Simply because of the nature of this post, seeing as it is about clothing and sizes and body shapes and types, I am marking it with a possible TW.

Perhaps you have not yet heard, but J Crew introduced the size triple zero to their range in early July. A spokeswoman for the company has stated that the size was introduced to meet needs in their Asian market, but many people are not pleased with this response to the criticism being thrown J Crew’s way.

“[This] will only triple the practice of unhealthy dieting in a society obsessed with skinny,” Lynn Grefe, the president to the National Eating Disorders Association was quoted saying.

And while I can see her point, and I do agree, I have other thoughts on this new size as well.

I may have dealt with my fair share of body image issues, but I logically know that I am naturally petite. As such, I know first-hand just how frustrating trying to find clothing that fits can be, especially when you’re hunting for affordable, modest, but fashion-forward, items. And this is just clothing we’re talking about here—do not even get me started on bathing suits. There are plenty of stores that I cannot shop at because even their smallest sizes are too big on me, and it can get tiring, and aggravating, and disheartening. This is my natural size, and I just wish that companies would make clothing for even those of us on the ends of the bell curve: both larger and smaller.

In this regard, it excites me to see that a company has come to realize the need for smaller sizes for the naturally small women out there. This new size rubs me wrong in almost every other regard though.

J Crew’s 000 is said to fit women with a twenty-three inch waist. To naturally have that small of a waist is rare. I do believe that it is possible, particularly with shorter women—I happen to have gone to school with two sisters who are both naturally so small that it wouldn’t surprise me if this new size fit them—but such women are few and far between.

Even with a real need for at least some brands to carry sizes that seem ridiculously small, introducing a new, smaller size is bothersome. For the few who are rejoicing over a size that fits them, there are many more agonizing over how to whittle their bodies down some more so that they can add up to the new “standard.”

We live in a thin—no, scarily skinny—obsessed society. We see it daily in the media and all around us. Almost no one is making resolutions to gain weight. Not enough are making resolutions to love themselves. Diet and fat and body shamming talk are deemed normal in today’s society. Calorie counts are popping up on menus everywhere. Juice cleanses are all the rage. Women and men everywhere are looking to lose weight, tone up, and achieve the highly praised, ideal, thin, fit body. And it’s no wonder that this is how we think. It’s how we allow ourselves to be trained to think every time we see a magazine remarking on this or that celebrity’s “tragic weight gain.” We live in a toxic society, folks. It is up to us to change that and to change our own thought patterns.

The introduction of the triple zero is only more fuel for the fire. It’s another level of skinny that hundreds of thousands will feel compelled to try and obtain. For the millions in the US who have diagnosable eating disorders, things such as this can spark a race to bottom (size), which is seen as the top.

Some have accused J Crew of vanity sizing, a practice in which companies deem a larger standard for a size, allowing more people to fit into smaller sizes. J Crew has denied this being the case, but perhaps, that is exactly what’s happening. The 00 became too large, so they added the 000. Triple. Zero. What is that even supposed to mean? Triple nothing? With so many trying to starve themselves into smaller and smaller physical states, wishing they could simply disappear, the idea of triple nothing could be dangerously appealing. Not to mention, what’s next? Are we going to be seeing 0000’s on the market next year? There has to be an end; this cannot continue.

I highly doubt that the entire human race is going to shift back to each home providing clothing for its members, tailored to fit each individual, and I highly doubt that we are all just going to stop wearing clothes and begin going about daily life naked. Clothing is thus a necessary part of life. The way sizing for men’s’ shorts and pants is done is a brilliant idea though: waist and length. Numbers are somewhat inevitable with mass produced clothing, so we are all going to have to face them in some form or fashion. But why make up sizes and give them certain measurements, when you could just use actual measurements? No need to create a new size and set a new standard. No need for vanity sizing.

Perhaps the need for a smaller size is real, or perhaps this is simply another company setting another standard for our number-crazed, skinny-obsessed society.

I can see the pro to creating a smaller size for the naturally petite women of the world, but I see so many more cons—namely, the effect it will have on all of the millions of disordered eaters and millions with eating disorders in our society. Are the costs really worth it? Is the return benefit enough to outweigh them? I personally do not believe that they are.

What about you?