'I don't like the term plus-size': Tyra Banks on how body-image labels in the fashion industry are harmful to women

Tyra Banks, who is currently campaigning with Special K to ban 'fat talk' and promote positive body image, has admitted that the label 'plus-size' is harmful to women.

The 40-year-old supermodel and America's Top Model judge, who uses the term 'fiercely real' instead, told Huffington Post Style: 'I don't like the label "plus-size".
'I don't want to use the term "plus-size," because, to me, what the hell is that? It just doesn't have a positive connotation to it. I tend to not use it.'

Tyra Banks, who is currently campaigning with Special K to ban 'fat talk' and promote positive body image, has admitted that the label 'plus-size' is harmful to women

As women strive to get back on track this New Year, Special K chose to partner with Ms Banks to help shift the weight management conversation to a more positive one.
Emphasizing that positivity is important to weight management success, Special K revealed that 93per cent of women 'fat talk', which the company says is 'weighing women down.'

'Whether sparked by an unflattering photo or shopping for jeans, these negative comments women make about their own bodies and others are a destructive and significant barrier to weight-management success,' Special K explained in a press release.

Ms Banks, who crowned the 'fiercely real' Whitney Thompson as the winner of Top Model Cycle ten in 2008, with many labeling her as the show's first 'plus-size' victor, launched the Fiercely Real Model Search for plus-size teens in 2010.

Emphasizing that positivity is important to weight management success, Special K revealed that 93per cent of women 'fat talk', which the company says is 'weighing women down'

As women strive to get back on track this New Year, Special K chose to partner with Ms Banks for a campaign titled 'shhhhut down fat talk' to help shift the weight management conversation to a more positive one

She hopes that incorporating more diverse body shapes into the fashion industry will become the norm.
'We just need to make sure it's not a trend and that it's something that's normal, because this stuff comes in waves and it would be nice to see it become constant,' she explained.
However Special K's body image campaign, titled 'shhhhut down fat talk' and spearheaded by Ms Banks, has been deemed 'ironic' and 'insincere' by critics.

'I don't want to use the term "plus-size". . .It just doesn't have a positive connotation to it'
 

The low calorie cereal brand calls for women to embrace their bodies and stop 'joking about cankles', 'muffin tops' and 'cellulite'.
However, one woman wrote on Facebook in response to the new initiative: 'Special K is about fighting FAT not 'fat talk.
'I'm not feeling authenticity from a brand dedicated to encouraging women to do ineffective deprivation diets and weight loss.'
As part of the new campaign, Special K invited several women to a store that contained labels inscribed with things like 'feeling so disgusted at my figure at the moment #cow,' 'cellulite is in my DNA,' and 'I have a muffin top' in place of display signs and price tags.

'I don't want to use the term "plus-size," because, to me, what the hell is that? It just doesn't have a positive connotation to it. I tend to not use it,' Ms Banks said

'Special K promotes weight loss and then promotes not concerning yourself with your weight. It's ironic to me'
The ladies' reactions were caught on camera and combined into a short advert uploaded to YouTube on December 2.
'This is like looking at the inside of my head,' 'I feel sad' and 'it's like bullying yourself' were among the comments provided by the volunteer shoppers.
The advert's closing caption reads: 'You wouldn't talk this way to anyone else, so why do it to yourself? Let's shhhhut down fat talk.'