful. - William Leith

DING DING DING!

All images from The Natural Female Form.