Jill Kortleve Photo Credit Facebook
When I scroll through retail clothing sites, it strikes me that the looks are glaringly homogenous. There is a little variety in skin tone. Still, the bodies I see are either shockingly thin, with collar and hipbones jutting out and not a spare ripple of flesh to be seen, or they are in the plus-size category on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Further, the women in these images are so young. I can’t picture myself wearing what they are wearing even if I love the item because they are 30 years younger than I am and 40 lbs lighter.
I know fashion and beauty are all about youth. My Instagram is packed with under-eye stickers and age reversing serums, and organic detox powders that will allow me to magically poop away unwanted weight.
I have no issues with pursuing any beauty regime that makes you feel good, from Botox to Ease-Z dry skin therapy, but when it comes to clothing size, why not show the styles on women who look like more of us? Or simply include a range of sizes, so nobody is left out?
Because the image of beauty is thin. So what does the idea of success look like?
One of my favorite New Yorker cartoons depicts a woman of color in front of a long desk of white men with the caption, “Describe what you can bring to this company.”
Addressing diversity in 2023 is full of challenges. In the list of Fortune 500 companies, there are now 53 women chief executives, the most ever, but just over 10 percent.
The legal operations firm where I’m CMO (owned and run by women, by the way) is co-hosting a panel on DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) in March. DEI initiatives are a hot topic in the legal industry and for good reason. The more law firms and legal operations teams look like the people they represent, the better they can serve them.