Project Title: The Ethical Fat Fashion Tax: Fat Fashion Oppression Through Resource Scarcity and Desire
Project Summary: The purpose of this project is to explore what, if any, ethical and emotional costs fat women pay during the fast fashion shopping experience. This project will examine the desires, needs, social taboos, and emotions surrounding the shopping experience of plus-size women at the fast fashion company SHEIN. The study will also explore the ability to access brands perceived as ethical and possible coercion into fast fashion shopping. The study will be a 2-hour online focus group where the shopping experience, emotions, and social taboos of fast fashion will be discussed in depth. With your consent, the focus groups will be audio-recorded. Once the recording has been transcribed, the audio recording will be destroyed.
Project eligibility: To be eligible, participants must meet the following criteria:
- Have a fundamental understanding of what fast fashion is
- Are between the ages of 18 and 39 years old
- Identify as a woman
- Self-identify as between sizes 16 US and 28 US
- Self-identify as fat or plus-size
- Have previously shopped at the brand SHEIN three times or more
- Speak and read English
- Have access to the internet
If you are interested in participating in this focus group and meet the above criteria, please follow the link below to complete an online pre-screening survey: https://forms.gle/hDsQGgG1ygjP1Whg8
If you have any comments, questions, concerns, or would like further information about this study before agreeing to participate, please feel free to contact me via email at MercedesBaconTraplin@cmail.carleton.ca.
This project was reviewed and cleared by the Carleton University Research Ethics Board Clearance #121379. If you have any ethical concerns with the study, please contact Carleton University Research Ethics Board-A, preferably by email at ethics@carleton.ca or you can leave a message by phone at 613-520-2600 ext. 2517. For all other concerns, please contact Mercedes directly via email.