One Size Fits…

All?  Is that right? 

In the world of clothing, the label OS or One Size, means it’s supposed to fit us all.  All of us.  You, me, your neighbor, your co-worker,  your mother.  I’ve also seen the fence-riding, One Size Fits Most tag, which is a politically correct way of saying don’t hold us accountable if it doesn’t fit – we said MOST, remember?

The principle behind one size fits all is that the object or procedure or program is flexible.  That all of us can partake of this particular product…that it’s universal.  

While some of this idea is true, just like our fingerprints, we are all unique.  The way we see the world, the dreams we have, the foods we like, the worries we embrace.  Yes, we are one size fits all under the “human being” umbrella – yes, we are all living creatures walking the earth.  Yes, we have unique human traits that separate us from other species.  We are the same,  and yet different.

Many of us dislike the generalizations that volley about like balls on a tennis court, yet our society is riddled with them.  As a woman, I’ve often felt the sense of internal panic when faced with the OS tag.  Will I fit in this?  And if I don’t, what does that say about me?  Will I be ostracized by the global community?  Yes, I’m being dramatic but we’ve all been there.

Makes me think of the Cinderella story.  As Cinderella rushes hastily from the ball, she loses her glass slipper.  Since the prince has fallen in love with the secret Cinderella, he searches the kingdom to find the woman who will fit this abandoned shoe.  At the home of Cinderella, each wicked step-sister desperately attempts to squeeze her foot into the magical slipper, but to no avail.  However, Cinderella’s identity is revealed when her slender foot effortlessly glides into the fantasy footwear, proving the perfect fit both poetically and literally.

Now, if Cinderella’s foot was a size 7 for example (a relatively common size) and Prince Charming had stopped by a house prior to Cinderella’s with a female who wore a size 7, would she have become the Princess?  Would not that glass slipper have fit many a woman in the castle community?  Should they all have claimed rights to the kingdom and the happily ever after ending?

My point is this – we are not a one size fits all world.  We are a conglomeration of sizes, of fits, of needs, wants, fears, ideas, principles, morals and everything else in between.  It is up to each one of us, to tailor fit our world to the best of our abilities.  We can’t squeeze everyone into some preconceived notion of our own.

Sometimes the fit will be tight – sometimes it will be loose.  Sometimes we will just have to take it off the rack and make do with irregular seams. 

I’m a spandex kind of gal…keeps me flexible. – BB