These struggles to better represent fat people on the front end are likely due, at least in part, to the fact that this lack of inclusion goes far beyond the models that brands hire to promote their products. It spans the entire beauty industry — among brand founders, corporate brand employees, publicity firms, content production companies, and, yes, even the journalists such as myself that are hired by completely separate media companies to write about those brands.
While shooting most of her beauty campaigns, Lawrence has felt similarly: "I've actually never seen a fat person in production. There have been a couple of times when I worked with a fat photographer, but usually I'm the fattest and darkest person in the room," she says. "And there are always the few sets where they don't have the proper clothes to fit me.
For me, it's a never-ending cycle that starts with dejection, continues on to anger, then sadness, and ends with hesitant acceptance before it shortly starts all over again. And it's infuriating that these feelings are something I have to explain.