Over the past week or so, some great things have been written by our fellow bloggers of size. Here are a couple of the highlights:
The Rotund has a lovely reminder today that being kind to your body is part of being superfantastic…and keeping sane in a crazy world. Makes me want to make an appointment for a massage. In fact, I think I just might do that. The Fat Experience Project is looking for your stories of what it’s like to be plus-sized in our world. The idea is to bring faces to the question of size acceptance. Go. Read some stories. Submit your own. Telling stories is important.
Junk Food Science neatly dissects a recent study claiming to prove that fat mothers who clearly eat nothing but junk food have fat babies who eat the earth and then die and it’s all the mother’s fault.
Big Fat Delicious has yet another example of the so-called Obesity Paradox to share with us all.
And if you need a good giggle, I highly recommend heading over to Shapely Prose and reading the thread on Spaghetti Language. There are some darn funny bits of prose in that thread.
I was all weird and nervous when I bought it because I was paying full price, and it wasn’t even an entire shirt and and it didn’t even have buttons and and and. But I did it, and it basically turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.
The other day, msn Finance published an article about the potential savings to the US economy if nobody were fat. Never mind that the author’s math doesn’t add up on any level. After all, she assumes that a) every fat person eats lots of Big Macs and b) no thin person does. She also assumes that McDonalds would survive - nay, would continue to be profitable - if instead of selling Big Macs they sold ‘little steamed chicken snacks.’
In this Thintopia suggested by the author, diabetes and heart disease would nearly disappear. What’s more, apparently nothing else would kill us! Insurance rates would plummet and more money would go into preventative care…or:
That sounds good, but Roland Sturm, a senior economist for Rand in Santa Monica, Calif., doubts anyone would pay for preventive care. More likely, he says, some doctors would be on the street. “They could drive cabs,” he suggests.
Of course, no thin person has diabetes or heart disease or suffers a stroke, right? And nothing else would come along to kill us because if we would just stop being fat, clearly we would live forever. And people are only willing to pay for catastrophic health care over preventative or maintenance care because…well, we’re not entirely sure why, but since an economist said it, it must be true.
And of course, in this new nirvana, nobody would ever take a sick day because we all know that every time someone calls in sick at work it’s because of fat…not colds, flu, sprained ankles, or a host of other ills that befall everyone, fat or thin. Our dependance on foriegn oil would evaporate as our trim little bums would lessen the strain on our SUVs and airplanes could fly with less fuel making up for the difficulty of getting a bunch of lardly butts into the skies. Farmers could stop growing so many sugar beets which we bad fat people have been demanding and start growing lots of vegetables which fat people never, ever eat, of course. Because clothing manufacturers wouldn’t have to cover such a wide range of body sizes, they could - and of course would! - concentrate on covering a much wider range of body types. Yes, it is because I need a size larger than the average store carries on a regular basis that some deserving thin person is unable to find pants that fit both her hips and her waist properly. I stand utterly chagrined in the face of such logic.
Really, if we would all just stop being fat, everyone would ride unicorns and find true love, tra la.
The thing that worries me most, however, is not the way the math doesn’t add up, but the fact that our very individual human lives, whether fat or thin, are treated as a matter of pure economics. Our value as people does not diminish because we need health care or transportation or food. Our value depends so much more on what we bring to the people around us. So what have some fat people in history brought to our world that’s worth having? What could a fat person possible have accomplished? Well, here are a couple examples I think are worth considering.
Francesca does not look pregnant, she just looks fat, but as an Apple-shape she appreciates that sometimes even the Spanx will not do it.
For those for whom Spanx is enough, or at least helpful, here is Francesca’s post with information about where to buy Spanx for the interview for the Good Job.
But anyway, as Francesca says, sometimes one must Give It Up and understand that no matter how strong the “slimming undergarments” are, we are not truly succeeding in hiding our love handles and the poochie tummy. They are there. We know they are there, and so does everyone else. There is no point in kidding anyone, because we cannot. And why should we? The love handles are called love handles for a reason. Being soft and squishie is very, very sexy.
There is only one thing to do: Stand up straight, be confident in one’s beauty and specialness, and –if being not pregnant is important to you — take up an extreme sport so that you can say, in all truthfulness, “on Saturdays I go bungee jumping, and on Sundays I parachute.”
Of course, you could lie and say those things even if in actuality you spend your weekends at the sci-fi/fantasy conventions (and who wouldn’t rather do that?), but then you run the risk of your potential boss saying “really? I’m a parachuter also . . . but I never see you at the club.” That would be bad.
Francesca says: Do your best to look the way you would like to look for your job interview, and leave the rest to the goodness of the cosmos.
It’s a big, beautiful blogosphere out there, my friends, and I thought it might be fun today to share a couple of the highlights I’ve read in the last few days.
Kate Harding over at Shapely Prose has an interesting article about who the villian really is in an episode of Dr. Who (moderate spoilers for an episode that has not yet been aired in the US, so proceed at your own risk…but I’m a complete spoilerphobe and don’t feel it was ruined for me).
Fatgrrl has a cry from the heart for Lane Bryant to remember not all fat women are shaped the same way…and she’s coming at it from the small-busted perspective. Sing it, B-cup sisters! I am one of you.
Rachel at The F-Word has a sometimes amusing, more often infuriating look at articles and ads from the fifties about weight and women. Isn’t it illuminating to know that women gain their extra weight from “constantly nibbling candy and nuts and cake and cookies between meals and in addition to their regular meals” and therefore should be deeply ashamed, whereas men shouldn’t mind a bit of a spare tire, since they get them from meats, gravies, alcohol and inactivity. Seriously, after reading that I needed a drink and I’m a lifelong teatotaller.
Junkfood Science neatly dissects a recently ballyhooed report on longer hospital stays for fat new mothers.
If you’ve seen something important or amusing in the wonderful world of fat blogging, I’d love to hear about it, too.
So much superfantastic activity in the Fatosphere! The New York Times article garnered much attention. Here, via the Fat-Blogger par excellence, Kate Harding, is the fascinating TV spot featuring 2 of our Blogging Sisters! See how beautiful and articulate they are!
And here is the Kate Harding post where you can join in a discussion. Francesca bows down on her knees to the Kate Harding!
And here is the supplemental video, which was not aired on TV. You must watch this supplement!
And now for Francesca’s commentary:
1. Here you have two Fat Bloggers vs. The Wicked Witch of the West, Meme Roth of the National Action Against Obesity. (Francesca feels the doctor was pretty neutral.)
The Fat Bloggers did a great job of staying “on message,” their 2 messages being:
a) You cannot assume that because someone is fat they are necessarily unhealthy and
b) Being fat does not mean that a person isn’t worthy of respect, equal pay, etc.
Notice that at no time during the on-air segment did Meme Roth or the doctor acknowledge that fat people are human beings worthy of respect. Francesca understands the reasons they think the country would be healthier if everyone stopped gaining weight, but she is PO’ed that they couldn’t even bring themselves to say ” . . . that having been said, it is inappropriate and rude to make fun of fat people. Fat people are, indeed, human beings - we just think they have a problem to work on.” Were they, too, just trying to stay on-message? Or do they think that being fat is a legitimate reason to throw garbage at someone (literally)? See the supplemental video to find out!
2. Francesca feels that Roth does have one point, about which Rachel and Monique were not quite intellectually honest: the fact that, for example, Rachel does not currently have diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol does not mean that being fat is perfectly healthy for her. Type-2 diabetes often does not set in until a person is in her 40’s or 50’s, and so it could be that Rachel will, indeed, someday get diabetes — and that her risk is higher because she is fat. The anti-fat folks are correct that we aren’t just talking about people’s current health but their long-term chances for remaining healthy as long as possible.
That having been said, in her introduction Rachel explained that for her, staying at a “healthy” weight involved starving herself, and that the dieting, for her, led to malnutrition, cessation of her menses, and severe depression with suicidal thoughts.
Frankly, Francesca believes, for all the dangers associated with diabetes, that malnutrition and suicidal thoughts are much, much worse. If Francesca had to choose between the two, she would choose the diabetes.
3. All that having been said, Francesca wonders how long a pole someone must have up their you-know-what to decide to devote her life to running an anti-obesity organization. I mean, seriously. To crusade against something like, say, smoking I do understand, because making smoking less socially acceptable has indeed led to a decrease in smoking in this country. I also could understand if the organization were called National Action for Nutrition and Fitness or National Action for Weight Education, because who could argue with either of those? But being “against obesity” does not make anyone lose weight. Telling Americans that being fat is bad, and that all those increasingly-fat people are expensive and are ruining America, does not help anything. Because, guess what? People get fat for a whole lot of reasons much more complicated than, say, the decision to start smoking. No one becomes fat because their friends say it’s cool. No one becomes fat in order to fit in. And no one stays fat because they are “addicted” to it. You can’t stop eating cold turkey. (I mean, you can stop eating turkey if you want, hot or cold, but you can’t stop eating everything altogether. Hah! Francesca jokes!)
You have to be a very angry, un-compassionate person to spend hours every day being anti-obesity. And, guess what? Being angry and lacking compassion do not help America.
Francesca hath spoken!
4. Gotta love that line “we’ll hear what these men think about their wives.” As if feeling anything but love and pride in your wife is surprising and news-worthy if she’s fat. Give Francesca a break. So much about our society is warped and depressing.
But, things can change. Once again, congratulations to our now-famous blogging superstars!
The Rotund takes time out of her honeymoon (congratulations, Rotund!) to answer two trolly-commenters who had such outrageously negative things to say about fat that they were funny. Kate Harding posts a long and thought-provoking response to Joy Nash’s new fat rant video.Yes, she has one! To be posted at Manolo for the Big Girl soon!
Big Fat Deal shares a video of three different Hairspray stars singing “I’m a Big Girl Now.” Sing it, sisters! Also on Big Fat Deal: How much obesity science do we really need to know?Why is Broadway Ursula being played by a thin actress? and Is Rachel Ray evil?
As always, Plus Size Clothing Scoop has a plethora of sales links and codes for Plus Size Fashions, plus new posts this week about where to find plus-size Halloween costumes and Love Your Body Day. Check it out.
Big Fat Deal asks how fat people would like skinny ones to relate to them, and how to make room (ha!) for skinny people in the “body acceptance” world. She also links to this great “Illustrated BMI categories” site to show that what “obese” looks like in reality.
In Francesca’s experience, Plus Size Clothing Scoop really does often have the scoop! Wonderful blog! Here they post a video about the Walk the Catwalk campaign to bring more plus-size models to the mainstream fashion industry! Also blogged: New lingerie collections at Avenue, video from Miss Full Figured New York pageant 2007, and a suggestion of where to purchase large-size halloween costumes. Francesca says: Don’t wear anything you would not want your boss to see if he/she shows up at the Halloween party! Eek!
As long as you are watching videos about media and beauty, you must hop over to Kate Harding’s post, with a video promoting the “Campaign for Real Beauty.” Then read her response to an MSNBC article which suggests that women be really careful about what they eat when they watch tv with their boyfriends. It is an article which makes Francesca want to say “I would rather be fat than be a person who deliberately watches shows that bore me just so that I won’t get so into the tv show that I engage in mindless eating.” Go read what Kate has to say.
It must be “complain about the media week,” because Francesca now sees that The Rotund, also, has not one but two posts on the topic, here and here. Don’t hold back, Rotundanita! Tell us how you really feel! We love you! Sing it, sister!
Pretty Pear has two new posts worth looking at if you are in the market for a new coat or jacket. Sale code to Kiyonna!
Fat Chic encourages us fat girls to keep a positive view of dating, asks whether our cluttered bodies and our cluttered homes might be related, and suggests a variety of products for extending the life and utility of one’s bras.
Speaking of bras, our male blogging friend at Full Figure Plus cannot figure out why anyone would wear a shelf bra, and alerts us to various sales and sale codes. Thanks, Full Figure Plus!
Passionate About Plus Sizes is one of several bloggers hailing the return of Igigi’s “Satin Dreams” gown, now in black.
