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.

"Good job, you're right!" Happy Fat Tuesday, allies.

Just saw this short article in HuffPo about a woman's response to her little girl pointing out her fat legs.  She did a great job teaching her daughter a lesson about self-acceptance and the natural variation of bodies.  If you want to check it out, you can read it here.

As one commenter said, "Any adult who feels insulted by a child who is not trying to be malicious is dumb."  Even though I feel for the author's mother, I support this statement.

So HAPPY FAT TUESDAY to you . . . .

This picture is making me sweat.

 . . . and keep loving yourself and others!

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.

GOOD news!

Amid the fiscal cliff and upcoming debt ceiling talks, Violence Against Women Act (RIP), continuing violence in Syria, human rights abuses in Russia, etc, etc, etc,

At least the little world of size acceptance has had some good news lately.

NYT: "Our Absurd Fear of Fat" by Paul Campos

"The study, by Katherine M. Flegal and her associates at the C.D.C. and the National Institutes of Health, found that all adults categorized as overweight and most of those categorized as obese have a lower mortality risk than so-called normal-weight individuals."

And based on the same study:

NPR: "Research: A Little Extra Fat Might Help You Live Longer" by Allison Aubrey

A large aspect of this story is the (surprise!) vehement, angry backlash to the CDC/NIH's findings.

Also, Israel has passed a law banning models with a BMI lower than 18.5 from the runway, and requiring magazines to indicate when they have airbrushed a model to look like she has less than a BMI of 18.5.

I find it problematic that the word this article uses to describe these models is "anorexic".  (I chucked at the ABC headline that uses the phrase "BMI-Challenged".)  Still, I'm glad that they are diversifying women's bodies used in the fashion industry.  The article points to this statistic: "73% of teenage girls who abuse diet pills and 79% of teenage girls who self-purge frequently read women's fitness and health magazines." (Statistic via Rader Programs, an eating disorder clinical treatment program.)

Story: Plus Model Mag: "Israel Law Against Anorexic Models Goes Into Effect" (Picture at top mildly NSFW)

Finally, there's this Huffington Post article from today, pointing out the HAES - related fail in the UK Royal College of Physicians report on obesity, including their dubious suggestions to help people lose weight, their misleading spin on how obesity impacts medical costs, pictures of headless fatties, and Meadow's assessment of why the report's entire concern is misguided.  The worst part is the first few comments I read (I know!  I know!  I gotta stop) - defensive people who are concerned with the "why" of obesity - who clearly didn't take in anything from the article.  It's definitely worth a read!

Huffington Post: "Same Year, Same Old Nonsense About Obesity" by Angela Meadows

Now, back to all the important, depressing news in the entire world.

To view other studies that I have published, check out this post.

Return of the Chris Christie

I know I already posted about Chris Christie.  So even though I think two posts is over the top, I was grateful to this article for affirming pretty much everything that I want to say:

"Unfortunately for fat people, skinny people who don’t eat their veggies don’t carry around evidence of their moral failings; no matter what a fat person does, they’re fat, and because we have accepted “fat” as a substitute for “unhealthy,” there are plenty of reasonably healthy fat people who are derided for destroying their health.The societal equation of fat with unhealthy does not square with reality. That doesn’t mean that fat people are all healthy, of course, any more than all skinny people are. Still, it’s a perception rooted far more strongly in what “everyone knows” than what science shows us."

Just want to clear something up really quick

credit examiner.com

"I can't get behind fat acceptance because I have known fat people who have been sick/have died because they were fat." -Everyone

If you want the perfect response to that misguided person (all 23498072348970324 of them), look no further.  I found it in the comments section of this Jezebel article.  Jezebel, which has criticized the Biggest Loser in the past, broke the news that this awful show will now feature 13-16 year old contestants.  Jezebel is a feminist site that runs FA articles, but,as you might expect, I saw a lot of "but fat is bad for you so I can't support fat acceptance" retorts.  And then I saw this:

"If people think the objection to Biggest Loser is because Fat Acceptance is against health, then you have no clue what Fat Acceptance is about. The problem is that the Biggest Loser promotes an unrealistic and unsustainable lifestyle with a superficial definition of health. Contestants exercise an average of 6 hours a day and engage in severe caloric restriction to get the results that they do. Actual health experts recommend a more modest lifestyle change (150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes vigorous, plus strength training) and a focus on improving the quality of your diet, rather than engaging in caloric restriction.

Fat Acceptance is not about shunning health. It's about reminding people that we all have the autonomy to make choices about our own health, whether we choose to smoke, drink, have unprotected sex, climb mountains or eat Twinkies. For health, FA recommends Health at Every Size, which basically says that if you make healthy changes, you may improve your metabolic indicators (blood pressure, sugar and lipids), but you may not be thinner for it. But medical research backs that up, as researchers now tout a weight loss of 5-10% of your starting weight as "clinically significant" in terms of the effects on metabolic health. But a 300 pound person losing 15 to 30 pounds is not good television. Forcing inhumane caloric deficits produces 100+ pound weight losses, but has been proven to be unsustainable for the vast majority of people.

So taking this already skewed and unhealthy message and applying it to children is even more dangerous. And for all those saying "SAVE THE FAT KIDS," it's worth noting that just 12 in 100,000 kids have type 2 diabetes, while 2,700 in 100,000 kids have an eating disorder. Encouraging Biggest Loser-esque lifestyle changes will not help the former statistic, it will only worsen the latter.

For an overview of some of the worst violations the Biggest Loser has committed, you can read this post I wrote about Michelle Obama unfortunately endorsing the show:[fiercefatties.com]"

credit to the awesome Shannon at Fierce Fatties.

Wacky fat people in movies

If you're reading this blog, you're probably a good friend of mine.  And if you're a good friend of mine, you probably already know about the Bechdel test.  But if not, now would be a great time to educate yourself!  So that's where this post is starting today.

To summarize, the Bechdel test gauges female presence in a movie.  In order to pass, two women with names must talk to each other about something other than a man.  For more information, you can visit bechdeltest.com.

You just can't deny this test.  It doesn't sound like that much to ask!

The Bechdel test isn't used to show whether a movie is feminist or not; it just has two female characters, with names, that talk about anything other than a man.  And I'm not boycotting movies that don't pass the Bechdel test - some of the greatest films I have ever seen do not fit the criteria.  But movies do not become great because of their lack of female presence, they become great in spite of it.

It's so important for movies to portray women depicted as people, with people issues, displaying depth of character and personal growth, rather than women people, with women problems, either static, nagging, or fully-formed and perfectly wise, inspiring the worship and growth of the rest of the cast.  Either way, movies lacking female characters run the risk of portraying women who lack depth, even humanity, and fall victim to crude stereotypes.

But stupid comedies aside, we do have a lot of serious movies that capture women as flawed, complex, interesting people who face tough decisions and experience emotions all across the spectrum.

(April, "Revolutionary Road")

(Ree, "Winter's Bone")

(Marge Gunderson, "Fargo")

(Thelma & Louise, I'mserious)

These are all leading characters.  They are (usually) White and (come on, this is Hollywood we're talking about) thin.

What happens when we get a fat women (and often a fat man) character in a movie?  I mean, when we actually see them.  Well, we see fat men more often than fat women.  But when they do make an appearance, they are played for laughs, not for depth.  Or if we're lucky, depth comes much later on.

Hollywood starts us out early, with Disney movies:

Here's Aladdin's (albeit strong) woman (of color):

(I can never find those Disney princesses just standing like normal people, GAH.)

Not that Aladdin is without his haughty, enchanting, exotic female admirers:

But, inevitably .  .  . it's all fun and games until the fat lady, well, sings.

Then there's this movie, which was considered a triumph for the portrayal of a fat woman in a comedy:

(Megan, "Bridesmaids")

Eventually, Megan turns out to be engaging, wonderful, and quite lovable.  But man does she have to prove herself.  In her first few scenes, she is overly talkative and exceedingly strange.  (Although for me, with my brother's wedding pending, unexpectedly relatable.)  There's that scene on the airplane where she makes a total scene - but turns out to be justified.  And of course, in the trailer, she's the only one shown to have gastrointestinal issues in that one horrifically gross scene, where everyone is. . . well, I don't want to give anything away.

Maybe the movie's crowning triumph is that it features TWO fat women:

Oh, yeah, not weird at all.

Don't get me wrong, I really loved Bridesmaids.  And I thought both fat characters were hysterical and well-acted.  Buttttt why is it ALWAYS the fat girl with the absurdly strange/downright toxic personality?

It's interesting, when I googled "comedies with fat characters", of which I know there are so many, for some reason I kept seeing Martin Lawrence as Big Momma and Martin Lawrence again in "Norbit".

"Norbit"

Yes, these are revoltingly dumb films, but there is an old precedent for shaming fat women in movies as comedic gold.  And these less blatant nods to our society's fat hate, those quick laugh, largely un-google-able moments, exist in cult movies, great movies, movies that I grew up watching and love.

I tried to find the kissing booth scene from Revenge of the Nerds, but all I could find was this quote:

Lewis: [in line at the Kissing Booth at the Homecoming Carnival] Hi, Betty. 
Betty Childs, Pi-Delta-Pi: A nerd? I'm not kissing a nerd. 
Lewis: You have to. I paid my money. 
Betty Childs, Pi-Delta-Pi: [Lewis tries to kiss Betty] It's time for my break. 
Stan Gable: [Stan brings a short, fat, ugly woman, instead] Kiss this, nerd. 

Ugh.  And once again, I loved that movie.  But yuck.  They bring the same actress into several scenes, the terrifying fatty who scares all the nice boys away.

Then there's stuff like this, that just confounds me:

I wasn't too into The Hangover because of stuff like this.  Is the line "it's funny because he's fat!" supposed to be funny because he's fat?  Or because it's offensive and the token Asian character is saying it?  Or the situation is not funny but his saying that makes it funny?  I don't get it.  Did people laugh at this?

I offer these crude examples as a small, obvious portions of a fat-shaming whole, where almost every comedy I have ever seen includes a fat person, even in the smallest of roles, who is quirky, off-beat, incompetent, lazy, mean-spirited, and a general laughingstock.

In a later post, I hope to return to movies that deal with fatness in a more balanced way.  I wish I could go more in depth, but I'm not really a movie buff.  In the meantime, help me out, comment and leave a comedy that played a fat person for big laughs.

Quick post: sick of targeting garbage media

Hey every one, a quick update.  (I heard that sigh of relief.)  If you go through the archives of this blog, you might see some small changes.  That's because I'm trying to tighten up the style of the blog and, more importantly, make it more rigorous.  So, adding links and avoiding sentence constructions like "I have heard".

In the meantime, I have a few posts in the works.  And I've been thinking a lot about something I said about mass-produced media in my previous entry: "These blatantly fat-hating, insipid forms of media are not worth my time and energy to attack."  (Once again, is it tacky to quote myself?  As long as I'm not using it for self-promotion, it's fine, right?)

I realize that a huge and especially stupid chunk of fat hatred comes from tabloid-style magazines and newspapers, idiotic movies with an entire cast of one-dimensional characters, daytime television shows targeted towards women with a heavy corporate sponsorship/emphasis on dieting, anti-size acceptance bloggers with about as much credibility as me, etc, etc.  And while I've decided that they are not worth attacking, I'm trying to find the line between credible media and idiotic media.

And I realize how snooty and privileged that sounds.  I'm sure there is a line, but it's thick and blurry.  And I'm trying to find it.

But at the same time, maybe it doesn't make a difference.  Any thoughts on what's worthy of my attention?

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?

"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.

Legitimate Voices in Fat Acceptance: Regina Benjamin

Even for those of us who believe in the system, political discourse about fat is pretty disappointing.  I mean, there is almost no discourse.  Fat acceptance is not a mainstream issue, even in the progressive world.  We only really hear about "the obesity epidemic".

I'm not sure what fat acceptance legislation would look like.  Cracking down on weight-related discrimination in the workplace?  Regulating the diet industry?  (Weight is not a protected class.  I did not realize that.)

These are serious problems, although I know government spending has other priorities right now.  Fat acceptance does not necessarily ask for laws to change, but it asks people to change their very firmly-held world views.  And in order to ask people, largely women, of all shapes and sizes, to reexamine their societally-imposed self-hatred and constant feeling of competition with one another, we're going to need public figures with strong voices, a lot of influence, and a respectable knowledge base to add their voices to the cause.

Look, I may be an ally, and I may be Phat as hell, but my influence is quite limited.  (A brief shout-out to my 5 followers, you guys are the best.)  My knowledge is limited by my own non-fat/non-professional experience and my reading.

So there's some one I want you to meet.

Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, the 18th Surgeon General of the United States.
Google her.  I mean, you don't have to.

First, let's take a look at her undeniable credentials.  First of all, she is our first Surgeon General appointed from a private practice (non-military appointee).  What did she do at her private practice?  She campaigned for health access for the poor in Alabama, her home state, and is a strong, ongoing advocate for women's reproductive rights, encouraging all medical schools to encourage abortion training.  Her awards include a Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights, the honor of being the first person under 40 (and first black woman) to be appointed to the board of the AMA, and, oh, a MacArthur Genius Grant. 

(For a great post on this, check out Unapologetically Fat.)

Of course, many major mainstream news outlets did not lose a chance to celebrate this historic nomination.  Oh, who am I kidding: I mean the very important news story that a fat woman had been nominated for Surgeon  General. 

There's this gem from ABC: Critics Slam Overweight Surgeon General Pick, Regina Benjamin. 

Bloggers on Salon.com speculated that Benjamin is 40 pounds overweight, perhaps a size 18. The nominee didn't return calls from ABCNews.com, so there is no information about how much she weighs or her eating and exercise habits.

Well, isn't that surprising.  And the always-classy Michael Karolchyk, featured on Fox News:

Would you want Michael Jackson's doctors to be in charge of drug control at the DEA? The bottom line is it's a symbolic position and obesity is the number one issue facing our country in terms of the health and wellness and she has shown not that she was born this way, not that she woke up one day and was obese, she has show through being lazy, and making poor food choices, that she's obese.

And of course, a bunch of stupid concern-troll stuff all over the Internet.  This one is from Washington Post Voices:

Some even say that her weight may help her better understand other people's struggles to maintain a healthy body size and in turn may help the general public relate to her better. Think Oprah.

To me, this epitomizes our society's obsession with obesity as *the* most important health concern of our generation, and the obesity narrative as one of loss of control and willpower.  

But may they be right?  Just listen to her radical ideas on health, hatched from her evil plot to keep America obese.