Comments on: Fat Chicks Rule

By: Glen

Glen — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:49:18 +0000

Nothing like news that fat chicks have rules for many years now.

By: Patia

Patia — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 02:07:34 +0000

I saw the same article Chesney did. It was an Egyptian scientist, claiming that the thin woman buried with the fat woman must’ve been the REAL queen, rather than the maidservant. He theorized that those burying the women were trying to trick potential grave robbers by making the maid appear to be the queen.

What I don’t understand is that fat women are commonly revered in Egyptian culture to this day, so why the denial?

By: withoutscene

withoutscene — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 20:27:16 +0000

That rocks! I want to give someone the nickname Fatshepsut :)

I agree with The Rotund that the mention of disease and the negative tone is a perfect example of how cultural bias about fat infiltrates even the most unrelated news items. Otherwise someone would have said, “Wow, she was obese, she lived in ancient Egypt, and she lived to be FIFTY!! Fat people were living long even back then! Must have been great to have had the priviledge of all that nutrition.”

By: Swellanor

Swellanor — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 18:37:17 +0000

Hee! Because real Egyptian Queens must have looked like the Cleopatra they had on HBO’s Rome. Or Liz Taylor in her early years.

By: Chesney

Chesney — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 18:07:03 +0000

Ha! Earlier this week I was reading a story about the discovery of Hatshepsut (before they positively identified her I think?), and one specific scientist was stating how he thought she WASN’T the queen because the mummy was overweight. I wish I saved the article, because now I can’t find it, of course.

By: mo pie

mo pie — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:48:50 +0000

I am either awesome or a total dork; maybe a little bit of each.

By the way, the Rosecrucian museum in San Jose has some awesome Egyptian artifacts, including Akhenaten’s ring. If you live in the area, you should check it out one day.

By: The Rotund

The Rotund — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:47:04 +0000

I think the manner in which they are presenting her illnesses is kind of sketchy – OMG she was fat and she died at 50 and she had diabetes and liver cancer!

Instead of mentioning that, OMG she was 50 when living to 40 was considered a special blessing! And poor nutrition was pretty common as a problem!

This is a really interesting article regarding the health of ancient Egyptians. I do love the BBC.

By: Wish

Wish — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:27:21 +0000

Ha, you’re an Egypt nerd? And I’m always teasing my mother that she’s the only one :P I don’t really know where you could find really reliable life expectancy rates; most of them tend to be really low because of the high infant mortality rate, which throws off the averages.

By: spinsterwitch

spinsterwitch — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:26:28 +0000

Hatshepsut’s life is so fascinating. Swellanor – I probably read the same book you did, which of course added some creative license. Still, she left an incredible legacy, in terms of architecture.

I’m so glad that they finally found her…I always imagined her body was destroyed at some point.

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:13:17 +0000

You have favorite pharaohs? That is what makes you awesome.