Category Archives: Uncategorized

My “Soap Box”–The Right Now Show: Episode 011

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  In this episode I offer a bit of perspective on the controversy surrounding the videos recently released by Dove.  This episode also features a special treat–a poem composed and performed by The Fat Chick her own self!

For Additional Discussion:

Here’s the original video by Dove.

Here’s a brand new column in the LA Times about the ads.

A great piece by Golda Poretsky on this same topic:

HuffPo Asks, Social Science Experiment or Brilliant Marketing Ploy?

A scandal erupts when a Craigslist ad for a previous Real Women project is made public:

A fun parody with men in the starring roles this time:

Redefining Female Superheroes

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wonderwomen

I recently came across this blog post about a young woman who dared to go to Comic Con and participate in a portfolio review to share some of her drawings of female superheroes.  Among the drawings she submitted was this picture:

batgirlApparently, the reviews of the above drawing were rather brutal, not because the drawing wasn’t good, but because the woman in the drawing didn’t represent the proper proportions necessary for saving the world.  The artist reported that one reviewer said:

“Her breasts are much too small and do not have the lift that superhero women should have. Her jawline is fat and her neck much too long. The style of her hair is clunky and does not flow in a sense that a super human would. Her hips, waist and thighs are too big and she honestly looks fat. No one is going to want to read a comic with a fat female protagonist. I honestly recommend looking at issues of Sport’s Illustrated to get the right anatomy. Those women are the peak of human perfection, and that is what we want in this industry.”

Okay.  So what we want is the “peak of human perfection”–which for women, means perky breasts, thin hips, waist and thighs and flowing hair.  So while she’s saving the world, she can do promotional spots for hair conditioners and late night infomercials for fitness gimmicks?  Because the real superpower of a woman is boosting the economy with multifarious credit cards–assuaging her insecurity with extremely expensive but patently useless products, right? Right?

It’s perhaps not too surprising that a lot of people are starting to find this notion of female superhero as supermodel kind of frustrating.  And naturally, it has spawned some delicious and highly creative backlash.  (Yay, Internetz!) There’s this contest created on DeviantART inviting artists to submit their interpretations of a a fat female superhero. The creator of the contest shares her delight at both the incredible diversity of the drawings submitted and the fact that cartoonists are willing to step out of their comfort zone to draw body diversity.  There are so many cool pictures on there, it’s worth a look.  Seriously.

Then there’s this recent project, where Alexandria Law takes pictures of little girls dressed up like superheroes and draws them.  The photos of the kids are so cool.  These kids are clearly are having fun while demonstrating some well needed “girl power”.  I also love how the resultant drawings are powerful without being hypersexualized.  (Is that a real word?  If not, it should be.)

Little-Girl-Superheroes-09By the way, any kid that pairs a tutu and body armor wins super extra bonus points in my book.  And, I was heartened to see some movement towards recognizing that superheroes don’t all come in Sports Illustrated packages.

Which leads us to the origin of the picture on the top of this post.  It was created by Chicago artist twin sisters Sarah and Catherine Satrun.  They created this piece for sale at C2E2 (Chicago Comic Entertainment Expo in part as a response to those recent ads by Dove.  (More on that tomorrow).  And this image has started to go super, mega, viral. Which is curious in light of the reviewers statement that “nobody is interested in a comic with a fat female protagonist”.

So, my dear readers.  Here’s to the understanding that we are ALL Wonderwomen.  We all have the power to fly.  If not on stubby little wings like this fat chick, or an invisible plane, maybe with your very own superhero cape!

Then again, maybe not…

Love,

The Fat Chick

Ads, Women and Mental Health

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I recently came across this lecture from Jill Kilbourne and wanted to share it with you.  In one of the classes I’ve been teaching we’ve been talking extensively about media’s role in women’s self esteem.  I think it’s so very important to understand with Ms. Kilbourne has to say here.  That we often find ourselves viewing magazines or television ads or billboards, and feeling inadequate because we don’t look like the women in the pictures.  But, hello, even the women in the pictures don’t look like the women in the pictures.  With Photoshop, no woman need ever have flaws.  And I’ve heard through back channels that some actresses have right in their contract that their image on television must be slightly vertically stretched to make them appear taller and thinner.

Couple this with the fact that hardly anyone approaching average size appears on television or in advertising.  The average American woman is a size 12 on the top and a 14 on the bottom.  Most women on television or in advertising are a size 2, 0 or even 00.  To give you a frame of reference, when Cameryn Manheim was on The Practice she was about a size 14 and quite tall.  When I met her in person, I was struck by how average her size looked in real life.  But on TV she seemed pretty large.  Now some say that the camera adds 15 pounds, but I don’t really think that’s what’s at work here.  What is at work here is that she was surrounded by a whole cast of people that were very, very significantly smaller than average.  So by contrast, she seemed bigger.

I sometimes wish I could have a special Photoshop tool or television/video filter that would allow me to make everybody on TV and in ads look a little more average or a little more normal.  I think it would help the rest of us gain some perspective on how other people look.  But when I get really down, I go do a little “field work”.  I go to a mall, or a gym or a public pool, I sit on a bench or in a chair and I just look at people.  I regain my sense of how real people look.  People all looking SO different from one another.  People with tattoos and scars and stretch marks.  People of all different shapes and sizes and colors.  All different kinds of hair in all different places.  Smiles shining out of faces not lit for the cameras, but rather lit from within, from lives well lived.  I regain my perspective.  It really feels great.  Maybe you’d like to try it and report back?  I’d love to hear how it went!

Love,

The Fat Chick

Here we Go Again

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Kelsey

I really wish I was making this stuff up.  Once again, we’ve got a blogger (female this time) spilling “ink” in a very public forum about the shape of the body of a professional cheerleader.  It seems that CBS Houston Blogger Claire Crawford recently felt the need to criticize the body of NBA cheerleader Kelsey Williams.

Crawford reportedly said in the blog:

The Rockets looked terrible in Game 1, but some say they weren’t the only bad-looking people on the court…

This pretty blonde has been criticized by some folks in OKC for having “pudginess” around her waistline. We’re not trying to be ugly. We are just discussing what men like in women, specifically NBA cheerleaders.

Crawford apparently also said in the blog:

But if she’s comfortable wearing that tiny outfit and dancing for NBA fans, then good for her.  Besides … not every man likes women to be toothpick skinny. I’d say most men prefer a little extra meat on her bones.

(Insert facepalm here along with slow sad headshake.)  To add insult to injury, a poll was posted at the bottom allowing the public to “weigh in” on whether or not they thought Williams was “too chunky” to be a NBA cheerleader.  Reportedly the available options were:

  1. “the perfect look to be an NBA cheerleader,”
  2. “she could use some tightening up in her midsection”
  3. “she has no business wearing that outfit in front of people.”

Which begs the question of what other options might have been made available.  Some suggestions include:

  1. Are  you f$%*ing kidding me?
  2. Just how desperate are you to up your “hit count”?
  3. Is it possible to be a total misogynist and a woman?
  4. This blogger has no business writing for a major news outlet or anywhere else for that matter.

In other news that came some distance towards restoring my hope in humanity, it seems that many, many people agreed with point number 4 and caused an uproar around the blog post and the blogger.  Some suggested that both Crawford and her overseeing editor be fired.

You gotta wonder how the conversation between Crawford and her overseeing editor might have sounded:

Yay!  We stirred up nasty, offensive controversy on our blog.  Wow people are really worked up, will ya look at that hit count?  Oh, oh.  Now they are calling for our heads and asking for us to be fired.  Better fix it.  Blog post?  WHAT blog post?  I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Yup.  Shortly after the proverbial poop hit the propeller the blog post was taken down.  Not only that, but all other posts by Crawford were removed from the site as well.  According to the Daily Mail, Crawford has since deleted her Twitter, Linkedin, and Myspace accounts. At first I thought, “serves her right.  Maybe we won’t have to hear any more nonsense from her for a while.” Except, well, not really.  Lost Ogle suggests that Claire Crawford is really just a pen name for CBS Digital Content Manager Anna-Megan Raley.  So it’s quite possible that “Claire” and her “managing editor” were having a conversation in Anna-Megan Raley’s head (since they are possibly the very same person).

Well, isn’t that convenient?  What a great technique!  First create disposable online “characters”.  Next have them say offensive things likely to stir up lots of noise.  Finally, when things get too hot, just “fire” the pretend person and remove all evidence of them from your site.

Honestly, I debated about even writing this blog post.  You know the number one rule on the internet is, “don’t feed the trolls”.  But at least this post is not in any way linked to anything likely to give more traffic to CBS.  But I ask you my dear readers, do you think it’s a sign of progress that so many of us have a fit when we read a post like the one by the alleged Ms. Crawford? And by being upset, are we just playing into the hands of the media outlets who publish this bile, or using a public forum to fight body shaming.  I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Love,

The Fat Chick

You Don’t Need to Sell Soap to Be Beautiful!

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fatbabeI was so very excited when I came across this in my facebook feed.  Fat positive blogger and artist phenom Rachele AKA The Nearsighted Owl has a project called The Fat Babe project.  All  you do is send in a photo of yourself and a link to your blog, and she will create a fat and fabulous artist’s rendering of your gorgeousness for FREE!  Postcards and greeting cards featuring  your fabulous form are available for modest fee, so you can send your sexiness to your friends and family.

This is just one of a series of opportunities to be the subject of fat positive art.  Of course Substantia Jones has been doing amazing artistic photography of fat subjects for years.  You can see her work at adipositivity.com.  And if you’re ever in or around New York, you can contact her about being the subject of a fat positive photo shoot.

And  of course, there’s the work of Les Toil, who has been creating artsy drawings of fat chicks for many years.  It costs a little bit more but who can argue with the gorgeousness of the work?  And you get a number of prints and a CD featuring YOU in all your splendor.

I think all of this work is important in many ways.  In light of that Dove Viral Video, with the creepy forensic artist sketching the insecurities of conventionally beautiful women in a mood-lit semi-modern loft to super saturated sugary soundtrack, these artist are working to actually expand our body consciousness–unhindered by a need to sell soap.

So hurrah for the size diverse sketch artists and the pulchritudinous painters and the photographers who help the world view bodies through a wide angle lens!  Who knows, you just might see a whole different view of yours truly, very soon!

Love,

The Fat Chick

Big Fat Ripoff: Too Heavy to Tan

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tan

This week a story is surfacing about a woman in Akron who was told after she signed up for a month of tanning that she could not use the lay down tanning beds if she was over 230 lbs.  Kelly McGrevey was allowed to use Aloha tanning salon’s one stand up tanning booth, but when it was broken, she was told she simply couldn’t tan.  When Kelly asked for her money back, Aloha refused.  Kelly had never been told that she could only use the stand up booth, and the salon was unable to give her any information about when the stand up booth would be fixed.

Now look.  While there are some awesome facilities for bronzing, tanning salons are notorious for creating crazy policies and never, ever offering refunds.  The tanning salon had an F rating with the Better Business Bureau and had Kelly done her homework, she might have been less surprised by the shady business practices.  But I think the real surprise was probably with the employees of Aloha.  I doubt they expected that Kelly would have the guts to make much of a fuss about the new policy.  I’ve no doubt they were shocked when Kelly went public and they found themselves being interviewed by a local investigative reporter.  Because I suspect that they felt they would be protected from any negative repercussions for their bad behavior by the shame the fat girl felt about her body.

Except that’s not what happened at all.  And I think this should serve as a wake up call for businesses everywhere who are count on fat people’s willing compliance with their bogus policies.  Fat people are fed up.  And we’re rising up.  Whether it’s shaming at a fitness center or the requirement to submit to tests and pay more for company sponsored health insurance, people of size seem less likely to stand idly by these days.  So companies who shame fat folks should take note, that big girl you shame might just walk away crying, or she might be your ticket to a not so comfortable spot on the evening news.  And I for one, am cheering.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Talking about Bullying

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Image

This past Saturday, I  had the great privilege to speak on behalf of the Size Diversity Task Force at the Stop The Pain Anti Bullying Conference in Riverside.  I spoke about all bodies being good bodies and I talked with them about the fact that weight-related bullying can come from many sources including parents, teachers, doctors and coaches.  It seemed like many of them were interested in the topic and I had a great time.  But one of the moments that really touched me, came from a Dad in the back of the room.

The room was overfilled and he had stood against the wall for the entire presentation.  At the end I asked for questions and he raised his hand.  He said that he had come to the presentation on behalf of his sixteen year old daughter.  He said that he came with his beautiful wife (and he gestured towards her) because he wanted to know how to help his daughter.  He said that his daughter had always been somewhat heavier, and that she was having a hard time accepting herself.  He said that he and his wife told her that she was beautiful every day, but that she was having a hard time believing it.  He wanted to know what he should do.

I told him first of all, that he should keep telling her that she is beautiful.  That maybe it doesn’t seem like it’s sinking in, but that she’s hearing it.  I told her that sometimes we aren’t ready for that message at that moment in our lives, but that there will come a moment at some time in our lives when we are ready, and we will gather those words and those memories to us at that time and we will treasure them always.  I told him that he could offer help, but that he has to be patient.  She will only accept help when she’s ready.  I suggested that he could direct her towards support groups like the Size Diversity Task Force that could some day help her find her way through the prejudice out there and help her emerge triumphant as a size positive freedom fighter.  And I thanked him for asking the question.

Honestly, I was blown away by this guy and his wife.  They cared enough about their daughter to stand in a hot classroom for an hour and listen to me talk about my journey, size diversity, size prejudice, the near impossibility of permanent weight loss, Health At Every Size and more.  They were able to keep their minds open and see if they could learn something new.  And they were humble enough to ask for help.  Now I have no idea what it is really like for them in their house and in their family.  But I was deeply moved by the idea that there are parents out there willing to buck the status quo to really help their kids and there is hope in this world of size oppression within strong families willing to care for their kids in a way that may not be “socially acceptable” but in a way that works.

I am deeply grateful to Kandee Lewis and the Size Diversity Task Force for this opportunity to speak, but more importantly to listen and learn from other folks who are working to end bullying in their own lives and the lives of others.

Love,

The Fat Chick

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: The World Peace Bell

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BellIn the aftermath of all our country has experienced in the past week, I felt that I was ready to think about peace.  So today, I bring you the World Peace Bell.  It is located in Newport, Kentucky and is one of more than twenty large peace bells located throughout the world.  It was first rung at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2000, and it was said that it could be heard up to 25 miles away.

The bell was first cast at a propeller factory in France.  It then underwent a 1.5 month sea journey, and arrived in port at New Orleans, Louisiana.  The bell was then transported to Newport via the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, stopping at 14 cities along the way.  Presently the bell is rung on special occasions and every day at 11:55 AM (so as not to conflict with the courthouse bell which rings precisely at noon.)

Here’s the stats:

Materials: 80% copper, 20% tin

Diameter: 12 feet

Musical Pitch: A

Yoke: 16,512 pounds (7,490 kg)

Clapper: 6,878 pounds (3,120 kg)

Total Weight: 73,381 lb (33,285 kg)

The inscription reads:

“The World Peace Bell is a Symbol of Freedom and Peace. Honoring Our Past, Celebrating Our Present and Inspiring Our Future”.

The bell stands as a symbol for much that I am yearning for this week, and incidentally, weighs more than me.

Love,

The Fat Chick

P.S. If you’d like to learn more about making peace with your body, you might wish to consider buying one of my books or a DVD.  And if you go to my website and buy a copy for a friend, you can save $5 off the regular price! Just click HERE and enter the code “peace4_18” in the box!

Thursday Theater: Dancing Queen

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It is difficult to describe just how happy this video makes me. You guys already know I have a thing for videos featuring spontaneous dancing. But unlike this video, in which the girl clearly carefully set up her video camera or phone to capture the moment, the “Dancing Queen” video subject doesn’t seem to know she’s being recorded. She’s just rockin’ out because she feels like it. She’s simply gettin’ down with her bad self! I especially love the punches at :43 and 1:41, the sassy finger move at :51 and the collection of awesomeness at 1:50 and 2:07. It makes me so sad when she finally gets on the bus and it all comes to an end.

It makes me feel so hopeful that in this world of stigma and shame and hate, people still find a way to let their inner groove thing out. Because this sort of spontaneous expression, this is what so often dies when people are shamed. This is the bit of ourselves that learns to hide when the bullies come out. This is what we lose when we insist on using shame and bullying to try to make everyone’s body conform to a single impossible standard.

This loss of our sense of wonder and playfulness and spontaneous joy is one of the great costs of a society that bullies people. And that is why I am so excited to be participating in the Stop The Pain Anti Bullying Conference this Saturday in Riverside with the Size Diversity Task Force. I’ll be giving a speech called “All Bodies are GOOD Bodies–Learning to Love the Skin You’re In” and participating in a panel discussing bullying. The event is already sold out, and over 600 young people aged 12 to 20 are expected.

I am hoping that I can help in some small way to help young  people learn to protect themselves from those who would teach them to be less than, to stay under the radar, to go unnoticed.  And I hope in small way to help them stop bullying themselves and one another, so they can take that ability to dance and live fully in the moment from when they were very small,  grow up to start whole spontaneous dance parties like this guy, and still be dancing like this lady when they are old and grey.

Because at every time and at every age, I hope you dance.

Love,

The Fat Chick

P.S. Want me to come speak at your school, business or special event?  I speak on a wide range of topics related to fitness, self acceptance, bullying prevention, body love, Health At Every Size (R) and love your body week!  Click here or just send me an email to learn more!

For the 100th Time, Shaming People Doesn’t Help!

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chalkboard.001This week I ran across even more research that indicates that shaming fat people does not turn them into thin people.  This is hardly the first time this sort of research has surfaced.  I’ve talked about this many, many, many times.  But somehow, it seems nearly impossible to get public policy people and health people to get it through their heads.  They still advocate BMI report cards and singling kids out for special “health interventions” and still do not think they need to add “body size” to any of their legislation about bullying.  And meanwhile, bullying against fat kids is getting worse.

Maybe we should make them all stay after class and write 100 times on the blackboard, “Shaming people does not make them happy, healthy or thin.”  It doesn’t save our country money.  It doesn’t save our children.  Shaming people about their weight does not do anything positive at all.  Shaming or bullying people about their weight:

  1. Makes them more likely to engage in unhealthy behavior.
  2. Makes them less likely to seek medical help.
  3. Makes them miss more school and get lower grades.
  4. Makes them sicker.
  5. Makes them heavier and puts them at greater risk for eating disorders.

Despite a mountain of evidence that dieting and shaming don’t work, and a mountain of evidence that dieting and shaming cause harm, we still have public policy and health experts suggesting that we help kids by shaming them and teaching them to diet.  I think we just might have to give them all a piece of chalk and make them stay after school.

Love,

The Fat Chick

P.S. Want to learn about a body positive approach to health and wellness?  How about checking out my book or my DVD?