They’ll kick you, then they beat you / Then they’ll tell you it’s fair

Whatever your thoughts on Michael Jackson, his fame, his music, and his troubled life, I think we can all agree that the songs from Thriller were pretty much the best thing to ever happen to music videos.
What I can’t help but think right now is that Jackson’s strange life demonstrates that it is possible to [...]

Next they’ll print one about airplane food

Ah, the New York Times. The old gray lady, the paper of record, the practice workshop for standup comedians. If the latter strikes you as out of place, just check out this article (title: “What’s the Skinny on the Heftier Stars?”), which basically amounts to the author, Michael Cieply, saying “Fat actors! What’s the deal [...]

Who’s laughing now?

As an American who never got into reality shows, I don’t know much about Britain’s Got Talent. I know people show off their talents in a number of different categories (when I’ve seen references or clips they’ve mainly been dancers, but there are singers too), and that Simon Cowell is on the board of judges [...]

Things I am not shocked by, #3890587230587439

“Kathy Ireland’s Shocking Weight Gain.”
Kathy Ireland has gained all of 25  pounds since she stopped working as a supermodel. She is also a mother of three, a CEO, and volunteer mentor. She is also 46.
Given the ultra-strict diets that supermodels are reportedly expected to maintain, I would honestly be more shocked if a supermodel DIDN’T [...]

I am in love for the second time this week

This time with an officially real person, Emily Blunt. That is, Emily Blunt, Doughnut Smuggler. 
On being monitored to make sure she didn’t gain weight while playing a diet-obsessed fashionista in The Devil Wears Prada, she says:
I understand why I was asked to be like that for that role, my character was surviving on cubes of [...]

Yes Means Yes! Virtual Tour: Q&A with Kimberly Springer

OK, so nobody who reads this blog can be unaware that Yes Means Yes! is out, and I’m in it, and you should buy it, and I FELL DOWN FOUR TIMES FOR YOU PEOPLE. But we haven’t talked much about the other contributors so far. Because, you know, I really like to talk about myself.
Today, [...]

Quick hits: The physical cost of beauty

Two more reminders of the cost of the ideal of the perfectly toned, perfectly thin body:
1. A Daily Mail reporter (I know, I know — they’re a thin-loving nightmare, but that also means that they publish a lot of articles that unintentionally reveal the cultural pressures behind that) works with Madonna’s and Gwyneth Paltrow’s trainer [...]

You’re not fat, redux redux

Since Kate’s terrific essay was published on Salon and in Feed Me!, I’ve been thinking again about the protest “But you’re not fat!” and how it can be so much at odds with lived experience. Many of us, of many different sizes, have been flat-out told we’re fat (and therefore unacceptable, unloveable, unfeminine, and so [...]

More Inauguration Goodness

Ms. Aretha Franklin sings “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” while wearing the best hat in the history of millinery.

Quote of the Day

And not in a good way…
Gravity and wrinkles that come with aging are fine with me, it means nothing compared to the new wisdom inside my head and heart. It’s the best time of my life. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier. If my breasts fall down to the floor and everything starts to [...]