Do Plus Sized Women Really Need A Separate Social Netwoking Site?

Apparently, Charming Shoppes (the people who own Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug and Catherines brands) think so. They’ve just launched Sonsi.com, which targets women who are a size 12 or above. They’re also starting a site called SonsiLiving, where women will “make friends, share stories, review products and feel empowered with information and advice covering topics such as fashion, beauty, health, relationships, food, entertaining and more …”

All of which sounds fine, but shouldn’t there be a place for that in mainstream media? Women who are a size 12 or above make up 60% of the population. It seems odd to treat them as though they’re an odd minority who need their own special site when they’re pretty clearly the majority. I just kind of feel like there should be enough of a place for plus sized women in the mainsteam discussion that this sould be unecessary – but maybe that’s not the case. And if it’s not, then the mainstream discussion is really failing.