Fat-pourri
2008 February 5
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I’m sort of having a Stupor Tuesday today, but with two thirds of today’s blog posts centering around the idea that some people on the internet are total fucksticks, I thought I’d throw in a little link roundup to offer some cheerier fare.
- Lindsay at BABble, who is our big hero of the moment, wrote a superb post on misconceptions about fat acceptance.
- I hope you’re reading fatshionista.com, recently added to the Fatosphere feed (yay Fu!). Kate and I both make very, very occasional posts, along with other more regular group bloggers, and main Fatshionista maven Lesley puts up incredibly insightful content and cute photos on a frequent basis. It’s not just about what’s in fashion; it’s about what fashion is, and what clothes mean for fat people. Plus, there are store reviews! Great blog, great resource.
- Speaking of Fatshionista, I don’t read the livejournal community much anymore, but thankfully I happened to tune in yesterday when Original Fatshionista Amarama turned everyone on to Bon Bon Plus. (Here’s the accompanying etsy shop.) Holy cats, these are some good-ass clothes! I’ve already emailed Jane about tweaking one of her designs, and she’s been absurdly friendly and helpful. It’s spendy stuff, but I’m on a quality kick right now, where I’m tired of my thrift-store/Target/otherwise shit clothes falling apart on me, and I want to spend ten times the money for a gazillion times the value.
- Shannon at Generic Fat Blog alerts us that Rob at cockeyed.com has reopened submissions for his Photographic Height/Weight Chart! When Kate started the BMI Project he was on hiatus with the spots only haphazardly filled, but it’s looking a lot more complete now. (I’m sure he still wants your photo, though!) The site seems to be a bit overloaded at the moment — I can only get it to load half the time — and I’m sure this link won’t help. If you can call it up, though, it’s a great resource, and I recognize several Shapelings! Hope to see more of you on there.
- Harriet at Feed Me! broke the news that the Mississippi No Fatties Eating in Public Bill has bitten the dust, surprise surprise. The article she cites is notable for a couple of reasons: first, it quotes Paul, from a press release put together by Rachel! And second, get a gander at this response by the bill’s sponsor — who says he wouldn’t even vote for the bill — to the overwhelming social justice outcry: “‘You take food away from fat people … my gosh,’ Mayhall said.” Yeah, that’s right, Rep. Mayhall, you inordinate douche. This is definitely all about you prying our donuts out of our pudgy fingers. Human rights are just a red herring.
- Finally, if you are a biochemist, email me. It’s about a t-shirt design.
Finally, if you are a biochemist, email me. It’s about a t-shirt design.
Best conclusion ever!
I totally love the fatshionista and thanks for mentioning Bon Bon Plus– I went to their site, checked out the dress #4001 and read the description a little too quickly. I thought it read “and great for fatties and events…” I laughed, thinking it was quite clever. Um, it actually reads “and great for PARTIES and events”, a little different, no? :)
Yeah, that’s right, Rep. Mayhall, you inordinate douche. This is definitely all about you prying our donuts out of our pudgy fingers. Human rights are just a red herring.
FOR SERIOUS. Of course, it has everything to do with us being foodaholics who will have a tantrum over not being allowed french fries, and nothing to do with our freedom of movement being restricted, our family and social and professional lives being meddled with, and being forced to wear a goddamn scarlet letter wherever we go for absolutely no good reason. Schmuck.
Oh, and P.S. dude, try taking thin people’s food away, and they won’t like it any better than we do.
My boyfriend has a degree in biochemistry. What do you need?
Hey, I know Jane (Bon Bon Plus) from way back and have a slinky dress of hers. Nice to see she’s still at it and doing well.
Hey, I was a biochemistry major. I work in pharmaceuticals now, mostly doing analytical and method development. I may or may not be helpful.
Hey guys… this came out in The Age (Melbourne, Australia). I think it needs some serious commenting – they’re SO far off the mark. http://blogs.theage.com.au/lifestyle/chewonthis/archives/2008/02/_how_did_we_bec.html
Gosh, yes, imagine the audacity! Humans! Wanting to eat!
Thanks for the props, madam!
I love the idea of Ama as the Fatshionista O.G. – it’s both funny and true.
I hate that Mayhall fucker more than I ever thought I would given the limited extent to which I care about most state legislators from other states. I think we might as well take his food away since it’s such a minor deal to him.
Lindsay did an awesome job addressing some of the confusion and misconceptions around FA. I am not exactly immersed in the “movement” so I don’t really feel knowledgeable enough to speak up sometimes, but the “fat power” and “big is beautiful” sort of fallacies that have been floating around in the mainstream coverage of the movement strike me as just sort of… dishonest and backwards. Not that I think either of those concepts on their face are incorrect or bad, just that what a lot of people seem to mean by them is not a nuanced enough picture of people in the FA movement. It makes us sound like caricatures, not individuals.
Well, I don’t know how you define “immersed in the movement,” scg, but your comments here are incredibly valuable.
Aw, thanks a lot, though I wasn’t fishing, believe it or not. :P
I do really appreciate that Lindsay took the time to address those issues though. You have to let some semantic things go in favor of getting the message across in more mainstream channels… but there has been enough chatter about FA lately that some of the “not quite right” ideas she addressed were seeming to gain more traction than they should have. Not that I’m sure any of us are surprised that a Fox morning show talking head would have trouble understanding FA beyond “they hate skinny girls and think they should eat a sandwich!”
Come to think of it, my amazement at Rachel and Mo’s performance is renewed. I wouldn’t have been able to make any intelligent points in that environment, much less the tons of great stuff they got across.
I know you weren’t fishing, but you caught one anyway! Because I read that statement and went “buh? Not immersed?”
And yeah, Lindsay really did a remarkable job. I’d been fuming about many of the same misconceptions but could really only manage a strangled screaming noise.
speaking of links, I just saw this BBC piece.
So close, yet so far…
My favorite is this quote near the beginning: “An anti-obesity group said regardless of genes, a balanced diet and exercise were vital to good health.”
No kidding. It’s true regardless of weight, too.
not to mention that part of eating a balanced diet is eating, uh, enough.
sigh
Oooh, thanks, I missed Harriet’s link. The Fatosphere is so big that Google reader can’t keep up with it.
Pshaw.
The story behind it is that a former “friend” (read: LJ acquaintance) and i were having a discussion (read: argument) about FA stuff. The conversation ended when she linked the Nurses Study as proof of obesity being ZOMGBAD and said, “and please don’t try to debunk it. my health is VERY important to me, I can’t afford to start eating nachos for the sake of a clever rebuttal.”
When someone says something like that, what else can you say except “fuck you, have a nice life”?
I was filled with so much AAAAAAAAAAAA over so many different aspects of those statements that i had to channel it into something productive or just spontaneously combust. I’m glad it actually WAS productive and helpful. The alternative would have had a great many more invectives.
Wow, nice. At least something good came out of that “discussion,” no thanks to your former acquaintance.
“I can’t afford to start eating nachos for the sake of a clever rebuttal”? What kind of shit is that? For Bast’s sake, nobody is trying to “make” anybody eat nachos or anything else they don’t feel comfortable eating, and there are plenty of thin people with high cholesterol for whom it would be just as “risky” to eat the nachos. But total control over one’s health is completely illusory, beyond not doing things that are obviously recklessly stupid, like driving while seriously impaired or getting in debt to loansharks with AK-47s. Who was it who said, “There is no ‘get out of sickness free’ card”?
Meowser and Lindsay, it’s obvious that the woman who said “don’t debunk it, ” is kind of like the fundamentalist who says “And I won’t listen to any of those scientists because they don’t believe in God and I know He exists.” It’s a simple case of the la-laas. (You know: put hands over ears, and sing ‘La la laa, I can’t hear you!’)
Let them live on the river (De Nial). We’ll be here in the shade having mai tais. Who’s with me?
The really obnoxious thing about Ms Nacho Pants? She and i were “friends” for a while on LJ. In recent months, she started going through some troubles at home, and i would frequently talk with her on AIM.
… come to find out that she’s been regularly hanging out for quite some time on a rather hideous anti-FA site (one regarding spouses, gah). I totally feel stabbed in the back, especially since she’s apparently gotten into the habit of linking my posts there and saying some completely bizarre things about me. With friends like these, who needs enemas? :P
I know some very personal motivations of hers to not want that study debunked, but even after all she’s done, i’m not the kind of person to go spilling those sorts of beans.
Thanks for the link to Bon Bon Plus! I just bought a sun dress from her etsy shop and I love it!