Amy Schumer Nails It Again With Plus-Size Shopping Sketch

by Robyn Smith

 

Like a clumsy, relatable ballerina on stage, Amy Schumer is more on point than ever.

The forward-thinking femme did a sketch last night on her Comedy Central show, Inside Amy Schumer, about what it’s like to shop for clothing larger than a U.S. size 8 (or U.K. size 12, as the sketch references), whether those sizes wear the plus-sized label or not.

This isn’t the first time Schumer has done a sketch supporting women who don’t fit into Hollywood’s size 2 box. Last season, she did a sketch with Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Patricia Arquette celebrating Louis-Dreyfus’ “last fuckable day” before she became too old by Hollywood standards. We all know that Louis-Dreyfus’ true LFD is just a myth, as magical and non-existent as the evil leprechaun from all those bad ’90s horror films.

12492063 10153407312597476 422627302554887638 o

This sketch features Lena Dunham in a fabulous clear raincoat, lost in the plus-sized section for three months and having befriended a cow, also shopping in the plus-sized section, named Lucy.

The sales associate who sent Schumer to the plus-sized farm-tastic fantasy field tries to sell her a tarp, and it’s successful. She then puts a mall pretzel in Schumer’s bag at checkout because she assumed Schumer was going straight to the pretzel stand anyway.

It’s then that the satire stops and Schumer gets real:

“That’s offensive,” she says to the associate, who just continues to smile at her as if she really were a cow.

The sketch hits close to home for a lot of women — the Centers for Health Disease and Prevention says that the average American woman is 5’4 and 166 pounds. And yet, Abercrombie & Fitch doesn’t carry XL or XXL, and even the plus-sized section at Forever 21 is limited. It’s unfair to everyone that these clothing companies could target and empower (and profit off) but instead choose to ridicule, beginning on the runway and extending all the way to the bargain bin.

Women like Schumer and Dunham shouldn’t have to struggle to look good. Their bodies deserve the same clothing as Heidi Klum and Kylie Jenner. Not all brands are so unfriendly: Melissa McCarthy made her own clothing line that carries sizes S to XXXL, H&M used a plus-size model in its swimsuit ads, and Aerie stopped photoshopping its lingerie ads.

Maybe this sketch, which so perfectly captures the humiliation that shopping can induce for some women, will light a fire under designer brands to change their ways. But if not, what would it take?

 

photos courtesy of Schumer’s Facebook page

More from BUST

Amy Schumer Shared Her New Book Cover, And It’s Everything We Ever Wanted

Amy Schumer Will No Longer Take Pictures With Fans Thanks To This Douchebag

Amy Schumer’s 7 Most Hilarious Sketches

You may also like

Get the print magazine.

The best of BUST in your inbox!

Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter

About Us

Founded in 1993, BUST is the inclusive feminist lifestyle trailblazer offering a unique mix of humor, female-focused entertainment, uncensored personal stories, and candid reporting that tells the truth about women’s lives.

©2023 Street Media LLC.  All Right Reserved.