Beth Ditto Jams Out With Her Ham Out
August 28th, 2007
Via EW comes this photo of, basically, an angle straight up Beth Ditto’s skirt. (Hence the NSFW tag.) The really depressing bit is in the comments. Exactly what you’d expect: very ugly fat-bashing talk. Feel like getting pissed off? Check it out.
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Beth Ditto, Fatism, NSFW, Tidbit
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Right. I bet the guys who made the fat-bashing comments were all likely the first to google Britney Spear’s recent flashing as fast as their gooey hands could type.
I LOVE The Gossip, and think that Beth Ditto is badass, but that is NOT a good picture of her. I have seen MUCH better.
Yeah, that’s pretty much the worst picture and angle possible. No one would look good like that.
For the record, I do not understand the Punk culture. I don’t get the whole, “Hey, let’s rebel by being as ugly as we want to be!” thing.
In reference to this photo, it seems Beth doesn’t realize, or perhaps care to realize, that the more she puts pictures out like this the worst it makes all us fat women look.
Yes, in a perfect world, nobody would have a problem with that photo, they might even find it attractive or sexy. Unfortunetly, we do not live in that world, yet. Until we get to that measure of acceptance, I think Beth should do us all a favor, and realize that today a image of a extremely sweaty fat woman in most cases will not be seen as attractive. If anything most people may find it repulsive.
I respect Beth for her courage, however when she shows images like this, it’s one step foward, two steps back for those of us fighting size discrimination.
Well this is obviously a candid shot; it’s not as if Beth has set this photo up deliberately to provoke people.
Also–and I’m not trying to attack you here at all, Jackie–the fact that people find fat people repulsive is absolutely not a reason to hide ourselves away and avoid having photos of ourselves out there. If your idea is that we should help people to avoid images of fatness “until we get to that measure of acceptance,” how will that acceptance ever happen? It just reinforces a culture of shame, and I think it’s very dangerous.
It’s not the pose that makes those asshats sick or disgusted, it’s that it’s a fat chick in the pose. If it was a thin chick, they’d be right there drooling and ogling and screaming all kinds of obscenities. It doesn’t matter to them that Beth Ditto has talent and is damned good at what she does, what matters to them is that she’s fat and should be hiding, not out there doing her thing and to hell with them. More power to her, I say, and rock on, ignore the asshat fat-phobes who wouldn’t know talent if it came up and bit them on their asses.
You know, I seriously don’t see what the big deal is.
Girl has some cellulite. So does Tyra Banks. So did my college roomie who weighed about a buck twenty.
I think it’s actually more unflattering the way her eyes are rolling back into her skull in the first pic.
Hey, at least she’s wearing underwear! At least, I think she is. And she doesn’t appear to be incontinent. Yes Fergie, I’m talking about you.
Having been an extremely sweaty fat woman in a punk rock band, I can tell you, Jackie, that it’s not about looking attractive or unattractive. It’s about rocking out as hard as you possibly can, which Beth Ditto is obviously doing. That, at its best, is what punk culture is. For the record.
O well, like Vesta44 said: “It’s not the pose that makes those asshats sick or disgusted, it’s that it’s a fat chick in the pose. If it was a thin chick, they’d be right there drooling and ogling and screaming all kinds of obscenities.”
Fat phobes like that are like racists: one cannot reason with them.
Looking at the pictures, I’d say: yes, not very flattering. But the top Beth is wearing: absolutely gorgeous!
I would also say that the “extremely sweaty” bit is slightly irrelevant. Every gig I’ve ever been to, the performers have got pretty sweaty. It’s hot up there!
I like Beth’s top too.
If you were to take of picture of me today, from that angle, you’d see my panties too. Some ass-hat was taking this picture to intentionally cause this sort of (minor in my eyes) sensation.
I think she looks awesome. I think she looks like she’s going about her business, being a badass and rocking her heart out. Just doing what she has to to do without worrying about what she looks like.
How much more would everyone accomplish if they spent their days like that? If women put all of their energy that they are spending trying to look ‘acceptable’ into being rock stars (in whatever they do) the world would be a much better place and maybe young women would have a better chance.
Also, I just think the pics are really sort of sexy.
I wanted to respond to Jackie’s comment: “In reference to this photo, it seems Beth doesn’t realize, or perhaps care to realize, that the more she puts pictures out like this the worst it makes all us fat women look.”
I don’t want to attack, but I’m not quite sure I understand. I don’t think that she “put” this picture out there. It’s my understanding that it was a candid shot from a show and that it wouldn’t be a flattering shot of anyone, fat or skinny or anywhere in between.
Because Beth Ditto is fat, does she have a responsibility to look nice and “pretty” (ie. not punk and not sweaty and not rocking out) and and not draw attention to herself? I don’t think so. I think it’s kind of dangerous to put that responsibility on someone — you’re fat so therefore you must behave in as normal a way as possible and blend because if you don’t, people will notice that you’re fat and it will be bad for fatties everywhere? I think that even if Beth Ditto was photographed in a “nice outfit” appearing not sweaty, the same asshats would be talking shit about her.
I’m going to agree with jm by saying that we need to stop holding celebrities (fat, thin or indifferent) responsible for upholding what we perceive as a “proper image”. I don’t think Beth Ditto’s objective is to represent anyone. Yes, the picture is not a good one, but she is rocking her ass off. She’s also a great singer and beautiful. The message is clear; she is not here to make us or anyone else comfortable.
Well said, jm.
Beth Ditto is punk. Punk is all about the ugly and the harsh and the sweaty and the smelly and rockin’ hard with wild abandon and generally not giving a shit about societial judegements.
That’s Beth Ditto’s whole raison d’etre! If seeing her looking all sorts of uncouth really upsets you, please don’t follow her career at all! This is far from the most shocking pix I’ve seen of her, and she’s going to keep doing her thing. Good for her, I think she’s supercool!
She’s sweaty because she’s working hard. Sheesh.
I just had this back-and-forth with my doctor, who kept talking about my weight and “excessive” perspiration. I was like, doc? I go to the gym every day and it’s August. I sweat because I am a human, not a pig.
Ok sorry. I guess I misunderstood, forget what I said.