Catalonia on war against aesthetic discrimination

The regional authorities are keen to ensure that beauty is not a narrow-minded idea

On 8 March, which was also International Women’s Day, the Catalan government announced that it had started an investigation against a multinational fashion chain, which only offers clothes in the smallest sizes (XS/S). The action was undertaken after a complaint had been filed through an online form on the Department of Equality and Feminism’s website.

With this news, the regional authorities want to show that they are taking discrimination of body types on the market and in society seriously. In fact, there is a term for this phenomenon – “aesthetic pressure” – and the government has even adopted an Action Plan to fight it.

Raising awareness of aesthetic pressure

The complaint against the retailer explained that the clothes on sale were offered at a store not intended for children, which meant that they could only be worn by adult women if they had the body build of a pre-teen girl.

The Action Plan aims to combat aesthetic pressure, in order to provide a political response to the violence of the aesthetic canons that produce and perpetuate gender, racial and capacitance stereotypes and discrimination. Aesthetic pressure is thus a form of violence against women that aims to discipline them: what and how much they should eat, how they should dress or how they can prevent their face or body from expressing their age. 

In addition, this Plan is aimed at eradicating this violence and raising social awareness about the impact of aesthetic pressure on physical and emotional well-being throughout the life cycle of people, especially those of women. 

Main points of the Action Plan

The measures of the Action Plan to combat aesthetic pressure are structured around four strategic axes, which are Advertising, Consumption and Food; Social Networks; Culture and media; and Social sphere that includes, among others, the world of work and sports.

Some of the main points of the Plan are:

• The Catalan Consumer Agency will examine how European size regulation is being applied in practice in clothing stores.
• The inclusion of educational content on aesthetic pressure and its effects on schools and institutes, in the framework of the Coeduca't program.
• Awareness campaign on social media, especially aimed at young people, regarding the use of filters and photo retouching.
• The adoption of sectoral agreements with the world of advertising and fashion, so that the representation of the bodies is more diverse and fits much better with reality.