The
term often applied to any
woman who is a size
12 or up. Often thought to mean
fat, it does not
imply that in any manner. There are quite a
few women who are not
naturally skinny as a
beanpole, and aren't willing to become
anorexic to try and fit into those tiny sizes.
The fascination with models and supermodels has caused the association between full-figured and fat, due to thinking that it's normal to be that tiny.
Many women can end up in that range just by being at their ideal body weight, showing how skewed the perception of the average female body really is.
Recently, there's been some effort to make women accept their bodies better, and realize that there's nothing wrong with being a slightly larger size, and better clothing is being designed and marketed.