Gen Z Think Tank: Insights on Size Inclusivity
Gen Z reflects on the mindset shift behind inclusivity - and the contradictory ways it plays out IRL.
Adolescent gets our info straight from the source. Our community of Youthtellers spans the globe, and our research scales finite moments into larger demographic behavior. Regular think tanks, surveys, and polls tell us what Gen Z cares about; we’ll then distill down what that means for you from an actionable perspective. After all, the best way to stay in the conversation of current culture is to engage the people making it.
TL;DR
A fun-sized summary of this article
In 2024, size inclusivity isn’t just an expectation for brands looking to serve today’s diverse consumer market; it’s a prerequisite.
Gen Z wants to see inclusivity in every aspect of what you do, from product ranges to marketing campaigns - we feel that brands that truly care aren’t afraid to show it.
Authentic representation in advertising speaks volumes, but Gen Z expects you to back it up with long-term action.
Size inclusivity is a big deal to Gen Z, but within a culture that commodifies beauty and equates it to thinness, we still have complicated relationships with our bodies.
Gen Z Reflects on: The Mindset Around Inclusivity
For Gen Z, size inclusivity is complicated; our generation grew up watching endless Jenny Craig infomercials and Weight Watcher miracle stories that convinced so earnestly that your dream body could be one subscription service away. There's certainly something vicious to growing up during the heroin-chic height of diet culture… and then immediately entering the era of social media subsequently after. Arguably, those same body shaming sentiments of old have found a way of following us into the current cultural landscape, just in different form - but thankfully they’re not the only thing that's evolved.
Size inclusivity isn't just a buzzword we hashtag on social; it's been a radical shift in how we approach fashion both culturally and consumers, ensuring that spaces, whether physical or digital, accommodate everyone. The good thing is that inclusion is contagious - once one brand catches it, others follow suit, as today’s diverse market rewards product ranges that cater to them. However, nobody likes a faker - superficial efforts that just want to cash in on our values get called out with a quickness. Size-inclusive brands need to have a broad spectrum of body types represented in their advertising—not just in a generic DEI campaign one-and-done.
Marketing Insight: We want to see inclusivity as an ongoing part of your brand’s narrative. Representation should be meaningful and consistent; be sure your messaging aligns with your brand’s actions.
Sierra: [Size inclusivity] means being able to be true to myself, as well as just having the ability to accept everyone. Because if you just extend a little bit of acceptance and inclusivity to one minority, then it's bound to spread. It's kind of like that idea that happiness is contagious; I feel like inclusion is contagious too.
Devin: Size inclusivity to me is mindfulness - there are other body types that may not be your own, but they do exist and they deserve to be acknowledged and thought of... even in small things, like sidewalks.
Gen Z Reflects on: Genuine Inclusivity Takes Work
Inclusivity ain’t for the weak - or the lazy. Even the most well-meaning efforts towards it falter when brands fall off after the ad campaign wraps. For example, here’s a problem that can’t be solved by a flashy commercial: the disparity between online size offerings and in-store availability.
Brands like H&M advertise a wide range of sizes online - but it doesn’t exactly match up to the limited stock in their physical stores. And while Target may offer a range of sizes in-store, they also fail to account for the varying shapes and proportional differences that affect fit. This oversight is industry-wide, unfortunately; simply enlarging patterns without addressing body diversity doesn’t equate to inclusivity in any meaningful way for the consumers who buy your product.
Marketing Insight: True inclusivity involves a level of innovation; to tap into change, your brand might have to start from the ground up.
Devin: Not everybody's super thin, not everybody's big, not everybody's broad or muscular. Be mindful that other bodies exist, and if you don't know something, then ask questions. I feel like that's what inclusivity is about.
Sierra: I remember growing up, I was never a clothes person because I've been plus size since the fifth grade, so it was just always so hard to find clothes. American Eagle was the only place I was able to find jeans that fit me. And then randomly they just stopped carrying my size in stores - but would still advertise it. Yes, they had them online, but everybody else could just walk in and get whatever they needed. Plus-size people usually have to order things months in advance just to make sure they fit correctly because all of these stores don't actually carry their sizes in-store.
Gen Z Reflects on: Size Inclusivity vs Pop Culture
Size inclusivity hasn’t killed body-shaming culture, unfortunately; we’ve just found more creative ways to feel bad about ourselves. Photoshop and face tune, TikTok trends and body checking videos, plastic surgery and the people who make a social media career out of exposing it online; there’s no escaping the various channels insecurity has carved out in our cultural landscape, or the people who weaponize it for profit.
Ozempic, initially a medication for diabetes, is now Hollywood’s favorite way to stay skinny. While in some respects, the drug is a groundbreaking solution for managing weight, it doesn’t exist outside the pressure to conform to society’s body ideals. It’s a tangled mess of ethics, wellness culture, and beauty standards; the conversation around it is equally complicated.
Marketing Insight: The way we feel about our bodies is reflected in everything from the media we consume to the language we use. Sometimes, what we think vs what we feel are in contradiction; size inclusivity is one of the major values of Gen Z, but we still have an evolving relationship with our own bodies.
Raina: I really try to stick to that mindset of “my body is the only thing that concerns me”; what anybody else wants to do with their body is their business. But I do not personally subscribe to Western medicine - I believe that a lot of the things that are prescribed to people have a lot more negative side effects than positive side ones… My concern is the health and safety of [Ozempic], which I personally just don't trust.
Lajeeth: People love hopping on trends, even if it's not the safest thing. People see a positive effect and they want to hop on that - even if it entails a detriment to their own body.
Sierra: As somebody who's pre-diabetic and takes metformin (which is similar to Ozempic) I would say that I'm kind of neutral about the whole trend, mainly because of our beauty standards. Even if there was a celebrity who used it for a health concern, such as diabetes, the media would still twist it because of the obsession with being thin in our society… however, I do think that those who are promoting it - I feel like that is unsafe because this type of medication is for specific health issues. If you don't have these issues, it'll just end up having detrimental effects on your body because it's not made for you.
An overview on participants:
Raina, 22
Wants brands to: Demonstrate that you took the time to consider the broadness and range of bodies.
Thinks that: Inclusivity should not just be a small alteration.
Calling out that: Target doesn't make their clothes for shape-ier people.
Lajeeth, 22
Wants brands to: Give everyone the same respect they deserve regardless of size.
Thinks that: Airplane seating is not size-inclusive.
Calling out that: People love hopping on trends regardless of the safety.
Devin, 23
Wants brands to: Be mindful that other body types exist that are not just your own.
Thinks that: If you do not know something you can ask.
Calling out that: Stores do not carry multiple plus-size pieces, and smaller brands are not doing enough to accommodate.
Rohan-Sierra, 20
Wants brands to: Tap into inclusivity because it’s contagious.
Thinks that: The plus size industry does not keep up with trends - or chooses not to.
Calling out that: XXLs (regardless of the amount of Xs) are different than plus-size patterns.