Kate Harding’s Shapely Prose

So, you might have seen this douchehound responding to my gayest look the other day:
Goddamn Kate. You are an unbelievably unattractive woman!!
signed,
every straight man with a set of eyes. (except for your closeted boyfriend, of course)
The funny thing is, Sweet Machine approved it because she only skimmed, and thought he was calling me an [...]

Filed under: 101, Fat, Self-Image | 231 Comments »

Dearest Shapelings,
Because I am a Lazy Fat Person, I am asking for your help.
Since A) I’m still trying to put together an FAQ for this site (which has been temporarily back-burnered, but it’s coming), B) I’m going to be writing a book soon, and C) there’s a definite need for a Fat Acceptance 101 blog [...]

Filed under: 101, Announcements, Miscellaneous | 63 Comments »

Last week, a reporter who was trying to get her head around the concept of Health at Every Size asked me, “So… what do you eat?”
Food, mostly. Tree bark and car parts are much harder for the human body to digest. Next question?
Smartassitude aside, I actually get questions like this a lot from readers — [...]

Filed under: 101, Dieting/WLS, Food, Health at Every Size | 189 Comments »

All righty. I don’t know what Fillyjonk and Sweet Machine’s plans are, but posting from me will probably be light over the next few days, on accounta I’ve finally sat my fat ass down and begun beavering (heh) away at a long overdue Shapely Prose FAQ.
I will be rolling it out in three parts: Welcome [...]

Filed under: 101, Announcements | 166 Comments »

Shapeling cggirl shared a story in the comments to the self-esteem thread that I imagine will sound familiar to many of us.
when i was like 20, i was talking to my mother (who is a wonderful person and who i don’t blame for the culture into which she was born, which caused her to [...]

Filed under: 101, Dieting/WLS, Fat, Feminism, Self-Image, Sweet Machine | 90 Comments »

I just read this comment by Arwen on my last post, and it got me thinking:
The last time I went to a WW meeting I’d started gaining after two months on the plateau (or perhaps was simply heavier - I go up and down about 5 pounds every day.) As I was weighed the woman [...]

Filed under: 101, Dieting/WLS, Fat | 143 Comments »

One of the most frequent criticisms I see lobbed at anti-dieting proponents — after, of course, “fat is unhealthy and there’s only one right way to eat and I know because I am an expert” — is “how dare you question my right to eat the way I want.” On the face of it, [...]

Filed under: 101, Dieting/WLS, Fat, Feminism, Fillyjonk | 67 Comments »

So, as I apparently feel compelled to mention each time I post, I’m in grad school right now, studying and teaching literature. I’m in the thick of end-of-term paper-writing and paper-grading, so I’ve been getting a lot of visits from students in my office, which is shared with several other grad students. This office is [...]

Filed under: 101, Exercise, Self-Image, Sweet Machine | 83 Comments »

A while back, Joy Nash provided us with this excellent quote of the day:
Obese patients are often encouraged to believe that weight loss is an appropriate way to combat depression, save a failing marriage, or increase the chance of career success. The irrationality of hopes pinned on weight loss is so striking that dieting [...]

Filed under: 101, Dieting/WLS, Fat | 485 Comments »

Over at Big Fat Deal, they’re discussing a Gawker thread about “curvy” women that I really, really don’t recommend reading — but I couldn’t resist posting about one of Mo Pie’s observations on it:
Marilyn Monroe’s name is dropped. Maybe there should be a Monroe’s corollary to Godwin’s Law.
Oh, lord, YES THERE SHOULD. As an online [...]

Filed under: 101, Fashion, Fat, Plus Size Fashion | 92 Comments »