So Target hates fat people. Who knew?

I love many things. I love all kinds of music, and the way I feel when I bellydance, and looking at the sky floating on my back in a body of water. I love to laugh. I love my baby nephews and the awesome assorted tiny children that have been produced by my friends. I love Morris Kantor’s abstract work, and live theatre, and rain.

And until tonight, I loved Target.

I am singing in a wedding next weekend, and I felt the occasion deserved a new dress. So this evening, when I ventured to Target in pursuit of several necessities, I thought I would take a look to see if I could find anything I liked.

I did. It was adorable, and I could wear it to work, and it looked great on me. I was very excited. It was a little pricier than I liked, but it appeared to be totally worth it.

On my way to a different part of the store I passed through the “normal” size clothes, and saw the same dress hanging there. It is rare for Target to have the same item in straight and plus sizes at the same time, and now I know why. It’s a really good way for Target to disguise the fact that they discriminate against fat people.

See, the plus size dress I was going to buy was a full 50% more expensive than the straight size dress.

That’s FIFTY percent, in case you missed it.

I am fat, and I love clothes. These two factors, combined with my ability to, y’know, read, mean I know a little bit about the plus-size fashion industry. I know, for example, that clothing makers can’t just make straight size patterns bigger, plus size lines require their own fit models and pattern makers, and yes, plus size clothes require a bit more fabric. So a little markup, I understand. Ten percent. Even twenty. I wouldn’t like it, but it would make sense.

Fifty percent? That’s just price gouging. The sad thing is, they do it because they can.

I live in a smallish town. Outside the internet, there are maybe ten stores where plus size women can buy clothes. Even in larger cities, the options for plus-size shopping are far from abundant. So the fact that Target carries plus sizes at all is good. The fact that they are usually reasonably attractive and well made (for mass market clothing) is better. Being able to buy a t-shirt that fits me is kind of a big deal, something that straight size people don’t always understand.

I guess I should have seen it coming — after all, despite the fact that about 50% of women in the US wear plus sizes, the section in Target containing those clothes is about 1/6 the size of the so-called normal section. There are generally no plus sizes at all in lingerie or sleepwear. I should not be surprised at this. But I am, and a little sick too. I know Target is not perfect, but I have been pretty happy with what I have seen and read about them as a corporation — how they treat their employees, their customer service, their corporate policies. It makes me sad that Target has consumed the fat-hate kool-aid along with so many other, and instead of seeing an opportunity to fairly serve a huge market (no pun intended), they are taking advantage of their position as one of the few providers of decent plus-size clothes to screw over the members of said market.

So Target, it looks like it’s time to break up. I still love you, but you clearly don’t love me back. Call me if you ever decide to pull your head out of your ass, and maybe we can talk about getting back together.