In honor of Wednesday’s post, I present the H2: a not so very fuel efficient ve-hic-le that I feel fairly confident weighs more than me. This bad boy gets less than 10 MPG and decidedly does NOT belong in the compact parking spots in the lot because friends, it is one big brute of a SUV.
Here’s the stats:
Engine: 6.2 Liter V8
Wheelbase: 122.8 inches
Height: 79 inches
Width: 83.1 inches
Length: 203.5 inches
Curb Weight: 6614 pounds
Conclusion: The H2 weighs more than a ton more than me.
It’s hard to say whether kids today have an easier time or a harder time with the whole size acceptance thing. On the one hand, kids have access to a much more diverse community now. When many of us who are currently adults were children, our community was pretty small. We were influenced by television and magazines and movies of course. But most of our role models and experience came from a much smaller group comprised of our friends, the kids at school, our church or community group, the folks in the neighborhood and our families. Via social media, kids nowadays have access to a much wider group of people. There are social groups focused on size acceptance on the internet. And some of their heroes like Adele and Lady Gaga have spoken out directly about the notion that kids can love their bodies just as they are. Thus many kids are exposed at a much earlier age to the concept of size acceptance.
On the other hand, that social media is a double-edged sword. Kids are constantly communicating and critiquing one another. Mistakes can be immortalized via words, photos and videos and be part of an child’s online presence for life. If a group of kids should decide to pick on another kid, they can do so relentlessly, 24 hours per day and 7 days per week. They can find and follow their target even if they choose to move away. Sometimes this cyber bullying can have disastrous consequences.
And there’s also the question of kids being sexualized at a much younger age. Kids as young as 3 are paraded around in beauty contests. Companies sell padded bikini tops to preteens. Child actors and particularly singers are presented as sex objects well before the age of consent. Kids are under more pressure than ever to conform to an extremely thin, sexually desirable, designer clad, hot number at younger and younger ages. And yes, obesity and childhood type 2 diabetes have gone up in the past 20 years (although there is ample evidence that this is now leveling off or even decreasing). But we also have a situation where hospitalizations for eating disorders for kids under the age of 12 is up 119%. That’s kids UNDER 12 here folks.
So what are we to do? How can we help? Well one thing we can do is all go sign the petition created by Ragen Chastain and I to keep kids off the next season of The Biggest Loser. The last thing kids need is to see other kids like themselves battered, bullied and abused on national television just because of the size of their bodies. If you haven’t signed the petition, hop on over there and do it. I’ll wait…
But the other thing I think we grownups can do, especially when we are grownups of size is to be good roll models for our kids. Sure we can also be good role models. We can choose not to disparage other people for their size and we can speak out when we see it happening. But I’m also talking about rolls of flesh–our bumps, and love handles and folds of skin. We can wear those body “imperfections” with pride. We can wear tank tops. We can choose not to speak negatively about our bodies, especially in front of kids. By walking around, comfortable in our own skin, we send kids the message that bodies are wonderful and beautiful and diverse–and that there are lots and lots of other things we can choose to be neurotic about other than how we look in our skinny jeans. I’m not talking about lecturing to kids. We all know how well that goes. I’m talking about simply modeling a level of casual comfort over the whole body thing. Because so often while kids are busy not doing what we tell them, they are watching intently to see what we do.
So what about you? Are there ways that you can be a roll model for today’s youth? I’d love to hear what YOU think!
Love,
The Fat Chick
Check out this video of me performing on the Soundwaves Stage, poolside at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. It was the end of the day and the sun was going down but we still had a blast. And even though there were a lot of typical hard body athletes, everybody got their Bollywood Bounce on and we had so much fun!
BTW, it’s never too late to join in the fun. Just sidle on up to your computer and dance along!
Love,
The Fat Chick
Look, I captured a (feline) bully.
“Sit down piggy. You just sit yourself down you fat b@#$ch!” My mouth hung open as I heard these words leveled at me at a local restaurant. I asked, “Excuse me? What did you say?” and the tirade went on and on. Seriously. They called me piggy and fat b!@#ch over and over again. Apparently these two young mothers (apparently sisters) didn’t have a whole lot of interesting things to say. (Frankly, I’ve faced more creative bullying from 8-year-old kids.) So, not knowing anything about me, they grasped at the one insult they felt sure would leave me dejected and destroyed. But it didn’t quite work. Neither dejected nor destroyed, I simply stood my ground, and looked at them and asked, “What is the matter with you people?”
I could go into a long drawn out story about how we got to this moment. Two birthday parties right next to one another in a very crowded restaurant. We could hash out details about who gave whom a dirty look and which children were running amok. And so on. And so on. But I can tell you that after everyone else in their party had left, and on their way out the door these two women, walked by our table and said, “I hope you enjoy your party, you b$#ches!” Which led me to walk up to them and say, “Excuse me?”. Thus launching them into the tiresome and oh so repetitive “fat piggy” tirade.
Like so many of us, I had a severe attack of staircase wit afterwards. I thought of 1,000 things I wish I had said about the wonderful example they were setting for their darling children, the fact that they were willing to go to unbelievable lengths to avoid taking any personal responsibility for anything, and their astonishing lack of creativity in the playground taunting department. But you know what I really wish? I wish I had recorded them on my camera phone. I wish I could save that moment and share it with the world. I wish I could show others exactly what people of size put up with every day. Because I know this happens every day.
In this particular situation, I knew I was headed into a minefield. I was confronting someone who had bullied me. But so often, while minding our own business, walking down the street, shopping at a grocery store or riding a bike, we face bullying and teasing and harsh words for no reason at all. We are mooed at. We have people comment about the contents of our plates or our shopping carts. We have insults hurled at us from speeding cars. And I could go on and on about the unspeakably horrible things people leave in the comments sections of our pages and blogs and online profiles. Those of us who are fat, know this. We know that abuse happens all the time. And it happens to nearly all of us at one time or another.
But many folks who are average sized or thin, do not know about this abuse. They have no idea what fat people go through. I suspect many of them would be horrified if they saw this behavior. And I think if they saw this with their own eyes on a blog or on YouTube, some of them just might choose to rally behind us fatties.
So the next time this happens, I hope I have the presence of mind to channel my inner documentary filmmaker, pull out my cell phone and record that nonsense for posterity. I’ll let the world see the ugliness these bullies throw down. Future bullies had just better watch out. They may become an unwitting star in my big fat reality show.
And if you just happen to capture on your cell phone some video of the bullies being nasty, closed minded and possibly not very creative towards you, could you send me a link the video? Just send the link to jeanette@thefatchick.com and put “I captured a bully” in the subject line. I’m putting together a little project called “capture the bullies” to shine a light on this ongoing hateful nonsense.
In any case, it’s important to keep in mind that no matter what, we don’t have to let the bullies rule our lives and we don’t have to let them win. Because as I along with several others have pointed out via Ragen Chastain’s amazing project, we are better than the bullies.
Stay strong my friends.
Love,
The Fat Chick
Today I was privileged to read this powerful post from a woman speaking about how she chose to call herself beautiful in front of her daughters. She understands the power of claiming, unconditionally, that she is beautiful in front of her kids. She spoke of how it must have seemed confusing for her young offspring in the past, when they thought her beautiful, but she negated that reality.
She says:
How confusing it must have been to have me say to them, “You think I am beautiful, but you are wrong. You are small and you love me, so you’re not smart enough to know how unattractive I am. I know I am ugly because I see myself with mean eyes. You are my child and I love you, but I will not allow myself to be pretty, for you.
What a profound thing this is.–to understand the power we gain not only for ourselves, but also for all who love us, when we claim our power to be beautiful. When we cast false modesty aside and inhabit our glorious, gorgeous selves we do more than make ourselves feel better. We also create space for others to feel beautiful. We wrest control from media outlets and glossy glamour magazines, over the definition of fabulous. We teach our children that beauty comes in an unending variety of sizes, shapes, colors and types. We cast aside the fear that we will never again be worthy of adoration–that we will never again be enough to make someone gasp at our audacity and amazing selves. And we prevent that fear from tainting the lives of our children. We own the definition of ravishing and rapturous and we choose to apply it to ourselves. And once we’ve applied those labels to ourselves, who would dare, WHO WOULD DARE take it from us?
I find this concept endlessly exciting. The notion that claiming our power encourages other women to do the same. And that making acceptance of ourselves unconditional before our children, we teach them to love themselves forever, rather than for the short time they are young, thin, unblemished, untarnished and inexperienced. What a spectacular and lasting legacy!
So my dear friends. What would happen for you if you cast off the need to be modest and demure? How profound is the impact of accepting yourself unconditionally and forever, just as you are? And just how large is the gift to those who come behind, when you model this calm, confident and peaceful contentment on a day to day basis?
Love thyself, and change the world!
Love,
The Fat Chick
Hello my friends! I am excited to share with you this interview from CBS news in LA about “body snarking”. This is a relatively new term that refers to feeling the need to comment on the bodies of other people, usually in a nasty, negative or sarcastic way. Seems like this has really come to the forefront after Lady Gaga started speaking out about her weight. Don’t be stressed out by the sad stuff in the beginning of the story. I think it ends in my happy place! And I’m pleased to be included in story about body snarking that suggests learning to deal with the “snarkers” rather than suggesting that the “snarkees” simply need to lose weight. It’s surprising now to have two major news outlets here in LA, the home of the plastic people, do relatively positive stories on body acceptance. Along with the other major worldwide coverage we’ve been seeing, I’m hopeful that the tide is turning.
What do you think? Is it getting harder or easier to talk about size acceptance and HAES these days? I’d love to hear from you!
Love,
The Fat Chick
In Zed Nelson’s amazing exhibition entitled “Love Me” is this photo of a woman who had her toes shortened to better fit into Jimmy Choo’s stiletto heels.
Recently a friend shared a link with me to an article at TheHoopla.com.au entitled Body Perfection: A New Religion. The article talks about an exhibition by renowned photographer Zed Nelson entitled “Love Me“. The exhibition showed works from Nelson’s five year project which took him to 17 countries to document just how far people will go to attain the “perfect appearance”. From vaginal rejuvenation, to leg lengthening to having toes shortened simply to fit into fashionable shoes, the photos are shocking and sometimes heart breaking.
In many ways, it reminds me of foot binding in China. Beginning as early as 900 AD and enduring into the 20th century, this practice involved breaking the bones in the feet of young girls and rebinding them into a smaller shape. It was done to ensure that the girls would be seen as ladies and to make them more attractive potential wives for wealthy men. Many people, especially in the west, see this practice as barbaric. But really, how different is this from getting your toes shortened to fit into fashionable shoes? Yes we have better surgical practices now. But still, it begs the question–just how far are we willing to go to be fashionable, attractive to the opposite sex and to wear our bodies as a signal of status? Many of these surgeries still may cause complications, from infection to permanent disfigurement to death. And although these complications are rare, the fact that people are willing to face those sorts of risks in the name of “beauty” says something profoundly frightening about our culture.
I wonder about the world that we are creating not only for ourselves, but also for our sons and daughters. Are we creating a new surgical divide between the haves and have nots? Will surgical and other alterations of our bodies become so commonplace that those who have natural bodies are seen as the “working class” or impoverished lower class? Or has this already happened and we just didn’t notice it?
I don’t know. But it makes me more determined than ever to parade my unaltered, unretouched, fluffy, feathery butt down the avenue. If avoiding plastic surgery is a somehow counter culture, then just call me a rebel baby.
Love,
The Fat Chick
Ran across this link in my bookmarks list and wanted to share it with you. Dr. Rick Kausman is doing absolutely amazing work with HAES in Melborne, Australia. I especially love Dr. Kausman’s empowerment cards with uplifting and important messages like the ones featured in this video. You can learn more about his work here. I don’t have a lot to add other than to remind yourself that the Health At Every Size approach is a process and remind you to treat yourself today with kindness and patience. And enjoy the show!
Love,
The Fat Chick
Okay kids, this ride goes way beyond your average stretch limo and even puts those stretch Hummers to shame. This bad boy is HUGE. Towed by a 440 horsepower semi, the trailer rides smoothly on 22 wheels. The Midnight Rider boasts a bar, three separate lounges and sports a crew of five including a driver, a co-driver, a hostess and two bartenders. You’ll never get bored on this thing as each of the lounges is equipped with a large screen television and high isolation entertainment system, with satellite television, movies, music, & live feed capabilities. Going to the prom? You could probably carry half your graduating class! This rolling wonder can comfortably host you and 39 of your closest friends. Heck, I’m ready to grab my cell phone and move in to this thing!
Here’s the stats:
Width: 8 ft., 5 in.
Height: 13 ft., 8 in.
Length: 70 ft.
Turning Radius: 48 ft.
Area: 460 square ft.
Weight: 25.5 tons
Check out the video here:
Conclusion: The world’s largest limo weighs more than me.
And, party on Wayne, party on!
Love,
The Fat Chick
I recently ran across this photo on Facebook and was floored by the brave beautiful young woman staring at me. And when I read the post from Stella Boonshoft that went with it, I got even more excited. And the longer story, was also touching and interesting.
I’m so amazed at the brave and amazing things that young size acceptance heroes and heroines are up to these days. They are putting themselves out there in new and exciting ways. They are making a significant impact on the movement and on peoples lives at younger and younger ages. They are getting it done!
To a certain extent, I think young people in the size acceptance movement are very fortunate. They’ve grown up in the age of computers and the internet where the concept of size acceptance may be available at a much younger age. Even if they are the only fat kid in the class, they can connect with other fatties all over the world via facebook and tumblr and twitter. After all, I hadn’t even heard of the notion of size acceptance until I was nearly 30 years old.
We older folks have a lot to learn from the younger set when it comes to body acceptance. We can see what a life is like when size acceptance begins in high school, junior high or even elementary school. We can see the energy savings that come from not beating yourself up for 40 years before you start to feel better. We can marvel at the bravery of a college girl posting a revealing picture of her body with rolls and stretch marks and all. We can be encouraged by her direct stare and her challenging words:
MOST OF ALL, this picture is for me. For the girl who hated her body so much she took extreme measures to try to change it. Who cried for hours over the fact she would never be thin. Who was teased and tormented and hurt just for being who she was.
I’m so over that.
THIS IS MY BODY, DEAL WITH IT.
and FUCK YOU ALL who tried to degrade my being and sense of self with your hurtful comments and actions.
GUESS WHAT IT DIDN’T WORK HAHAHAHAH
But if we read between the lines, we see that growing up today as a fat person is no picnic. The same technology that allows young people of size to connect with one another, subjects them to the potential for 24/7 bullying–often from anonymous sources. Stella’s story has generated relatively positive results–receiving hundreds of likes per minute when first posted and launching her blog on a national stage. But she has also had to shovel through some of the nastiest vitriol the Internet can serve up. And it’s not hard to imagine that Stella’s story might have had a very different ending. In our visual world, the pressure to be stick thin and look like a television show/rock star/supermodel/celebrity is greater than ever. And maybe we, who grew up in a different time, have already endured decades of lumps, can offer some perspective to the younger generations as well.
They say hindsight is 20/20. And I find myself having more and more hind to my sight these days. So I can offer Stella some thoughts and advice. I can say things like:
Enjoy your day in the sun. They are rare but beautiful. But know that rain will come as well.
You don’t have to read every comment. There’s only so much nasty a body can endure in one day. Let your friends help you filter through and find what you really need to know.
You are not a persona, you are a person. That means you will not be perfect. But that’s okay, because what makes us human makes us real and allows others to relate to us. This allows us to do good in the world.
There’s a place for folks of all ages in the size acceptance movement. The generations are different and face very different challenges. But those differences ultimately make us stronger. We are better when we learn from one another. Here’s to using our differences to unite, to share and to build a better place for all of us.
Love,
The Fat Chick
P.S. Want to get my newsletter and a bunch of awesome free stuff? Why not join The Fat Chick Clique? It’s super fun, totally free and literally takes ten seconds to join (well 15 if you type slowly.) oxoxoxo
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