and so much more...

I belong to a family of attractive, stylish and healthy members. Physically healthy with no  diseases coming our way. Were all shapely, curvy , thick and thick boned men and woman;  men and woman with beautiful smiles, joyful hearts and humane. My mother and father and all 20 of my aunts and uncles and I though aren’t the ideal size ten pants or less, small size shirts or the one size fit all body types.  Because of this we fit in the fashion industries category of fat, unattractive and undeserving. Bet you didn’t see that one coming?

Bet you didn’t know either, that “according to one report, teachers may notice fat children's frustrations with physical activity (Javernick 1988). Although they don't discriminate, teachers fail to respond appropriately to fat children. I bet you didn’t know a high school drill team that for ten years excluded fat (but not skinny) girls from the team and let fat girls who were progressing toward goal weight to practice at school but not participate in public (Williams 1994).Bet you didn’t dare to think obese college student are rated last as marriage partners after embezzlers, cocaine users, shoplifters, and blind people (Tiggermann 1988). Finally, I’m more than sure your mind didn’t even cross New York, in a 1983 case, a high school math teacher was ordered by the school superintendent to see a dentist and a doctor to correct his crooked teeth and to lose weight to improve his appearance. In a grievance proceeding, the state Commissioner of Education found that the superintendent lacked authority to order the teacher to rectify medical conditions which are not "so severe as to affect his competence to perform his teaching duties."

Yes, all these facts may be new to you but now, what do you think? Do all these situations that happen to other “fat” people have to spread in the clothing industry too? Brands are limited to size ten and less to maintain a positive image for the company. Maybe it isn’t the companies’ that came up with the original idea that fat is desirable but they sure do add to it by not deciding to make us on  a part of their clothing line sizes. By discriminating against certain sizes, preferable 10+ results in more fire added to the agreement and concept that fat people are social failures, valueless, and undesirable. 

Do you notice it?

Who said shopping was still fun? Try walking into your favorite store. Your ambushed by the lighting that magically seems to be shining on all the hippy colors, bold patterns and details that designers ‘break a sweat’ trying to make the ‘ next big thing’. Your eye is immediately catches the big sign that states “CLEARANCE” (hey, it’s still a recession here). You walk over to the rack to see your favorite brands and you wonder how in the world are these on clearance? But who cares, they’re cheaper! You gaze your way past size extra small that has a cute floral chiffon shirt, small: with the same shirt in pastel, animal prints and tie-dye , medium: to see  a shirt just like it with a different neckline and finally large.….only to see one gray shirt that they might as well give it the name  “1764 granny  neck line”. Am I the only one who has been through this same situation?

It’s time for Large+ and Size 10+’s to unite! You probably wondered why Marshalls has few of our sizes but a splendor of 10 and below. Also, why our clothes are more expensive; does the extra fabric account for the 15$ difference?  We already have to deal with being looked down in society because we aren't the perfect size and looking upon clothes in magazines and even on mannequins in store that are never a realistic size and body type. We already deal with our insecurities of others opinions and our constant self-reminders of losing weight. So should a little extra fabric from a million dollar profit making clothing company really consist of a $ 15 dollar difference because one is a size 5 and one a size 12?

Take a look at the Abercrombie and Finch clothing line. Observe, and you will see the option of XL and XLL sizes for bigger athletic men but look again. You'll notice the absence of women XL or XXL sizes. You'll also notice the largest size is a size 10; what's after that? Nothing.  Absolutely nothing, because they don't want “overweight” and “uncool” women wearing their brand. The CEO of Abercrombie and Finch, Mike Jeffries, tells Salon in a 2006 interview, “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.” That's might explain the incredible good looking people who staff the store but one might really wonder is this guy serious ? Abercrombie and Finch’s competitors, H& M and American eagle too have plus sizes because they are smartly trying to target a wider audience; exactly what a good companies would do to increase their profits but not this one.  Not selling plus sizes to market to more people (also equaling more profits) but rather confining it to “cool people "  ; am I the only one seeing something wrong with this ?

Okay ,so there are scarce amount of plus size clothes in store, to add unto that  plus size clothes are more expensive and  certain  companies refuse to sell plus sizes for the sake of company image ? Wait, isn't this an unfair treatment of a category of people? Isn’t this discrimination? Size discrimination?

Size Discrimination in A Small Place

Size Discrimination from Clothing companies.

(Page 8) It's a good thing that you brought your own books with you, for you couldn't just go to the library and borrow some. Antigua used to have a splendid library, but in The Earthquake (everyone talks about it that way - The earthquake; we Antiguans for I am one, have a great sense of things, and the more meaningful the thing, the more meaningless we make it) the library building was damaged. This was in 1974, and soon after that a sign was placed on the front of the building saying, THIS BUILDING WAS DAMAGED IN THE EARTHQUAKE OF 1974. REPAIRS ARE PENDING. The sign hangs there and hangs there more than a decade later, with its unfulfilled promise of repair, and you might see this as a sort of quaintness on the part of these islanders, these people descended from slaves - what strange unusual perception of time they have. REPAIRS ARE PENDING, and here it is many years later, but perhaps in a world that is twelve miles long and nine miles wide (the size of Antigua) twelve years and twelve minutes and twelve days are all the same.

It's a good thing that people make their own clothes these days, for you can’t just go into the store and conveniently buy some. Jeans used to be an easy accessory, but in these days (I repeat it again– these days; were skinny is seen most attractive, anything over skinny is seen undesirable, and more companies refer to this ) they are a complete struggle .

Take a look in-stores, you’ll notice a surplus of cute size zero pants that suddenly stops at size 10, companies are making a very blunt statement. “You’re not for us”.

 This is when the defensive questions arise, and bigger consumers start to wonder what kind of affect will selling a size 12 have on company image or profits –if anything companies should be glad for more customers. “ You’re not for us”, is clothing companies’ mantra to bigger prospective customers, but perhaps these ingenious clothing companies forgot in a world full of obese people ( talking about America especially) where McDonald is cheaper than fruits the right customer is a small.

STUFF THAT BUGS ME TO THE BONE!

STUFF THAT BUGS ME TO THE BONE!

Home –

-Parents don’t use measurements when it comes to cooking and teaching me it

Local –

-The opinion of BPT being ghetto. (Coming from the ‘Port is seen as repulsive)

- Juneteenth Celebration publically viewed.

School –

-Paying for school lunch, why do they need our lunch money for?
-Underappreciating for CGS kids waking 2 hours in advance for travel and prep for school
- You need to pay for Advanced Placement test, but free course?

- Paying for SAT prep and its encouraged to do well, the money needed for the prep is barrier to people who can’t afford.

-School doesn't teach necessary things how to do taxes, decode politicians, buy a house etc.

-          College is encouraged but EXPENSIVE!

-          Culture Day in school, show off nationality and our differences.

-          More vocal, speech test

-          Help for public speaking

Business –

-How magazines never portray a regular healthy/unhealthy model.

-How overpriced movie theatre food is and they don’t allow you to bring in own food. Seems like a monopoly to me.

-5 dollar subs cost 5.32

-Don't advertise products including tax

-Jeans for one type of body- Jeans either fit ankles, thighs, or waist; its effort to find one that fits all three.

America’s corruption is not taught in full detail. Does the school or better yet , the government not want to teach what the all mighty America has done to get where it is today … ashamed?

Other –

-Not being able to put/ fill out option of Jamaican – American on forms

-Rarely vanilla icing on vanilla cupcakes 

-TV series only show once a week 

-Open fires outside aren’t allowed to, “run a boat”.

-Jamaican Patois isn’t an official language.

- Standarized Testing in general. I’m unique, not a product of public education.

So, the name is Gena Gordon.

First, people usually make the common mistake of spelling my name Gina. Yes, my name is a variation of Gina, but my parents claim that Gena is the correct way it should be slept based off the sounding. Gina is more common in Italian, English and  Swedish cultures.  Maybe it’s because of their Jamaican accent but many pronounce it as Jenna . Even if you look in the dictionary the correct way of sounding it out is jee-nuh. Now that, that is out of the way, let’s continue on the literal meaning of my name.

 In zoology it means the lateral part of the head of an insect or other arthropod below the level of the eyes. In anatomy it means the cheek or side region of the head.  Gena as these nouns is pronounced as jee-nee. This originated from the Latin word meaning cheek. Complicated right? Well, so is my character. But mindless times when I ask my mother,( her name is  Zenia Alethea Agatha Gordon by the way) about the reason for  the name Gena she reminds me ; she’s horrible with names so she wanted something not complicated and  would be easy to remember. I don’t think my parents had the thought to name me Gena because of its anatomical meaning but now that I think of it; many people do like pinching my cheeks and I have this obsession with the side of my head. My profile always has to look “on point”. Hairstyles could look amazing in the front but if the side doesn't  it’s going to have to go. Weirdly though I’m not a fan of extenuating my cheeks with blush.

Still continuing on my first name, Gena, based off many name meaning and even my Chinese name means queen, noble and well born. All the memories of doing the princess wave to my friends on a regular basis just came to mind. As a child I was and still am mature. I myself try to be humble and quiet, but it looks like my name has destined me to be something nobler! I hope that plays out in the future.

Continuing onto my middle name; Alethea. It’s the same middle name as my mother’s first middle name. Alethea is a female given name: from a Greek word meaning “truth.” I still have to figure out how that coincides with my character but once again the struggle continues the pronunciation. Hence my parent’s accents, it’s pronounced ali-thee-uh but true English speakers pronounce it as al-uh-thee-uh. My mother passed down this name to me because her second middle name ‘Agatha’ was her aunt’s first name. I personally love it and am determined to name my daughter it as well.

 Finally, unto Gordon. This is my father’s last name that originates from Ireland, England, Scotland, Russia and Poland. My family is originally from Jamaica but the origin of the last name makes sense. The entire countries listed were active in the Britain’s slave trade and ruling in the West Indies. Most likely, Mr. Gordon owned a plantation in Jamaica and named his slaves with the same last name.

As you can see, my first name, the shortest part of my name was the most complicated literally, my middle name was a part of a family tradition and my last name goes along with my history. As I researched deeper and deeper, it got more and more complicated. Personally I’m trying to learn about myself as an individual which is complicated enough. But, hopefully I can find out more about myself through my name.

First, people usually make the common mistake of spelling my name Gina. Yes, my name is a variation of Gina, but my parents claim that Gena is the correct way it should be slept based off the sounding. Gina is more common in Italian, English and  Swedish cultures.  Maybe it’s because of their Jamaican accent but many pronounce it as Jenna . Even if you look in the dictionary the correct way of sounding it out is jee-nuh. Now that, that is out of the way, let’s continue on the literal meaning of my name.

 In zoology it means the lateral part of the head of an insect or other arthropod below the level of the eyes. In anatomy it means the cheek or side region of the head.  Gena as these nouns is pronounced as jee-nee. This originated from the Latin word meaning cheek. Complicated right? Well, so is my character. But mindless times when I ask my mother,( her name is  Zenia Alethea Agatha Gordon by the way) about the reason for  the name Gena she reminds me ; she’s horrible with names so she wanted something not complicated and  would be easy to remember. I don’t think my parents had the thought to name me Gena because of its anatomical meaning but now that I think of it; many people do like pinching my cheeks and I have this obsession with the side of my head. My profile always has to look “on point”. Hairstyles could look amazing in the front but if the side doesn't  it’s going to have to go. Weirdly though I’m not a fan of extenuating my cheeks with blush.

Still continuing on my first name, Gena, based off many name meaning and even my Chinese name means queen, noble and well born. All the memories of doing the princess wave to my friends on a regular basis just came to mind. As a child I was and still am mature. I myself try to be humble and quiet, but it looks like my name has destined me to be something nobler! I hope that plays out in the future.

Continuing onto my middle name; Alethea. It’s the same middle name as my mother’s first middle name. Alethea is a female given name: from a Greek word meaning “truth.” I still have to figure out how that coincides with my character but once again the struggle continues the pronunciation. Hence my parent’s accents, it’s pronounced ali-thee-uh but true English speakers pronounce it as al-uh-thee-uh. My mother passed down this name to me because her second middle name ‘Agatha’ was her aunt’s first name. I personally love it and am determined to name my daughter it as well.

 Finally, unto Gordon. This is my father’s last name that originates from Ireland, England, Scotland, Russia and Poland. My family is originally from Jamaica but the origin of the last name makes sense. The entire countries listed were active in the Britain’s slave trade and ruling in the West Indies. Most likely, Mr. Gordon owned a plantation in Jamaica and named his slaves with the same last name.

As you can see, my first name, the shortest part of my name was the most complicated literally, my middle name was a part of a family tradition and my last name goes along with my history. As I researched deeper and deeper into it, it got more and more complicated. Personally I’m trying to learn about myself as an individual which is complicated in my teenage year’s .Hopefully I can find out more about myself through my name.