Photographing "fat" celebrities in a "flattering" way

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This post is adapted from the Huffington Post article entitled "Celebrities & Weight: 16 Stars Who Have Taken a Stand Against Hollywood's Standard of Beauty". 

Jennifer Lawrence:
“I eat like a caveman, I’ll be the only actress who doesn’t have anorexia rumors," Jennifer Lawrence told Elle. “In Hollywood, I’m obese. I’m considered a fat actress, I’m Val Kilmer in that one picture on the beach.”

Corresponding picture:

courtesy Huffington Post

Rosario Dawson:
Rosario Dawson has often been told she needs to lose weight, but the actress attributes her weight to her "big boobs." “I would get told by my manager, ‘Rosario, you went into your audition with sweats today. If you want to wear a sweater, just make sure it’s tight.’ Because the casting directors would call her and say, ‘She’s great but the casting director needs to know if she’s slim.  I’m like, ‘Dude, have you seen the photos I’ve done? You know what I look like.’”

Corresponding picture:

courtesy Huffington Post

 Tyra Banks:

"To all of you who have something nasty to say to me or to women built like me," Tyra Banks said on her talk show, "I have one thing to say to you: Kiss my fat a**!"

Corresponding picture:

courtesy Huffington Post

 Tyra, what a fatty.

I'm not saying that I don't commend celebrities for speaking out about how unfair Hollywood's beauty standard is.  I am also pleased with the article for including diverse bodies, including several fat women of color (Gabourey Sidibe, Queen Latiyfah, Mo'Nique, and others). 

But even as they're talking about what weight rebels they are, they are being photographed in a way that highlights all of their skinny features.

You might ask, what's the point?  Isn't Hollywood just a weird alternate reality full of vain actors and bad messages about image?  Well, duh.  But that doesn't mean it has no bearing on our lives, even liberated, indie, modern, snobby feminist womyn who have no interest in garbage media.  If these and all other celeb photos have a sick obsession with hiding certain body parts that are not "flattering" (ie, not really skinny or optimally beautiful), that is certainly the way my friends and I talk/obsess about our clothing choices and pictures.

This is the first hit for "unflattering photo" on google images. Uh, what?

I thought that this Buzzfeed article did a great job of rounding up GIFs of before and after pictures of airbrushed celebrities, demonstrating that, no matter how thin you are, you will always have your "problem areas". 

You see, even this super-thin model has her armpit bulge eliminated, her skinny arm made even skinnier, her thigh pulled in.

The fabric on this model's outfit made her look too fat.  She is pretty thin, but they uniformly slimmed down on every part of her.

And don't even think about having just a teensy bit of non-toned upper arm that flattens out when you press it against something else.

I want to explore this idea of what is "flattering" in future posts.  These pictures may seem superficial, but "flattering" dictates our motivation in choosing almost our entire wardrobe.  "Flattering" drives the entire fashion and clothing industry.  It is the basis for our external sense of self-worth.  And it emerged from a long tradition of thin-centric (and white-centric) beauty.

The tragedy of Karen Carpenter and the trauma of weight loss

Monday, February 4th, 2013 marked the 30 year anniversary of the death of Karen Carpenter to anorexia nervosa.

Karen Carpenter had one of the most beautiful contralto voices that I have ever heard.  Hers was a heavy loss for music.  In addition to her stunning vocals, she was a rare female drummer who was awarded Best Rock Drummer in Playboy's 1975 annual magazine poll. (How prestigious was this poll?  Apparently, enough to piss off John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, landing in second.)

Her death sparked a national conversation about anorexia and bulimia and inspired several celebrities to go public with their eating disorders, including Jane Fonda and Princess Diana, helping millions of people realize that they are not alone.

(Karen Carpenter wiki.)

There are so many talented women artists out there, and they are some of my biggest inspirations.  And yet many female celebrities, held to a very thin standard, continue to perpetuate a harmful discourse about their size being more important than their careers.

(And here's the part where I dive into the dreaded garbage media.  And lose my mind.)

Jennifer Hudson, weight watchers spokesman, said: "Before Weight Watchers, my world was can't", even though she was already a major star with an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA Award, NAACP Image Award, Screen Actor's Guild Award, Grammy, and platinum album.  (In a similar vein: Janet Jackson reveals that Nutrisystem brought her success.)

On the Oz Show (I didn't realize that quack had his own show!), Dr. Oz reveals "America's most famous yo-yo dieter" (how about actress with a very long and distinguished career?!) Kirstie Alley, who reveals her dark secret for gaining weight: being in her 50s and wanting to spend time with her kids.  Her awful addiction to baking treats cause the women sitting in the audience to flash politely incredulous looks.  (Do you think the "look judgemental" sign is flashing right next to the one for "applause"?)

And a quick interjection - if you wonder how Oz makes his millions, I watched a 10 minute video on that website and saw no less than five commercials.

Rihanna in a recent interview with Complex magazine: she wants to steal another actress' identity who "just a had a baby and looks even better than I do".  Does better mean thinner?  Why would RiRi want to be thinner??  Hasn't she reached the celebrity gold standard of a perfect, media-sanctioned body?

I'm starting to notice a trend.  Could it be that there's a very strong correlation between weight loss and obsessive body dysmorphia?

credit Toothpaste for Dinner

Readers, I need your help.  Do these celebrity attitudes towards their weight at all resemble yours?  Do you feel that the process of losing weight is inherently traumatic, since your size is such an integral part of their identity?  Or is it important to feel like you have some degree of control over your body, in a way that symbolizes you have control over your life?  Was losing weight empowering for you or was it an impossible endeavor that made you crazy?

Please, tell me about your experiences with weight loss!  You can send me an e-mail or a facebook message, and of course you can leave your story in the comments if you're comfortable with that.

Thanks, guys, and stay phat.

Regan Chastain, "Fathelte" supreme

[Trigger warning for really mean trolls.  But it's nothing you haven't heard before.]

I want to turn your attention to Ragen Chastain, size activist who blogs at Dances With Fat.  (Also the author of the incredible Why I Quit Dieting: True Stories from Real Women: How I Quit Dieting.  My post can be found here.)

credit motherhoot.com

I actually just remembered a post that I read on Socimages last year, from before I recognized Ragen's name.  She wrote this guest post about trying to convince trolls that she is in shape.

Okay, so we all probably know that persuading trolls that fat isn't bad for you is one of the most thankless tasks on the planet.  This is one of the more tame comments that Ragen received on her blog:

5’4 and 280 pounds is not healthy and you’re just deluding yourself if you think it is. There is no way that you can work out the way you say you do and eat the way you say you do and still be that fat.  You are not healthy and you need to get real, stop gorging yourself and get to the gym.

Here's the thing, Ragen is really fit.  When the trolls aren't convinced by pictures and videos showcasing her incredible flexibility, strength, grace, and stamina, Ragen writes,

Many of the people who posted weren’t satisfied with disagreeing with my Health at Every Size lifestyle or calling me a liar, but actually felt the need to diminish my accomplishments. I can only assume that they were trying to avoid some sort of cognitive dissonance. In addition, the comments reflect an intense desire to convince me that no amount of accomplishment is enough if I am fat — as if being fat is such an utter failure that it eclipses anything else that I could possibly accomplish...Remember Jennifer Hudson’s commercial where she said “Before Weight Watchers, my world was can’t” even though before Weight Watchers she had won a Grammy for her first CD and an Oscar for her first film?

Ragen is an inspirational figure and excellent writer, so after reading this blog post, I enthusiastically refer you to her blog, Dances With Fat, also on the blogroll on the right-hand side of this page.

Ragen receives a LOT of hate mail.  If you're interested in hearing what the trolls have to say, and the funny retorts that Ragen fires back at them, you can click on the link below; also, in doing so, you'll benefit HAES-friendly companies and organizations.

http://www.danceswithfat.com/hate/

We could all stand to lose a few pounds

AHA!

I love that feeling of epiphany.

It came to me today when I was thinking about something that my dad had said about my blog.

He agreed with me that the media's incessant harping on weight loss is disproportionately targeted at women.  But he also insisted that these are insipid, low-class forms of media, and the fact that people are taken in and swayed by it is a symptom of another problem: the dumbing-down of America.

I may not like it, but I understand the core of his argument.  And yes, it's annoying to scroll down a reputable website showing me an image of an acai berry on the side, or a cartoonish woman in profile with her belly rapidly inflating and deflating, or either of these, really:







And I'm not even going to address tabloids whose survival depends on their depiction of celebrity weight gains and losses.  These blatantly fat-hating, "insipid" forms of media are not worth my time and energy to attack.

And right now, I'm going to leave aside the issue of the fact that fat people with normal personalities are not allowed to exist in TV shows and movies.  Today I'm going to talk about reputable, mainstream media.  They do not singlehandedly shoulder the responsibility for fat hate, or spawning an endless network of feel-better-look-younger-road-to-a-happier-thinner-better-you websites and magazines.

(Don't get me started on articles like this one, which suggest that fat people who are comfortable with their bodies are somehow setting a dangerous example for the rest of us.  But I digress.)

But they are complicit in the "every one can afford to lose a few pounds" (ECATLAFP) phenomenon, folks.  It's particularly scary; now fat people are not the target, I am the target!  Or else I might be fat one day?  Or else I will no longer be beautiful?  Regardless, t's what my friend AJC brilliantly referred to as societal control.  Because the thing is, it's not technically untrue.  So look out!  It's everywhere.

She insists she sleeps better, her allergy symptoms have disappeared, her mood has improved, and -- not her goal but a nice bonus -- she has shaved 10 pounds off her solid 5-foot-5 frame.  - Washington Post, "Paleolithic Diet is So Easy, Even Cavemen Did It", January 2, 2010

Gah!  It's subtle.  And it's every bit as stupid as this:

But it begs the question, which banal rhetoric is fueling the other??

"Two groundbreaking new studies address the irksome question of why so many of us who work out remain so heavy." - New York Times, "Dieting vs. Exercise for Weight Loss", August 1, 2012

 Researching now, I am overwhelmed by the amount of articles devoted to weight loss, exercise, and health.  I will update with more examples as I see them.  Have you read anything like this lately - a casual mention of the fact that your body at its current weight, regardless of its level of health, is not sufficient?

Child Anti-Obesity Education: the wrong approach

When I tell people about my blog, this is the most common response that I get:

Really?  Don't you believe that people should be healthy?

Most people who have lived on Planet Ruthless Beauty Gods their whole lives really believe that our society's current approach is the only, best way to get people to be healthy, may the Most Motivated woman win.  

Obviously, yes, I do believe in good health practices.  I happen to be a very health-conscious person.  Doing some kind of physical activity every day is essential not only to my physical well-being but to my sanity.  I cook for myself as frequently as possible, and am careful to make balanced meals for myself with plenty of protein, grains, veggies, and yes, fat.  Hell, I even like my kale raw (sometimes).

Of course, through this blog, I am working to make the point that being fat and being healthy are not at odds with each other.  If you read my posts, you've noticed this is more of a "Raise Your Consciousness and Don't be a Jerk" blog than a "Do this to be healthy" blog - seeing that you can find that information, uh, pretty much everywhere.

I am an advocate to all people who struggle with society's messages about fat, but I am specifically an ally to fat people because the ways in which the anti-fat stigma affects them are the most obvious.  And I strongly believe that in accepting and loving fat people's bodies and humanity, us non-fat people can learn to feel better about ourselves and all of the non-conforming features of our bodies.

(On a tangent, I appreciated that poster that was making the rounds on facebook with the pieces of fruit complaining about their bodies and the tagline that said, If only they knew, they had such sweet bodies, but I also think that's hands-down the creepiest thing I have ever heard.  Maybe it's the past tense?  I imagine a tall faceless man in a cloak, whispering that while smacking his lips together.)

And some people are both fat and unhealthy.  And while I encourage every one to take care of themselves, I understand that stigma and shame and hatred are utterly crippling, especially when all your medial information reinforces that you are a social problem and a freak.  And if I am not vested in that person, personally, I can write a blog post and tell people to stop laughing at her, but it's really none of my business.  

Also, it does not mean that her body is ugly.  

And it does not give me permission to exploit her in any number of ways that other people, the media, and medical professionals exploit her.

Just to remind you, this is the bare minimum of human decency.  

But then, the conversation shifts to our children.  And it gets even more personal.

Childhood obesity is a hot topic.  There have been several popular reality TV shows to raise our awareness on the topic, including Shaq's Big Challenge and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.  Our much loved First Lady Michelle Obama is a champion of combatting childhood obesity.

What causes childhood obesity?  Nature or nurture?  In either case, the blame falls on the child's parents.  This view makes me cringe a little.  Parents already must accept responsibility for all their children's' imperfections.  Our society's view of what constitutes good health is privileged -- access to good food, green areas in which to play, safe areas to be outside, the availability of adult chaperones -- many people can't take these things for granted.

But if you're going to tell people to not be obese any more, Minnesota is doing it wrong.  You can't stigmatize the fat away.  It doesn't work.

The MN Blue Cross has been airing these commercials, targeted at parents who have a sudden wake-up call:

GAH.  Blogger is not finding these videos.  I'll see if I can upload them later.  To summarize, in one video, two boys in a fast food restaurant are bragging that their father can eat more.  One of the fathers comes to the table holding a tray straining under the weight of tons of food, looking down and feeling ashamed.  In another video, a fat woman is in the grocery store, wheeling around unhealthy groceries, and notices that her daughter is doing the same with her little cart.

The Atlantic ran an article on anti-obesity campaigns, highlighting findings from the Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity on American's attitudes towards various visible obesity slogans.  The study found

basically what was expected: the public craves positive reinforcement and rejects stigmatizing or otherwise negative messages. . .'The most positively rated were campaigns that focused on encouraging specific health behaviors or actions, like eating fruits and vegetables every day or engaging in physical activity' said lead author Rebecca Puhl, 'And the most motivating were the ones that made no mention of obesity or weight at all.'

Few studies have been done to correlate between well-received obesity slogans and better health practices.  This post is already far too long, so I'll leave it to you, readers: what do you think?

The BMI post

Hey!  Long time no write.  I've been working, cooking, and receiving a slew of impersonal mass apologies just in time for Yom Kippur.  Although, some one made the good point in my hippy-dippy non-denominational synagogue today that it's not necessarily a bad thing to "exercise your apology muscle" and remind yourself that you have a huge capacity to forgive.  And I think I understand forgiveness for misdeeds better than atonement for sins.  Jewish thought for the day.

Also - since I'm fasting - I'm more attuned to the idea of fat people being chided whenever they are spotted eating.  This morning, I was sitting next to a man who half-jokingly was telling us about how he will weigh himself for Weight Watcher's tonight before break fast.

He can joke, but there is a very real trend of a high incidence of eating disorders among fat people.  Eating disorders are not a new phenomenon in this culture.  There are many different types of mainstream medical professionals who work with eating disordered patients.  And yet all too many of these people have encouraged overweight patients to starve and purge themselves.

Because apparently, you can only have an eating disorder if you have a "normal" BMI.

It's hard to rally laypeople's attitudes around medical science.  But it sickens me, the number of licensed medical professionals that are complicit in favoring the BMI - a quick 19th century formula to determine the average weight proportional to height (according to this 2009 NPR report, in order to determine the allocation of resources to the population) over the urgent psychological/health care that these people really need.

And the BMI's own website is upfront about some of the its shortcomings, but in this society, where invoking the BMI has become a shorthand for determining the be-all end-all of a person's health, I thought it would be useful to talk about some widespread BMI misconceptions.  Namely,

The people with "obese" BMIs look like the headless fatties.

Blogger and fat activist Kate Harding founded the BMI project.  You can read her concise guest post on Shakesville.  To sum it up:




According to BMI, this woman is overweight.  She wears a size 4.

And compare these two women:



(Joy, 5'8", 224 lbs.), "obese with high risk of associated disease", and



(Fillyjonk, 5'7", 225 lbs., one inch shorter and one pound heavier), "obese with very high risk of associated disease".

Also, since BMI does not distinguish between relative bone, fat, and muscle density, then, according to the NPR report, "a person with strong, bones, good muscle tone, and low fat will have a high BMI."  I know I already made this point in my post about Cheryl Haworth, but these olympic athletes clearly have widely varying BMIs:

courtesy roundshape.wordpress.com

Okay, in the meantime, I enthusiastically refer you once more to the NPR report, remind you that our societ's blind hatred of fat often causes us to accept oversimplified explanations to justify that hatred, and advise you to be wary in the future when you hear about the BMI referenced as a health ideal.  Especially if a person who does not have an average BMI is creaking under the pressure of society and killing themselves with disordered eating habits to get there.

"Headless fatties"

I know, I know, I've been slacking off the blog lately.  This week, I moved to a new place AND started a new job.  Ahh!  Still, I really appreciate all the warm feedback on the blog and the interesting articles that you all have been sending me.  Thanks for the support, and for caring.

Today, I want to call attention to a phenomenon of which you are well aware, but might have never given any thought.

credit commonhealth.wbur.org

The "headless fatty" stock image.

Look, they even caught that sugary drink bottle.

Come on, I know you've seen these pictures before.

credit CharlotteCooper.net

credit metro.us

For me, it's evocative of the way major news outlets have to block out the eyes of prisoners for legal reasons, except that the headless fatty phenomenon sends a different message.  These aren't people with stories.  The news outlets that are responsible for broadcasting these images are objectifying fat people to be held in contempt and disgust.  They are erasing their humanity in order to make the same, tired points.  And oh, do we absorb their fat-shaming messages.

We are spoon-fed images about what constitutes "very fat".  We connect the information from these reports with people whose lives do not intersect with our own, that we free to hold in contempt. It's easy to for us to ridicule these faceless bodies.

And it doesn't seem to matter whether it's a news story about obesity in America or an empowering article written by a fat person. 

credit deathandtaxesmag.com

This image is a little different than the others.  The fat woman is facing the camera and wearing a cute dress.  She is smiling as she gets a romantic kiss on the cheek.

Why don't they show her whole face?  Is the photographer reclaiming the headless fatty, and showing that she is allowed to be happy and fulfilled?

Still, show me what else you got, internet . . .

credit CharlotteCooper.net

credit antidieter.wordpress.com

credit current.com

credit shakesville.com

credit upstreamdownstream.org

credit rioiriri.blogspot.com

UPDATE: I meant to include the link to Charlotte Cooper's essay that originated the term "headless fatty".  It's not very long and it's very eloquently written.  You can find it here.

A brief word of encouragement from our favorite mainstream male actor feminist . . .

credit http://feministryangosling.tumblr.com/

I was surprised/not surprised to see this well-intentioned comic on my news feed....

Instead of only loving your body when it's "perfectly fit", how about loving your body for the amazing things that it can do?

I understand that this comic is feminism-lite; every one is down with size acceptance as long as every one is trying as hard as they can to have a "perfectly fit" body.

Does any one think it's sad that the only narrative we have for not reaching our "target size" is lack of willpower?

Am I reading too far into this?


PS: I just clarified on facebook what I meant by this post.  I'll rewrite it here: what I meant to say is that this comic is a good reflection of the way women usually talk to each other about weight; that even if their friends on't have the body they want (which is almost always), the friend gives permission to love themselves, but it holds the "perfect body" as a beauty ideal.  What I'm saying in my blog is that I want to go further - really accepting all types of bodies, not just settling for less than the ideal.  Does that make sense?