I’ve been seeing a lot of discussion about Clarisse’s casting in the PJO show that basically boils down to “anyone can be ugly if they have a mean personality.” And like yes, that’s true, but "ugly" people also exist (by ugly, I mean not conventionally attractive). let ugly people be ugly (so long as their ugliness is not a reflection of wider prejudice - ie, if only the evil characters are fat, that’s bad).

This bothers me especially because there is no representation for tall, broad, fat, “ugly” preteen and teenage girls, at least not any that isn’t centered around them becoming beautiful. I don’t think ugliness is a bad word on its own. making a character who rejects femininity and is described as ugly both pretty and feminine isn’t making some kind of statement about how pretty people can be mean too, especially because Clarisse is ultimately redeemed.

For her character to be ugly and mean at the start of the story and end still "ugly" (by conventional standards of femininity) and nice means that her character growth is about her personality - and that her looks were never a reflection of her morality.

It's true that you can be pretty while rejecting femininity, but the way Clarisse is styled in the show (in my opinion) is too feminine. Her appearance is too put together, too subtly feminine, for how she's described in the books. This is no shade to Dior! I actually think she does a great job as Clarisse and I look forward to seeing more of her. But tv and movies have a long history of casting attractive women only to call their characters unattractive, thus reinforcing harmful stereotypes about what is and isn’t beautiful, instead of casting actually *average* looking women.

THAT is the representation my middle school self is aching for. I want a middle schooler who’s taller than all her friends, who’s got a belly, who looks awkward in dresses because of her build, who’s wider than her male friends, who's going through puberty faster than her friends, who has acne and doesn’t wear makeup and doesn’t understand what femininity is and dresses like a Tom boy. These traits aren't ugly. They're normal. They're just not aesthetically attractive, so they are invariably erased from media.

Where is my preteen girl in basketball shorts because the shorts available to girls are too revealing for someone of her size? Where is my teenager who has been told, explicitly or otherwise, that she doesn't conform to beauty standards, so she refuses to wear dresses or skirts? Where is the girl who knows she's "ugly" and doesn't care? Where is the one who never cared until someone told her, and suddenly she wishes to be skinny and slender and not broad-shoulder and not tall and to look like her mom instead of being told she looks like her dad?

I'm all for diversity in casting because people are diverse. But body type - and not just visually appealing or acceptable body types - is part of diversity to. Annabeth’s appearance has virtually no impact on her character, and Leah carries her perfectly. For Clarisse and others like Piper, their appearance is INCREDIBLY relevant to their characters.

Let “ugly” girls be ugly. Combatting fatphobia - which also includes normal sized women and broad shoulders, because the fashion industry has labelled all non-models as fat - in media is not just about showing non-skinny people as attractive. It’s about showing non-skinny people as EXISTING. and being valid for that alone, outside of their moral or aesthetic value.

I can only think of one actress who’s roughly my build. I can think of zero times I watched media aimed for kids and saw a kid my size. Diversity is not just an aesthetic designed to be palatable. Casting characters with ugly personalities as beautiful people when the character in question will go through a redemption isn't the slay some people think because it's still reinforcing the idea that looks have moral value. I rarely see characters without aesthetic attractiveness nowadays, not ones who are on the hero's side; when it comes to children, when I say attractiveness I mean the way a child in a clothing ad looks cute and cheerful, not romantic/sexual attractiveness. For children especially, body positivity is far less important than body neutrality - the idea that their bodies don't have morality or attractive value attached.

What's most important to me is that "ugly" and unfeminine preteen and teenage girls see themselves represented neutrally, in a way I can't recall ever seeing myself.

I don't mean to hate on Dior. I really do think she's excellent as Clarisse. This is just my perspective, as an "ugly," tall, broad-shouldered, chubby former middle school girl who would've loved to see someone who looked like me.