Dear Target...

....fuck you. Fuck you in the ear.



I love Target a lot. In fact, working at Target was one of the most fun jobs I've ever had and if I could still work there part time, I totally would. I love going to Target and browsing the back end caps for deals, looking at their new lines of dishes, bedding, bathroom things, pictures and frames, everything. I love Target year round and I even LOVE their marketing, clean stores and amazing hanging-from-the-ceiling-decorations. But I am honestly starting to lose my love of them, which is seriously making me sad. I shouldn't be sad about a retail store, especially one that has so many amazing products, decent prices and friendly employees. I am sad because I honestly have felt as of late that Target doesn't value it's plus size women and I am genuinely angry about this; not mad, fucking angry.

In mid-December 2013, I noticed that the plus section at Target was dwindling and I assumed that they would be getting new items in shortly, as most stores get at least on truck a night (some get 3). By mid-January, it was slim pickin's so I asked an associate who said the new line was coming out in 2wks. 3Wks later, I stopped by Target and found the plus size section a mere 4 racks (not really much of a difference since most Targets I go into have a max of 10, but more on that BS later). I again asked and the same associate told me they received an email the day before which said the line was delayed for a few reasons, but would be another few weeks. As the weeks went by, I would walk past the clothing and see mo changes, except for more "normal" sizes being moved into the plus size section. As more weeks went by, I began to be angry; there are so many overweight women who would be spending a lot of hard-earned money, if not for Target not providing clothing for them. I observed many new "normal" sizes coming in, and more clearance items being added to the new clearance area (aka plus size graveyard, which was eventually whittled down to a pitiful half rack).

A few weeks ago, while half-jokingly bitching about this to a co-worker, another one chimed in and told me to not shop at Target. I told her that if they were willing to provide clothing at a reasonable price for years, what was the hold up now and how were the regular sizes still being shuttled in? The conversation eventually lead to this bitch brat saying "Well...*shrug* lose weight."

I am tired of people telling fat people to lose weight. We get it everyone; we're fat, we're unhealthy, we're unsightly to you, we fucking get it. Losing weight isn't an over-night affair and losing weight still requires us to actually wear clothing. Using the pussy argument of "lose weight" shows a person has no thought, no real answers and no logic. Losing weight doesn't guarantee that all women will be able to fit into sizes 12 and under, so using a quick, no-thought argument of "Well, I guess you're gonna have to change to fit your retailers" is so illogical and actually a bit sickening; I would be a liar if I said I didn't think of smacking her stupid face.

So I stopped going to Target for a couple weeks because going there actually made me angry; my cheeks got hot, I gritted my teeth a little and I glared into the area where I once chose simple, comfortable and inexpensive clothing.

In April, I stopped by my once loved store and had to buy socks, so I passed by the new clearance section...but this time, there were racks full of new clothes, I walked through and found the (always disappointed) 10 racks of plus size.....IN WINTER CLOTHING. Sure, there was some business wear, but everything was heavy cotton, nylon and heavy tweeds. Why Target, WHY??? It was fucking April in California and you're sending us sweaters, thick skirts and jackets??!?! They seriously could have saved this shit for next season. I walked through a bit and was excited for a new, summer-ready line in a few weeks. Fast forward to today and I felt an excuse piling up for weeks to stop by the clothing department of Target.

I stroll through....and disappointingly see similar skirts from last season, jackets, dresses (made for colder weather, yet still wear-able during a few warmer months) and bathing suits. This pissed me off.
Pissed. Me. Off.
Targets sell clothing and supplies based on the region; do you think bikinis would go well over in Alaska? Or ski pants would sell well in Miami? I live in Sacramento, CA and Target is trying to sell us clothing for weather that's 50-69 degrees?? It's freakin' 80 and will be 90 in the next few days!! I feel so weird to be genuinely pissed for them doing such a shoddy job on this and I have been tempted for weeks to write them (I feel like SUCH an old lady for saying that).

Upon doing some research, I found multiple sites that complained about the same problem (and here, some of my co-workers kinda treated me as if I was a whiny bitch for talking about it a few times). Sites like Jezebel and even newspapers have written articles about this issue...but where are our fashionable clothes, Target? I cannot imagine the bump in sales they would get if they carried a FULL quarter in plus size as they do in regular sizes. It's almost like we're an after thought and maybe we don't deserve more? Like I said in the beginning, we can always lose weight, but who's going to clothe us for a reasonable price while on that journey? Or on our journey in life?