H&M is one of the most popular and fast growing clothing brands in the U.S. with over 350 retail stores nationwide. And yet, even though the average American woman is a size 14, only a tiny fraction of H&M stores carry plus sizes.

Everyday girls walk into H&M hoping to shop like everyone else, only to find that H&M does not think their sizes are worth displaying in stores. The stores that do offer the plus size section are few and far in between -- for example, of the 71 H&M stores in the state of California, only 13 offer plus sizes.

I want to have fun and feel beautiful and special when I go shopping, not like something is wrong with me or that my body is not worthy enough for fashionable clothes. That is why I am calling on H&M to do away with the extremely rigid and uniform standards of beauty by offering plus size clothing in all of their U.S. retail stores!  

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the ultra-thin body type portrayed in fashion advertising as the “ideal” is possessed naturally by only 5% of American women, and 70% of normal-weighted women express desires to be thinner. So, why don’t we have sizes that look more like the average American woman in stores? What is the obsession with making young girls feel fat?

H&M received a lot of great publicity for having “plus-size” model Jennie Runk in their swimwear advertisements in 2013, so it is sad to me that they are still forcing their plus size customers to shop online or drive far out of their way to find their sizes in stores. This is an opportunity for H&M to be a leader in their industry and show other retailers how many plus size women desperately want to shop at their stores!

I understand that H&M is a company with a bottom line, but here is a reality check for their executives: with 100 million American women at or above a size 14, you are leaving an enormous amount of money on the table by not promoting and offering plus sizes in all of your stores.

It is time that companies stop ignoring plus size customers. It is time that we start celebrating the beauty in all of us, no matter our size. It is time.

Please stand with me to tell H&M to include plus sizes in all of their stores.

Thank you.