Zuzu sent me a link to the latest Schott’s Vocab post at the NYT, this one examining the phrase “fat gap.” Ben Schott points out that the phrase “has also been used to describe disproportionately high obesity rates among the poor, and the differing levels of obesity in different ethnic groups in Washington D.C.,” but here, he’s … Continue reading »
Filed under You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me …
Let me fix that for you, E. Jean
So I just ended up on Elle magazine’s website, in search of an interview with Lorrie Moore. Along the way, I stumbled onto E. Jean’s advice column, wherein she answers the age-old question: “What do I do now that my spouse has gotten fat and I’m no longer attracted to hir?” Every advice columnist gets … Continue reading »
Whom we talk to when we talk about fat
I would really love to ignore PETA, just in general, and their latest fat-hating billboard in particular. But there’s something about this one I haven’t yet seen addressed in the various denunciations of it*: the language. Specifically, that the “lose the blubber” bit is talking to fat people, but the “SAVE THE WHALES” bit is … Continue reading »
Don’t be this boring, ever
Actual sentence appearing on cnn.com today as a caption to a photo: Jessica Ordona (in white) disliked the fit of her jeans, so she signed up for a class she says addressed the issue. Dear inhabitants of planet Earth: If you need a special class to make you like the fit of your jeans, YOU ARE … Continue reading »
Douchehound of the Day: Satoshi Kanazawa
I’m a little late to this one, but in case anyone missed evolutionary psychologist (really, need I say more?) Satoshi Kanazawa’s devastating takedown of a certain kind of feminist — to wit, the straw kind – at Psychology Today, let me tell you two things about it. 1) The title is “Why Modern Feminism is Illogical, … Continue reading »
Oh, and your book sucks, too
Dear Freakonomics Dudes, This: The prevalence of obesity rose 37 percent between 1998 and 2006, and medical costs climbed to about 9.1 percent of all U.S. medical costs, the researchers said. in addition to being a syntactic nightmare, does not equal this: 9.1 percent of all health-care costs are the result of eating and drinking too … Continue reading »
An Urgent Message To Shapely Prose Readers
Your attention, please. From Fox News’ Neil Cavuto (won’t dignify it with a link), by way of Talking Points Memo, by way of Jezebel: Michael Karolchyk — who started the Denver Anti-Gym for the purpose of “getting clients in shape for sex;” who included in said gym an extra-special super-secret sauna for clients below a … Continue reading »
Top 10 Subtle Ways to Get Douchehounded on Shapely Prose
Dear AskMen.com Writers (and Readers), Shame does not make women thin. Not eating makes women obsessed with food, not with your no doubt majestically large dick. Humiliating your girlfriend will not make her want to have sex with you. If you follow your article’s “subtle” suggestions, you will not end up with a supermodel girlfriend. … Continue reading »
I would need a lot more than a Bacardi Breezer to be able to stomach this
Via Jezebel and The F-Word, a nauseating ad campaign from Bacardi (warning: link plays music and also destroys your soul) suggesting we all make ourselves feel prettier…by standing next to an “ugly girlfriend.” That concept right there tells you everything you need to know about what sexist assumptions underwrite these revolting ads: self-esteem is a … Continue reading »
Open thread
So yeah, adding another co-blogger was theoretically supposed to increase frequency of posting, but then A Sarah and Fillyjonk both had the nerve to go out of town and have lives or something, and Sweet Machine and I have both been dealing with shit that keeps us away from the blog, and I got really … Continue reading »