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Tell it, sister Tish.

May 8, 2006

Tish has a thing or two to say about fighting obesity, rather than promoting health:

It's so hard when the people who are doing the good work use the size of my ass to make their point.

Posted at 10:46 AM • Comments (1) • TrackBack

Body Image: Anorexia v. Obesity

April 10, 2006

What is my deal with titles lately? That one sounds like a Dateline special.

Really, I just wanted to link up this post on Feministe by Piny. I had really never thought about what Piny posits there...that there is a double standard in how health is measured in the context of the two eating disorders. Generally, anorexia is measured by death rate, and obesity is measured by a size/acceptability rate. There is not really a health-based measurement on either end of the spectrum. If you are fat, you are automatically unhealthy...if you are thin, you are generally not deemed to be unhealthy unless you are dead.

Wow. That kind of stopped me in my tracks today. There's more conversation about it here and here. And I actually wanted to link up this post by that smarty-pants, Stentor Danielson:

Information about the activities of other parts of the hierarchy is reduced to a few summary numbers (dollars spent or bushels of cotton grown or SAT scores, etc.). These few numbers become all-important, creating an incentive to "game" them in ways that make the indicator look good without actually improving the underlying facts that the indicator is supposed to be measuring. One of the key problems in the Soviet economy -- a quintessentially Hierarchist system -- was just this sort of number-polishing. This is exactly what the weight loss obsession does -- instead of addressing the underlying issue (health) in a holistic way, it sets up a single quantity as a measure of success, and then focuses on "fixing" that indicator.

Not bad for a toss-off response to Ampersand's epic tome about the weight-loss industry.

Posted at 12:56 PM • Comments (0) • TrackBack

Not a Self-Hating Fat Person - a Rant

April 4, 2006

Dear Person I have to see on a way too regular basis,

Do I LOOK like I care about your diet? I think you look fine the way you are. And, quite frankly, when I eat a carrot, I eat it because I like the way it tastes, not because some dude who will be dead someday (most likely because he is an evil fuck who makes a living perpetuating the beauty myth by selling his bullshit theories that actually result in less health and more sexism) wrote a book that told me carrots will make me Thin and Desirable.

I'm not thin, and I don't give a fuck if you or anyone else desires me.

You are not thin, either, and it makes me sad that you've bought into that bullshit, but telling you that is not my trip, either. When I eat a piece of candy or chocolate cake or greezy cheezy pizza, it's because I like the way it tastes and not because I feel bad about the fact that some narrow-minded ass won't fuck me because I'm too fat for him. Or, hell, because some ass-minded fuck won't even talk to me because I'm too fat. Fuck that shit.

I'm not a self-hating fat person, and I don't want to hear your soft hatred directed at yourself by your constant babble of size-obsessed bullshit, or your soft hatred directed outwards at the other people who also have to unfortunately see you on a way-too-regular basis. And, um, poking someone in the stomach and asking them how they got THAT if they can't even afford dinner is, wow...I mean, I've done and said some pretty crude and rude things in my lifetime, but that really fucking takes the cake. (sorry if that made you hungry.)

Believe it or not, there do exist people in this world who really don't give a fuck about how large they are and how other people perceive their size. I know quite well how I'm perceived. I enjoy experimenting with those perceptions, but in the end, it really doesn't fucking matter to me. So, again, no, I'm not interested in hearing about your diet, or about your fabulous partner who so open-mindedly supports you in your endless desire to be thin and fuckable, just like he likes you. Or, at least, not FAT and UNFUCKABLE...because he hates you that way.

Believe it or not, not everyone hates their body the way you seem to hate yours. Even us fatty fat fatties! So, here...have a carrot. Or a slice of yummy chocolate cake. I don't give a fuck, just as long as you are enjoying it.

Posted at 11:05 PM • Comments (4) • TrackBack

Just...I love twisty is all.

March 23, 2006

Hot Mama at I Blame The Patriarchy

The thing is, in a world where women are the sex class (by which I mean Planet Earth), even morphing mamas are expected to display themselves according to male standards of fuckability as defined by pornography, and those who fall short are subject not only to public censure and ridicule and fat jokes, but to the ultimate horror: not being hot enough for Husband.
Whether MIM and Husband find eternal bliss in their personal oasis of mutual hotnessâ€”and really, if it makes them happy, ï¿½buena suerte!â€”is of little consequence to this patriarchy-blamer; it is the larger stupidity of the sexist beauty mandate illustrated by this pair that smegs me off. Check out this agonizing post at a blog called The Homesick Home, wherein author L. has put on a few pounds and now endures her husbandâ€™s silent disdain.

She's so freaking dreamy!

Posted at 10:18 AM • Comments (1) • TrackBack

Love letter to my body.

December 26, 2005

I think I've been feeling a bit in need of some size-love reinforcement lately. It's so easy to knock me off kilter and make me look at my body in a not-so-loving light. I look in the mirror and I see my saggy underchin and my skin tags and I think "bluck." I hear Dave Chappelle crack a joke about being so drunk "You'll be fucking fat chicks in no time" and I feel like I'm simultaneously shrinking and becoming cartoonishly gargantuan in the presence of the others in the room.

This year has been a hard one on my body. The past few years have been unhealthy times. I had to stop taking the bus to work and cut down dramatically on the time I took for movement. One of the best things about having Pansy and Clay here, as I've mentioned, has been the freedom of my nightly walks. I love feeling my body in motion. I love my power. I love my size and graceful clumsiness. I love that I can nurture and hug and love and not just feel but BE broad and expansive and overflowing. I love it so much I will rise from the couch at 2 in the morning, after 4 hours of Lord of the fucking Rings, and propel myself forth into the night. Enjoying the air, the company, the sounds of the walkman, and the rhythm of my footfalls. It's gorgeous meditation.

I have to remind myself that this body has carried me through life, protectively encompassing all that I am. At every size, I have always felt larger than life...because I am. As we all are - disembodied energy presiding over moving lumps of flesh. Pleasing to look at, maybe. Warm to the touch, soft. Functional. Strong. Perfectly imperfect. Me.

& so...

I love you, skin tags on eyelids & neck!

I love you, saggy boobies!

I love you, smelly belly button!

I love you, perfectly placed mole on my left breast!

I love you, stretch marks & muffin top belly!

I love you, hairy legs and pits!

I love you, strong legs!

I love you, flabby, strong arms!

I love you, cute nose with the line down the middle!

I love you, big outpout lips!

I love you, chipped front tooth!

I love you, kissable chin and earlobes!

I love you, misbehaving hair!

I love you, tired, expressive eyes!

I love you, bags under aforementioned eyes!

I love you, forehead wrinkles!

I love you, scrunchy smile!

I love you, chubby fingers!

I love you, pimply butt!

I love you, great big mama hips!

I love you, love you, love you, love you! I'm going to slather you all with lavender lotion and take us out for a nice treat!

Posted at 1:06 PM • Comments (4) • TrackBack

My Take on the Dove "Real Beauty" campaign

July 29, 2005

As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing at all revolutionary about this stupid advertising campaign*.

All they are fucking doing is pretending like they are telling me my fat body is attractive, while reaching around, grabbing my fat ass, and saying "But, you know, you really need to use our FIRMING CREAM."

Dude. The whole POINT of accepting my fat body is accepting that it's NOT FUCKING FIRM.

It's funny. Cecily's post about the OK Soda campaign sort of triggered this. OK Soda's shtick was advertising something mediocre to the "irony" set. Dove is now advertising body hatred to the "empowerment" set.

Nice try. I'm not buying it.

*I just re-read this, and thought to myself "Why the fuck would anyone expect an ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN to be revolutionary, anyway?"

Posted at 7:06 AM • Comments (0) • TrackBack

What those anti-fat activists don't GET.

January 20, 2005

It seems like people who think I should be in a terminal state of panic about the size of my body really enjoy looking at statistics that point to the (alleged) physical healthy benefits that come from having a smaller body. But there really doesn't seem to be any consideration about the mental/spiritual/sexual health benefits I reap in the body that I'm in.

Here's my fat body affirmation for the day. I am not on death's door. My physical health is satisfactory to me for now, and if I deem that I need to start an exercise regimen above and beyond what I already do, I have the power to do that. However, I must weigh that change against how it affects the other components that comprise my WHOLE health. Meaning, if getting more exercise gets in the way of getting more sex...I'll probably choose sex. Mostly because I have a sex partner who satisfies my WHOLE body, and when I look at my excel spreadsheet that compares the cost/benefit analysis of sex v. more exercise, there are more benefits to sex than exercise at a given time.

Does this make sense? We each have a limited amount of hours in the day, and we each have choices that we make to fully maximize those hours and create a life that enriches our WHOLE health. That's why someone telling me that working out for 90 minutes a day is POSSIBLE is a total non-sequitor. Yes. I'll give you that it is POSSIBLE, but when compared with the other things that I feel I need to do to maintain the mental/spiritual/sexual and, yes, physical health of myself and my family - there are many other things that I do during the day that win out over 90 minutes of exercise.

Which is not to say that exercise is never enjoyable to me. It is QUITE enjoyable. But right now, navigating the time to have more exercise would require that I compromise too many things that are of a higher priority for my higher well-being...as well as that of my children...

Those things that take a higher priority include such things as listening to music with the lights out (while laying on the couch), taking slow walks around the neighborhood with the children, cooking delicious meals, reading, playing the Sims, talking to friends, dancing without worrying if I'm being "aerobic enough"...and much, much more. And I resent it that those needs for spiritual/mental/sexual stimulation are negligable in the eyes of people who look at my body and immediately jump to the conclusion that I am unhealthy if I am not prioritizing reducing the size of it over all else.

Posted at 10:11 AM • Comments (2) • TrackBack

I want to be Tish when I grow up.

January 20, 2005

Because, really...at this point, all I can think to say about someone like Kevin begins with an f, ends with an f, and has a uck of sandwiched in the middle.

Tish, however, at least attempts to communicate eloquently and respectfully. My motto is, respect, like a blowjob, is earned and reciprocal - if not in the same night, then at least within a reasonable interval.

And, quite honestly, since Kevin (or, at least his freaky altar-ego) feels compelled to endorse the idea that fat people are ugly, I should say that I find him to be quite leathery looking and unattractive. I wonder if Kevin knows the deleterious effects of too much exposure to the sun. Dude, try SUNSCREEN. And, sorry skinny guys, but I'm not into grinding bone on bone.

With that, I'll leave Kevin in his place where he belongs. It's clear he is only seeking the attention of fatties for some perverse reason that I will never comprehend. To paraphrase Tish, he can have his little corner of the internet. I'm perfectly happy to avoid it.

Mwah.

Posted at 9:42 AM • Comments (27) • TrackBack

An Excellent response.

January 16, 2005

Jennifer has Kevin Beck pegged with this restrained yet cutting comment (which I'm posting in its entirity in case Kevin decides to delete it):

Paul, if I may, allow me to take a stab at the reasoning (if you could call it that) of the attacks this person has made against the idea of fat acceptance in general and specifically your blog.
Some people, and Kevin here is apparently one of them, are very invested in the idea that fat is bad. They may feel that they have social status associated with their smaller body size, and/or that they have worked hard and long to achieve their thin body. Thus, the idea that it might be actually OK to be fat sends them into a tailspin. What, all that energy I've poured into self hatred and body work are for naught? You mean if I were fat I'd still be a worthy person and maybe even attractive, too? This flies in the face of all they have been taught, and much of what they have worked toward in life. As you can imagine, the tenets of size acceptance are not taken to be very good news.

I ran across this attitude during my much publicised disagreement with Jazzercise over whether or not I should be allowed to teach for them, despite my undisputed qualifications. A number of instructors supported me and cheered me on in my efforts to get them to remove the "leaner than the public" requirement that they used to have. But some other instructors viewed me as unwilling to "do the work" it takes to lose weight, and clearly inferior to them because of my body size. Their rationale was, they worked hard to achieve the body they have, why am I not willing to work hard to change mine?

Here's a news flash: fat acceptance is hard work. It is not easy to run counter to the powerful anti-fat sentiment which pervades our culture right now. It's not always easy to accept onesself, or to allow others to accept themselves, as Kevin here seems to find so threatening. Kevin can take comfort in the fact that, for every Big Fat Blog poster, there are a thousand people on the Weight Watchers boards hating themselves and obsessing over food and exercise. It's not a life I choose for myself, and I think I should be allowed to live this way without slanderous comments from people like our blogger here.

[link via big fat blog, and Tish]

Remind me to write about my feelings during and after watching Supersize Me.

Oh, and...NINETY MINUTES a day? she-yeah...right! It's hilarious, because by saying that people need to work out NINETY MINUTES A DAY to lose weight, they are only proving that losing weight is practically impossible in the context of the current American social structure.

Posted at 9:49 AM • Comments (6) • TrackBack

This breaks my heart...

July 15, 2004

Tish linked up this article aout Anamarie Regino: spiked-health | Article | The lock-up diet

Anamarie's story illustrates the intimate relationship between, on the one hand, slenderness and power, privilege, and money, and on the other, fat and powerlessness, lack of social status, and relative poverty. In both instances, these dichotomies manifested themselves along ethnic lines as well. (The Hispanic social worker who interviewed Martinez-Regino when the state began the process of taking her child from her insisted on doing so in Spanish, despite the fact that English is Martinez-Regino's first language. According to Martinez-Regino, the social worker kept demanding the telephone numbers of her family in Mexico, even though Martinez-Regino was born in the USA and has spent her entire life here.)
Perhaps the most striking irony of Anamarie's story is the faith her family maintains in doctors and medicine. Despite being accused by doctors, on the basis of no evidence whatsoever, of abusing their child, Anamarie's parents cling to the belief that doctors can be trusted to explain the meaning of what has happened to their daughter. Ultimately, it is this faith - a very American faith in the ability of science and technology to answer what are, in the most fundamental sense, political and cultural, rather than scientific, questions - that plays perhaps the most crucial role in supporting the war on fat.

What remains difficult to see, even for those who have paid the heaviest price in that war, is that it isn't people like Anamarie who have a weight problem. We live in a nation in which those in authority can look at a three-year-old girl with the 'wrong' sort of body and decide, on the basis of nothing more than irrational beliefs born of their own fear and loathing of fat, that her family must be torn apart. Now that is a weight problem.

I don't have any time right now to add any commentary, but Tish has a few more links for you to read and reflect upon. (permalinks don't work, but it's the July 14th, 2004 Post)

Posted at 11:30 AM • Comments (0) • TrackBack

Demonizing Fat

May 4, 2004

The New York Times > Arts > Demonizing Fat in the War on Weight

In what may turn out to be his most controversial claim, Mr. Campos writes: "Contrary to almost everything you have heard, weight is not a good predictor of health. In fact a moderately active larger person is likely to be far healthier than someone who is svelte but sedentary." To bolster his argument, he cites several studies, including one published by the Cooper Institute, a private research institution in Dallas.

I find it...odd...that this is considered the "most controversial claim." Is it controversial to claim that people who are active are "likely to be" more physically fit than people who are not active?

How ironic that a fucking article about anti-fat bias contains so much anti-fat bias in its reporting.

Well, maybe not ironic. Maybe just typical.

[link courtesy of redheaddread]

Posted at 8:07 AM • Comments (3) • TrackBack

Found this yesterday...

April 22, 2004

Fighting Fat Stigma

Posted at 3:07 AM • Comments (0) • TrackBack

Lazy

February 29, 2004

People who don't update their blog at least on a daily basis are LAZY. People who don't homeschool their children are LAZY. People who rely on their doctors for medical advice without trusting their instincts are LAZY. People who drive SUVs are LAZY. People who eat meat are LAZY. People who watch prime time television are LAZY. People who give birth in the hospital instead of at home are LAZY. People who aren't anti-racist are LAZY. People who aren't feminists are LAZY. People who are married are LAZY.

You see what I'm saying? My priorities are no one's fucking business, and neither are yours mine. If I don't put losing weight in whatever method is the current fad at the top of my list of priorities, it says nothing whatsoever about how active I am, about how much drive I have, about my ambitions or dreams. It really doesn't have anything to do with my relative health, either. No one has the right to call someone lazy because they feel they should prioritize things according to an arbitrary standard.

In addition, there was a time in my life when my lifestyle allowed for a higher prioritization of exercise. I was STILL. FAT. After over 5 years of working out at least 3 times a week. I was STILL. FAT. In the future, working out might gain a higher priority in my life. And I will STILL. BE. FAT. I will ALWAYS be fat, unless I make UNHEALTHY lifestyle changes in order to lose weight. I'm not playing the victim, I'm not blaming anyone, and I'm not APOLOGIZING. I'm simply saying that I'm fat, happy AND healthy, and FUCK anyone who calls me lazy. I fucking DARE YOU to live my life for a day and not be totally exhausted by bedtime. I'm not saying I don't enjoy it, but I use my whole body, mind, and soul all day...and, most days, I don't have ANY time to even ponder laziness.

If you are naturally thin, or if weight watchers or some other fad diet worked for you. Great. Congrats. It's not something I'm even remotely interested in. Enjoy your ability to blend in with the "thin folks" and assume that your size makes you healthier or smarter or better than me. Just don't expect me to listen to your self-righteous, fatphobic pap without comment.

UPDATE: I should add, since this post has been trackbacked, that this is a continuation of a discussion that started here and continued here and also has branched off here, and possibly elsewhere.

Posted at 5:21 PM • Comments (30) • TrackBack

Kiss my fat ass.

February 27, 2004

Lovely fatphobia going on here. I love it when a bunch of men get together to define what is and is not healthy and/or attractive in terms of body size. Bite me. This is my response:

I notice there are no women in this discussion. Could it be that fat is experienced differently if you are a woman?
I am a fat woman who has given birth to two children. I resent the implication that there's "More I should be doing" to obtain a stature that is more appealing to...anyone. My body has birthed, nourished, and cared for two beautiful boys. I am neither lazy nor unhealthy and the size of my body is no indication of the power of my intellect.

I love my fat, curvy, bumpy, stretch-marked, beautiful body and it's bullshit for anyone to imply or state directly that my positive body image is indicative of lack of desire to "do the work" to be more attractive to some snotty skinny boy on the internet.

Posted at 1:58 PM • Comments (15) • TrackBack

Fat People of the World, Unite and Take Over

November 2, 2003

Watching one of those dumb hollywood extra shows last night (don't EVEN ask why...I think I was high on candy) there was a report on Ana Nicole Smith's amazing weight loss. The interviewer was dwelling on how fabulous she looks now that she's no longer a fat, ugly slob - and how she must have to beat the men off with a stick. As if she could never have possibly attracted a man when she was 50 pounds heavier.

And I wonder what is up with the fat people - the fat MAJORITY - in this country that they can sit back and watch this crap and not be incited to riot. How many other socially constructed groups of people sit by and watch their group be maligned without a united voice against defamation? What is wrong with us that we allow ourselves to be called ugly and undesirable and freakish? And where is the outrage that we allow people to be the subject of ridicule and demoralization for no good reason?

We need to stop rolling over and taking the abuse, and start voting with our dollars for less oppressive representation. I have been watching network television more these past few months, and it is complete lunacy how much comedians, advertisers, and virtually anyone trying to sell anything rely on our own internalized fatphobia to hawk their bullshit to us.

Why are we buying it?

Posted at 10:10 PM • Comments (9) • TrackBack

Fat like my ASS

October 29, 2003

Sorry...I just feel the bile rising whenever I think about this stuff, and Tish reminded me today of that STUPID "Fat Like Me" "documentary."

*sputter* *sputter* - I think I'm too full of rage right now to muster a good rant, and that says a lot. I'm just wondering how many people WORKED on that film without noticing that it was counter-productive and offensive. And certainly among them there was one fatty...or more. How could it be that something like this could even get to production without someone on the staff voicing concerns over its idiocy.

I did not watch the show, but Tish's post on this subject made me cry. Not because I feel forlorn and depressed about my size, but because I feel forlorn and depressed about the stupidity that is perpetuated in the name of "caring."

And - to the mama who was uncomfortable hugging holding the hand of her fat child - you don't deserve to be a mother. I know that sounds extreme, but you don't. As a mother, I've cleaned up the worst diaper catastrophies you might ever imagine, and to think that this mother probably does that, but then refuses to touch her fat child...well, I know whose face I'll be thinking about rubbing in it the next time coley has a load.

Like I said...I get a little angry. I'm going to carry on with my day and pretend like the stupid fucking people who generate this kind of fucked up bullshit don't exist.

Posted at 8:03 AM • Comments (4) • TrackBack

society wants no fatties

October 16, 2003

So, now being seen with a fat person is a revolutionary act. Wonderful.

In the English study, psychologist Jason Halford and colleagues from the University of Liverpool tested 144 female students' reactions to two prom photos. One showed a dapper, thin young fellow standing next to a svelte ringlet-haired woman. The other was the same photo altered to show the guy arm-in-arm with a very large, nicely dressed woman.
The volunteers took a quick look at one or the other of the pictures and then were asked their opinion of the man. They rated him from 1 to 5 on 50 negative adjectives called the "fat phobia scale" that people often use to describe obese people.

The man with the big woman was rated 22 percent more negatively than the same fellow with the thin companion. When seen with the large woman, he was more likely to be described as miserable, self-indulgent, passive, shapeless, depressed, weak, insignificant and insecure.

I'm sorry...I was going to say something else, but just re-reading these words is making me want to go on a cross-country shooting spree. Thanks to Nurse Ratched and Redheaddread for upping my ire quotient for the day...

and, repeat after me "I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings...I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings..."

Posted at 11:34 AM • Comments (8) • TrackBack

Now I'm tired AND pissed off.

September 16, 2003

I'm going to be getting back to THIS later. You can count on it.

WHILE THE PROGRAM studied at Boston-area schools did not change some unhealthful behaviors, the researchers say their results show health report cards might be a promising tool in the battle against the nation's childhood obesity epidemic. "Parents who received health and fitness report cards were almost twice as likely to know or acknowledge that their child was actually overweight than those parents who did not get a report card," said Robert McGowan, physical education program leader at Cambridge Public Schools. They also "were over twice as likely to plan weight-control activities for their overweight child," said McGowan, a study co-author.

I think I need to pre-emptively put myself in time out for a little while before responding to this one, as well.

Posted at 9:09 PM • Comments (3) • TrackBack

An EXCELLENT article about the so-called obesity "epidemic"

August 23, 2003

Thanks to ms. polka for this one:

it's a strange epidemic that finds those exposed to it living longer, healthier lives than ever before. Yet, that's exactly what Department of Health and Human Services statistics show, even as the population is getting fatter and simultaneously aging. Given that the NIH and WHO have claimed obesity is second only to smoking as a preventable cause of death, then increases in adult obesity should have a negative impact on life expectancy, Ernsberger noted. "The opposite is true. Death rates have fallen. The greatest improvements are in cardiovascular disease deaths, which are most strongly linked to obesity," he said. "The decline in age-related mortality for stroke is 59 percent from 1970 to 1994; for heart disease, 53.2 percent."

As for the $93 billion [to $117 billion, depending on whose figures you want to use] "costs" of obesity? Mere hype. With doctors, researchers and politicians attributing everything that happens to fat people as the fault of their fatness, medical expenses for all of their health problems are included, Glenn Gaesser, Ph.D., associate professor of exercise physiology at the University of Virginia, has noted. A closer look reveals these dollar cost estimates also tally ambiguous tabs of "reduced productivity," absenteeism, higher insurance premiums, litigation and even the ineffective weight loss treatments they themselves promote.

Posted at 2:31 PM • Comments (0) • TrackBack

My brief conversation with the "fitness" sales lady

July 24, 2003

I forgot to mention the conversation I had with the Gold's Gym salesperson today. She started in with the whole "What are you looking for in a gym." I answered "I'm really just looking for a place I can go and do some aerobics on my own and lift some weights. Since I had told her that I stopped going to the gym when I was pregnant (and stupidly canceled my 15 dollar a month membership, and I'm still kicking myself over that one) she then said "Well, you know, joining the gym is a good way to get rid of that baby fat."

audible eyeroll.

My response was something like "That's not really my goal either. I don't mind the baby fat so much as I just really want to find a place I can go away from home where I can just spend some time alone working on my body, building strength and stuff."

It sounded like she got me when she said "You have a great attitude about it!" But then she added "Sometimes it's not so much about weighing yourself on a scale, but about fitting into your clothes and feeling good about your body."

I didn't have the energy to explain to her that it wasn't at all about clothes or my external body...it's more about my internal functions and how excercise really gives me more energy, even though I have never EVER ever lost a significant amount of weight by working out.

*sigh*

I'm thinking it's going to have to be the Y. 3 years ago, it seemed like I had so much more patience for this kind of stuff...but I don't think I could deal with the ogling at my leg hair or the condescension on the weight equiptment that I used to have to deal with when I went to the gym on a regular basis before. On the bright side, I never EVER got hit on by a beefy boy...on the down side, I frequently got glared at by them, and that's just fucking annoying.

Posted at 11:14 PM • Comments (4) • TrackBack

Show Me The Data

July 23, 2003

There's a new blog in the full bleed crew. Show Me The Data is a blog devoted to reporting the facts and exposing the myths that are rampant in the realm of fatphobic science. I'm so glad to have been able to provide a space for them. Thanks to Tish and the smtd folks!

Posted at 5:18 PM • Comments (1) • TrackBack

I'm going to print out this post and hang it on the wall in a really nice frame.

July 20, 2003

I love this. I absolutely do.

i said, i'm always going to be fat leroy. it's not a bad thing but some people like to talk about it like it is bad. like everyone should look the same but we don't. i said, i'm happy i'm fat. leroy was laying on the bed, i was leaning against the dresser. he was interested. i was surprised, i didn't show it but i thought i'd lose him before i got this far. he's four. he said, you are fat and you are good mama. yep. i said.

Go read it.

Posted at 10:06 PM • Comments (1) • TrackBack

Oh, how I love fatphobia...

July 14, 2003

in response to a long-ago post about adbusters' infamous "Fat People Are Responsible for All of the Problems in the World" issue, I got this:

A new comment has been posted on your blog Full Bleed: Confessions of a Zine Girl, on entry #176 (Why Adbusters Sucks).
http://surreally.net/fullbleed/newmt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=176

IP Address: 137.82.204.180
Name: Jay
Email Address: jsoko7@hotmail.com
URL:

Comments:

I've noticed ONLY FATSOS have a problem with that issue of ADBUSTERS. hmmmmmm.

J

I'm not sure if it's an actual e-mail address...but you can try it out if you want to speak your mind.

My response would be something like "It's clear from this response that you have superiour intellect. Do you think if I go on a diet, I can be super smart, like you?"

or something.

Fucker.

Posted at 9:33 PM • Comments (11) • TrackBack

Did I mention I love Tish?

June 18, 2003

Well, I'll say it again. I love, love, love her.

But what about soda machines in public facilities? I completely support getting them out of public facilities. I rarely drink soda. It is even more rare that I drink the two most often consumed brands of soda. I have issues with huge multinational conglomerates. And let me be clear: I am really very fat.
I have a friend, an athlete, who drinks large bottles of Coke every day. It can't be good for her. But if you saw the two of us on the street, you would assume that I drink soda and she does not. And you would be wrong.

Posted at 7:56 PM • Comments (5) • TrackBack

Sizism, the anti-consumerist movement and Me (or...lies, DAMN lies, and statistics)

June 4, 2003

These are some notes that I saved as draft about a year ago, when I was gathering information on an article about sizism and anti-consumerism. I might have actually published this already, but I'm not sure...and I thought it was worthwhile to go ahead and put this stuff "out there."

(can you tell I'm going back through my posts and clearing out all of my moldy old drafts?)

Sizism and Racism - The media has adopted "ideal" body proportions based upon white people. Tables of "ideal" weights based upon heights are based upon white people. People of color have a genetically distinct body type that was not taken into consideration in formulation of "ideal" proportions.

The iconography of the anti-consumerist and vegetarian movements frequently includes images of the "ugly american" as an overweight individual. Targetting a specific (oppressed) demographic as a means to advance an opinion is a tool of the patriarchy. We have learned well from our master, have we not?

This article from salon states:

So powerful is this image in our culture that, whenever a fat guy has a heart attack, people simply assume it's because he was fat. "He was a heart attack waiting to happen," is what they'll say about me if something else doesn't get me first. But whenever a thin guy has a heart attack (as many thin guys do each day), people are overwhelmed by cognitive dissonance. When my father, thin as a rail and extremely conscientious about nutrition, died at age 58 after a 10-year battle with heart disease, everybody protested, "But he was so thin!"
But self-fulfilling prophecies are not facts; correlation does not prove causation; people are not statistics; and the AMA's obsession with weight has virtually blinded it to other important factors. "Heart disease has a lot more to do with genetics and the lipid profile than with obesity," says Dr. Felix Kolb, an endocrinologist and clinical professor at the University of California Medical School. "People don't like to hear it, but there's a very strong familial incidence of these problems."

The fact is, the weight of an individual is a tiny (but exceedingly recognizable) piece of the puzzle when it comes to health.

A friend once told me that it's silly to discard the term obesity because it's just another thing to call someone, much like some african americans prefer to be called black. I have yet to meet a fat-identified person who wishes to reclaim the term "obese" As a fat mama, I reject the term on the grounds that it is an arbitrary indicator invented by the AMA for the sole purpose of pathologizing fat people.

This same friend posits that, as a thin person, she is frequently told she is anorexic, and that's just as bad as being told one is obese. First, I have to say that anorexia is a horrible disease that is the direct result of sizism and sexism. Second, I need to argue that the two terms are not equal. I AM obese. If someone calls me obese, they are speaking the truth, according to the bullshit BMI charts put forth by the AMA. She is not anorexic. Someone might accuse her of having a pathology, but she is not, in fact, pathologized. It sucks to be called a name, but it sucks even worse to be forced to accept terminology that is negative and harmful simply because it is a clinical "reality." The truth is not always the truth. There are no positive connotations to the term "obese" - the sole purpose of the term is to define a segment of the population as unhealthy. By definition, whether I like it or not, if I am 30% over the AMA's Body Mass Incex, I am obese. You can be thin and not be anorexic, you CAN'T be fat and not be obese.

Not only that, but using terms like this is unhealthy, even dangerous, to the underweight segment of the population. Reading sites and information on bmi could very well lead people to believe that they are "off the hook" healthwise, provided they maintain the acceptable weight. I've known several people who literally live on nothing but junk food and yet are remarkably thin. Many/most of these people are blissfully unaware of the very real health concerns they are facing by consuming mass amounts of chemicals, preservatives, salt, sugar, and whatever else goes into a bag of cheetos. That worry is left for the "obese" - they are the ones with the health problems.

Note that there are no scare-tactic links to information on the health problems from being "underweight" at this NIH site.

And here's a random bit that I dredged up...Don't you love how these things go on and on and on...and it's plenty ok to pick on the fatties, isn't it...not to mention that fat AUTOMATICALLY = UNATTRACTIVE.

Posted at 6:39 PM • Comments (2)

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Tell it, sister Tish.

May 8, 2006

Body Image: Anorexia v. Obesity

April 10, 2006

Not a Self-Hating Fat Person - a Rant

April 4, 2006

Just...I love twisty is all.

March 23, 2006

Love letter to my body.

December 26, 2005

My Take on the Dove "Real Beauty" campaign

July 29, 2005

What those anti-fat activists don't GET.

January 20, 2005

I want to be Tish when I grow up.

January 20, 2005

An Excellent response.

January 16, 2005

This breaks my heart...

July 15, 2004

Demonizing Fat

May 4, 2004

Found this yesterday...

April 22, 2004

Lazy

February 29, 2004

Kiss my fat ass.

February 27, 2004

Fat People of the World, Unite and Take Over

November 2, 2003

Fat like my ASS

October 29, 2003

society wants no fatties

October 16, 2003

Now I'm tired AND pissed off.

September 16, 2003

An EXCELLENT article about the so-called obesity "epidemic"

August 23, 2003

My brief conversation with the "fitness" sales lady

July 24, 2003

Show Me The Data

July 23, 2003

I'm going to print out this post and hang it on the wall in a really nice frame.

July 20, 2003

Oh, how I love fatphobia...

July 14, 2003

Did I mention I love Tish?

June 18, 2003

Sizism, the anti-consumerist movement and Me (or...lies, DAMN lies, and statistics)

June 4, 2003