The Range, which has stores in Lady Bay Retail Park and Radford Boulevard in Nottingham, has pulled products which have been described as "body-shaming" from its shelves after complaints. These items are designed to encourage weight loss for events such as a wedding or holiday but as one customer highlighted, the products are only aimed at women.
In an Instagram post that has since racked up nearly 12k likes in just a day, Emma Conway, a digital creator, explained how she'd "left the shop shaking" after spotting the items while shopping. She wrote: "Imagine my shock when I saw two signs. One saying ‘Countdown To My Bikini Body’ and the other stating ‘It Could Only Take 10lbs To Drop A Dress Size’."
The shopper added: "Now I understand people want to lose weight for a variety of reasons. Not an issue. But I asked if there was one for men. Maybe a ‘Lose Chunk To Fit In Your Trunks’. There wasn’t. It was just for women."
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The outraged Instagram user continued: "A large chain is feeding into the narrative that WOMEN need to be smaller. To drop a dress size. To put a sign in their houses which they would look at each day."
Comments on the post flooded in, including one from consultant psychiatrist, Dr Sarah Vohra who goes under the tag 'the mind medic'. Dr Vohra said: " I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with your caption Emma."
Continuing: "Whilst I appreciate that I come with a skewed view of what I see professionally (and it’s not always translatable to the general public). I think the idea of naming/specifying loss may lead those who are vulnerable (I see it all too often!) to feel they have ‘not achieved said goal’ or ‘filled all the slots’ and they continue well beyond a point that is considered healthy."
And she wasn't the only person to express concern. Among the 853 comments on the post was writer Alison Perry, who said: "This makes me SO ANGRY! @therangeuk this might seem harmless to you but it’s really not! You’re perpetuating the belief that women have to fit into a narrow beauty ideal to be acceptable. It’s dangerous. Walking past this in one of your shops could trigger someone and set them off down a path of dieting or disordered eating. Not ok."
The Range has discontinued wall plaques which include slots to save £1 for every pound of weight lost - up to 40lb (18kg) on the bridal version. In a statement issued to the BBC, The Range said: "We appreciate that every 'body' is 'bikini ready' all the time, but some of our customers have found this a fun way to help them reach a goal. This product has, however, now been discontinued and we will not be stocking it again."
Since originally posting about the products, Emma has updated her followers about the move by the retailer to pull the products from its shelves. "We did it guys. YOU DID IT! Because of your healthy discussion on my post about @therangeuk weight loss signs geared towards women." Adding: " I can’t believe we together made a change!"
And the comments continued: "This is amazing", said one follower. "You wonderful woman! Incredible", said another. While someone else simply said: "Yesssss!!!"
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