The Big and Tall Section is Over There

Michael Ball

Ms. Robinson

AP Lang. & Comp.

13 April 2008

The Big and Tall Section is Over There

In the United States, the leading Big and Tall supplier is Casual Male XL. They have over 500 stores across the nation, and have departments within many major retail stores. With this many stores, the stereotype of Big and Tall shoppers being overweight is spread thin. With Big and Tall now a euphemism for overweight, more and more oddly shaped people fall into the stereotype. Many Big and Tall shoppers do not utilize both the “big” and the “tall” aspects of their clothes. Many of the shoppers are big or tall, not both. Others are embarrassed by even walking in the store as to what others who saw their entry would think. It’s this worry about what other people think that brings concern from people who fall under this stereotype and all others too.

I am at least one “Big and Tall” shopper who contradicts the common stereotype that all men who shop at Big and Tall stores are overweight. At six foot, eight inches tall and 300 pounds, it is obvious that I need clothes a bit bigger than the average shopper. At a regular department store, the shirt sizes often end at 2X and 3X. This is acceptable because I wear just in between these two sizes, of which I own plenty of both. The only dilemma raised by the shirts purchased from regular stores is that they do not come down far enough on my torso. With the height comes a longer body. Big and Tall stores are a savior in this forte. At Big and Tall stores, I can purchase 2XT or 3XT shirts, both of the “T’s” symbolizing their extra length (tall). Along with the conflict of shirt sizes come pant sizes. In a regular store it is not uncommon to find a size 42 waist. The only problem is that in a regular store, any size 42 pant is likely to have a length built for someone who is just as tall as they are wide. To get this length (34 or 36), shopping at a Big and Tall store offers such convenience in their selection and fit. Along with the pants and shirts, another clothing item that is impossible to locate in certain sizes in retail stores is shoes. I sport a size 17 shoe, with a special width (EE or EEEE). It is a stretch for any regular department store to have any shoes over a size 14. Having passed that size some years ago, even in a Big and Tall store, it is nearly impossible to locate shoes in my size. With these size issues in mind, you can see that I do not shop at Big and Tall stores because I am overweight. I shop at these locations because my height is much more than average.

When it comes to a size range, Big and Tall stores, especially Casual Male XL has a huge range, much larger than almost any store I’ve ever been in. Their jeans selection is enormous. Most regular brand names stop their pant sizes at 42, with only some companies going to 44. Big and Tall stores go well into the next two decades of pant sizes beyond the previous maximum. Many of these companies also stop their pant length at around 30 or 32. Big and Tall companies can sometimes hit the 40s in lengths. People should be more accepting of Big and Tall, not as the euphemism for overweight, but as a tool for oddly shaped men in need of a few sizes not offered at regular stores. The stereotype could be downplayed if people did not take so much offense to the idea of shopping at a Big and Tall store. It is understood how it can be taken offensively, the idea that you need to shop at one of these stores, but it shouldn’t be.

Big and Tall stores are a saving grace for me, but they are also taboo for many others. Taking offense to consideration of being a consumer at a Big and Tall store only propagates the weak basis for a stereotype. This builds the euphemism to include people who are insecure about being overweight. If it could be understood that Big and Tall stores are an amazing tool for disproportioned people as opposed to the ignorant idea of it being a place for fat people to get clothes, then there is a possibility that we can eradicate this stereotypical concept, completely.

Resources:

Brown , Rodger. “CASUAL MALE GRAPPLES WITH ‘BIG AND TALL’ STEREOTYPE.” International Council of Shopping Centers March 20062006 10 Apr 2008 <http://www.icsc.org/srch/sct/sct0306/retail_casual_male.php>.

Brandon. “JC Penney: Excuse Me Sir, ‘The Big & Tall Section Is Over There…’.” The Consumerist March 2008 10 Apr 2008 <http://consumerist.com/364777/jc-penney-excuse-me-sir-the-big–tall-section-is-over-there?cpage=2>.

Editing and Revising

For my before and after I am going to use my essay that I used to show Ms. Robinson that I was not only non-sexist, but also very considerate of the opposite gender and their advancements and history throughout time. Some of these edits were not pointed out by Ms. Robinson, but I wanted to address them anyway because I felt that they were unacceptable. The essay was titled “Attention All Females: Men Can Be Wrong” and the complete version can be found in my “Other Works” section.

Before: These ridiculous divisions in status between genders have been almost completely eliminated from the minds of all normal human beings.

After: These ridiculous divisions in status between genders have been almost completely eliminated from the minds of the general public.

Notes: In using the terminology “normal human beings” it seems as though I am comparing sexist ideas in abnormal humans and that I am associating other behavioral characteristics other than prejudice, which isn’t the case. This essay is addressing female prejudice in people, not just in a certain group of people. For that reason, I thought it appropriate to alter the word choice (diction).

Before: These women that embraced this ideal were believed to develop their husbands into suitable members of society.

After: These women that embraced this ideal had the responsibility of developing their husbands into suitable members of society.

Notes: In saying that the women were “believed to develop their husbands into suitable members of society” shows a weak understanding of the Cult of Domesticity in which women did develop their sons into prominent male members of society. In adding that they had the responsibility of developing their husbands, I accurately meet the idea that I am trying to convey in that they were expected to do this, not “believed” to.

Before: Even in the pedestrian deaths, the number of males killed towers over the amount of females killed.

After: Males also eclipse females in pedestrian deaths.

Notes: The way that this sentence was previously written seemed as though the reader had some assumed knowledge of the exact statistics I was addressing. This is obviously not the case. The edit clarifies that I am now addressing the pedestrian deaths, in contrast to the deaths in motor vehicle accidents, but still involving males.

Attention All Females: Men Can Be Wrong

Michael J. Ball

Ms. Robinson

English III

07 December 2007

Attention All Females: Men Can Be Wrong

Just as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream to bring equality to all men, many women in history have had dreams of leveling the genders and gaining equal rights as women in the United States of America.  Through a large number of advancements, both social and legal, women have progressed to abandon many archaic ideals of gender separation.  These ridiculous divisions in status between genders have been almost completely eliminated from the minds of all normal human beings.

The fight for equal rights between men and women can be traced back to the first decades of the United States.  The “Cult of Domesticity” was an early 19^th century ideal that embraced the idea of women as calm, nurturing mothers, and loving, faithful wives.  This concept described them as passive and delicate, and also pious and religious.  These women were believed to have been the backbone of support for their stoic husbands.  The women that embraced this ideal were believed to develop their husbands into suitable members of society.  Females of the time were also highly sought after as teachers, which became one of the first out of home jobs for them, because of their ability to develop these needed skills.  A woman that highly regarded such views, Catharine Beecher, once said “woman’s greatest mission is to train immature, weak and ignorant creatures, to obey the laws of God, first in the family, then in the school, then in the neighborhood, then in the nation, then in the world.”  While a generally common stereotype of a female is the classic feminine spirituality, passiveness, and nurturing love, the women of America’s modern society have abandoned many social limitations.  Today’s woman no longer fits their former stereotypical views.  While a woman teacher is more common today, other occupations are noting an exponential rise in female employees.  Women today are not only taking up occupations that were never sought after before, but are eclipsing men on the economic ladder in today’s business.  Each day, more and more women join the workforce, destroying ancient ideals of a woman’s place of work: the home.  No longer is the household work thought of as a responsibility as it was in the early 19^th century.  A stay at home mother is now valued as an integral piece to many family situations.  The abandonment of many of these primitive stereotypical ideals has led to an increase in independent women, who are now half of the face of working society.

In this modern world, anomalies are what are detected, while very common details slip right through the social crack.  It is a common stereotype that women are worse drivers than men.  This stereotype can be branched from the common thought of cars as a masculine field, giving them superior ability to operate them.  The United States Department of Transportation has, since 1975, kept an in-depth record of all automobile-related fatalities.  More than one million deaths were recorded in these archives as of 2003.  The records also show that about 73 percent of all people killed in car accidents are male.  This male-dominating statistic extends up through the mid-90s in age.  Even in the pedestrian deaths, the number of males killed towers over the amount of females killed.  In the statistics it is seen that the number of male pedestrians killed eclipses the female amount by far around the age of puberty.  Some would argue that this amount of male pedestrian deaths is related to the risks that some males feel the need to fulfill during the age in which hormone levels are exponentially increasing.  This argument can be countered by claims of driving mileage differences and roughly different conditions; however, these statistics do show that the stereotype of women as consistently terrible drivers is unrealistic.

Throughout the turmoil of social, economical, and political separation, women have advanced far beyond the goals of Elizabeth Katie Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony.  Many women including those great activists have provided concrete evidence that allows men to see that their difference is only physical, their place is the same.  Women are no longer inferior in the gender equation.  Women have advanced to make their mark on the social world, through protests, conventions, and hearings to encourage the public, not just other women, but men too, to realize how ludicrous the separation of the genders is.  Now that mankind (which is used here only as a title for all human beings) has embraced the subject of gender superiority with common sense, the world can grow closer to knowing true equality.

Journal: Imagery

In this assignment we were to create a peaceful scene using as many examples of imagery as possible.

The trickle of the slow moving stream can be heard as it glides over the smooth rocks of the subtle rapids. The rhythmic chirp of a songbird echoes through the open windows as the slight breeze ruffles the drawn-back curtains. My sister’s fingers chime in, slowly tickling the ivory to a soft summer song. The wildflowers, bursting with color, wash the open house with a sweet smell that lingers in your nose, giving you the chance to revisit the smell, even upwind.

I wrote this paragraph to show how many images could be created with something as uneventful as a house. Most images would be of an event, something in nature, something exciting, full of color, but I created an image of a house on a summer afternoon and gave it more imagery than I could find in any view from a window of that house.

Journal: Emily Dickinson’s “Much madness is divinest sense”

In this journal entry, we were asked to develop a thesis statement regarding Emily Dickinson’s use of figurative language in “Much madness is divinest sense” to convey her feelings. Then I was instructed to copy change her piece.

Thesis: Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Much madness is divinest sense” accurately conveys the idea of the diviness of love and how it is also mad at the same time through her use of a paradox.

Her beauty is pain to my eye

In my novice heart

Agonizing pain, her blunt beauty

‘Tis for all to see

In all, for all, her’s

See, and you could know

Heart, –you’re my conscious coma

Do you keep me near?

I copy changed this poem to create another paradox comparing beauty to pain. In this comparison, seeing her beauty is pain to the weak hearted, mostly because they recognize this undying beauty and know that they will never be able to have a chance with such a beautiful, delicate creature.

Journal: Personification

In this assignment, we were instructed to construct a paragraph in which we practice our use of personification. Personification is giving something non-concrete a living characteristic.

Dawn screams upon them. The rising sun embraces their faces with warmth. The morning tells them that the evening has passed. Though they may not know it, their smell is thrown about between columns of entering light. As the group is taken away from the grasp of their comatose that constricted them early in the hours of the morning, they rise awkwardly from the position at which they last night stumbled upon slumber.

In this journal about personification, I used a few examples of giving something concrete or inanimate a living characteristic. In the first sentence, I gave dawn the abiliy to scream. This adds the effect that dawn came much too early, and came upon them quickly. I also gave the rising sun the ability to embrace the faces in the group, just personifying the sun’s ability to radiate it’s warmth to the group.

Journal: Stream of Consciousness

    Pencil spinning, spinning, spinning. I wonder if Ms. Robinson – wait…why does she prefer Ms. over Mrs. If I were her, I’d take Ms. over Mrs. too because it almost seems like Ms. could come without the married-woman stereotypes that Mrs. can bring. Back to what I was saying. I wonder if it bothers her when I spin my writing utensil.  I hope not because its almost habit now. It would probably bother her if I dropped the pencil. I hardly ever drop it because I’ve mastered the technique. I’m no Eric Smith or anything, but I can hang.  I used Buffalo Soldier as my penname for a blog comment earlier in Mr. Butler’s class. I hope he reads my comment so I can have a chance to show him that I am not as ignorant as my last test grade might have shown.  I think I’ll make a trend of it and keep using all Bob Marley songs for my names, but if someone catches on, I’ll start using Alpha Blondie songs.

In this stream of consciousness activity, we were asked to explain how we see the events right now in the present from our point of view. My stream of consciousness sounds very rushed, stressed, and overwhelmed with information. “Is there something we need to talk about?” Hopefully this isn’t an early sign that you hate yourself. Stream of consciousness isn’t difficult at all for me to write.  Whether this is a bad thing or not, my thought process on paper would look a lot like stream of consciousness.

Journal: Value: Logic or Emotion

In this assignment, we were instructed to explain whether we value our emotion or our logic over the other.

Personally, I value my logic more than I value my emotion. My ability to process information will take me farther than the abstract concepts of emotion. Society values this logical ability much more than emotion because it is by far more beneficial to humanity under the stress of the real world. In situations under pressure, your emotion will be of no use, and perhaps may damage the situation farther. In school this logical process is also valued more for processing information given from the curriculum. Logistics are the basics behind math, like Geometry, and also problem solving in-general is useful in many subjects. The exception to the logical benefit would be for creative writing and your ability to express that emotion in the correct format to piece together literature.

Since I’ve written this journal, my views have been slightly altered. I can now understand the opposite viewpoint where your ability to process and decipher emotions could be more beneficial than your logic. I now understand that there must be an equilibrium of the two. A balance of emotion and logic can easily lead to be more beneficial than just one or the other. With logic, you can process the actual event, but with emotion, you can understand “Why?”.

Journal: Real Price of Freedom

In this assignment, we were instructed to address the topic of freedom and discuss it’s real “cost”.

In no way is freedom free. Freedom is actually quite expensive. Take all of the wealth of the world, especially in our country. I do not mean the dollar signs attached to material items. When I say the cost of freedom, I mean the bloodshed. I mean the turmoil of a family who has lost of a loved one in battle. That is their cost: they paid deeply. When I think of freedom I think of all of those men and women who have died on our front lines. From the Revolutionary War to Iraqi Freedom, I think of those who gave up all of their material things, and even more, to pay for that freedom that I have the ability to enjoy today. Even though I am free, I would be willing to do what all of these men and women did, to buy just one more day of freedom for the people of the United States of America. God bless our troops.

In this paragraph, I addressed the topic of freedom. This abstract noun can be thrown around to enhance any politically fueled conversation. I see the word as much more than a sensation from having your way. I see freedom as an accomplishment, and for that accomplishment we should wear the badge of freedom continuously and never forget how we obtained it.

Pepper Flakes, White Sand, and Common Goals

Michael J. Ball

Ms. Robinson

English III

11 October 2007

 

Pepper Flakes, White Sand, and Common Goals

They resembled a dotted line, etched across a paper surface that included many colors, some of which masked the line, making it invisible. Upon preliminary observation the line seemed to be fixed, unmoving from its curved position. As I knelt, focusing in on this impediment in Earth’s surface, I noticed movement. The group of marks seemed to flow as a trickling brook. This brook of tiny dots flowed from a small hole over a mound of sand that did not match the color of the surface sand around it. What I now recognized as ants moved between the hole and the surrounding sand. It was a steady pouring of one line of ants out of the hole to my left, and back into the same hole coming from the right.

I believed that these ants defined insanity, going through the same process that yielded no result, hoping for it to finally yield one. How ignorant I was to think that a creature like this, placed in nature, would go about such a monotonous task wasting its valuable time on this planet. The insects were in fact moving pieces of this unrecognizable sand along, fixed between their small front appendages. For a moment it seemed as if the ants were transporting the sand product from the surface to deep within their hole, which housed many ants like the ones I could see on the surface. Upon further inspection I could see that it was the opposite; they were moving the sand from their humble abode out onto the surface. I began to see the logic. Not only did this assembly line of ants bring this sand out from their home to make room, they were also utilizing this resource to form a small barrier of protection around the hole. The mound grew as this endless flow of ants deposited their cargo evenly around the hole forming a completely round barrier, rising to three or four inches. At the rate that I had observed, I cannot imagine that the total time allowed for the construction of this protective barrier was too high. This sand that I had not recognized before was an off-white, cream color. It did not resemble any of the sand around it, or any that I had seen in this region. It was slightly darker than the white sands of our beaches. It seemed logical that it was the layer underneath the topsoil, so the excavation began. Little did I know about the soil, because the sand that I saw could not be reached by merely digging with my fingers; it was much deeper. This would prove to be a much more arduous task than I had previously expected. A garden shovel was needed to reach the layer that contained the soil used for the mound. It was much deeper than I had expected. Even without seeing into the tiny hole, I could tell that this structure was highly intricate because of its obvious depth into the layers of Earth’s crust. I could not imagine the work it must take all of these ants to accomplish this task.

It’s amazing how such a structure could be built by a creature in nature that is so small. These pepper flakes that I originally noticed, dotting the landscape, constructed an enormous home for themselves. Proportionally, this massive structure rivaled our highest skyscrapers. Also proportionally, our construction of the skyscrapers takes a large amount of time compared to the completion of this ant mound. This construction could only be matched with a special kind of hard work, much like the ants showed. The community of ants that I had discovered, like many of its species, worked hard, and worked together to achieve a common goal that benefited their entire being. Without this assembly line of team-oriented ants, this goal may not have been able to be accomplished. It is possible that it may have been accomplished otherwise, but only with an enormous amount of time allotted. Many things in life take a similar kind of work. Only through this togetherness working for the common good, can many goals be accomplished. The world could accomplish much more than it already has through a work that mimics that of these ants. If we form an “assembly” line on such issues, we could quite possibly reach resolution on the topics in a reasonable amount of time. All it takes is each individual working together, at the same pace, for the same goal. Any falter in this process, much as any ant moving out of formation could damage the process and possibly cause it to halt. If an ant had moved the wrong way it could have possibly been followed by the ant to its rear, causing a chain reaction that would devastate the process to build the protective mound. This hard work would take complete and total dedication by each and every individual, which is something that isn’t seen too often in society today. With the work of many, much can be accomplished.