The Star Jones divorce news reminded me that the divorce rate is supposedly much higher for weight-loss surgery patients. I was idly pondering this and ran across this post at A Smaller Target, where Espy says the divorce rate is 60-80% and speculates on some of the reasons for this. Part of the reason is [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Sex & Romance, Star Jones, WLS | 21 Comments »

Mel sent along this article, a Chicago Tribune piece about making obesity discrimination illegal. It was an interesting read, particularly because I found myself having a couple of “what the hell?” moments as I was reading it—which made me look forward all the more to discussing it with you guys. [A]s a fat woman, I [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Media, Work | 27 Comments »

I was out of town this weekend unexpectedly (and it was awesome) so I didn’t get a post together for today. Instead, I’ll recommend Weetabix’s post over at Elastic Waist about Halle Berry and Kirstie Alley: Here’s a picture of Kirstie Alley exiting a restaurant, but what’s striking is the commentary: the anonymous writer has [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fatism, Kirstie Alley, Magazines, Meta | 13 Comments »

As you may or may not know, Weetabix and I participate in a podcast called 3 Fast, 3 Furious. I was catching up with some episodes on my commute this week, and as I was listening to the “Bad Fashion” episode, I realized that Weetabix and I did a segment about plus-size fashion, and maybe [...]

Filed under: Fashion, Feel Good Friday, Meta | 4 Comments »

Phat Science has had some interesting posts this week, and I particularly wanted to talk about yesterday’s post, where La Wade looked at some of the science surrounding so-called “permanent” weight loss, and the factors that contribute to it. These factors seem to include certain dietary and exercise habits, online support, time in front of [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Health, Science, Weight Loss | 46 Comments »

This Video took alot of courage and I HOPE that other girls seek some comfort in this. It’s dedicated to any girl who’s ever felt fat, felt ugly or felt stupid for being herself. For all the girls who’ve ever starved, purged, or cut themselves. For every girl who’s ever felt a failure because of [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fat Positive, Video | 25 Comments »

even cammy diaz isn’t perfect Originally uploaded by mo pie We all know that OK Magazine lied about Britney’s weight loss, and Glamour airbrushed America Ferrera. And now there’s another problem—or is it a problem? Conde Nast has admitted to airbrushing ultra-thin models to make them look larger. [There is] a trend towards presenting less [...]

Filed under: America Ferrera, Cameron Diaz, Celebrities, Feminism, Keira Knightley, Magazines, Media | 28 Comments »

A socialite who was once chubby has lost some weight. And what perspective she has on the whole issue! So inspiring! I do have a battle to fight every day I wake up, so sometimes I give off that impression. But guys, I’m at a normal, healthy weight. And If I don’t watch every piece [...]

Filed under: Food, Gossip, Media, Weight Loss | 35 Comments »

Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian (I am really sad that I know who either of these people is) and The Evil (hint: a food), all together in one news tidbit. Apparently, on a Vegas radio show, Paris said of Kim: “I would not want [Kim's butt] — it’s gross! It reminds me of [the evil] [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fatism, Feminism, Food, Humor, Magazines, Paris Hilton, Tidbit | 17 Comments »

I don’t think we’ve ever had an [afvw*] thread, so consider this the inaugural one. Feel free to mention your projects, recent cool things you’ve seen, or awesome entries that you’ve written or read, whatever—and chat about it all in the comments. I’ll kick things off and recommend Rachel’s post on competitive eating. I’ve never [...]

Filed under: Meta | 36 Comments »

And now for the bad news. I’m posting a link to this article not to bring down the room, but to get the message out there yet again: demonizing fat and fat people is a BAD IDEA that can seriously skew our ideas about self-worth. Just ask the women who participated in the studies discussed [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fatism, Feminism, Health, Kids, Media, Science, Weight Loss | 27 Comments »

There’s a conversation going on in the comments about whether some people look better when they’re heavier. The discussion started with Rhonwyn’s comment right here: [w]hile I’m on the subject of Queen Latifah and losing weight: do any of you think some people just look better when they’re heavier? I hardly recognized Star Jones after [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Goldilocks Paradox, Gossip, Meta, Queen Latifah, Question, Renee Zelwegger, Star Jones, WLS, Weight Loss | 18 Comments »

Kristin e-mailed to alert us about a new ad campaign for NutriSystem, which directs to the URL nutrisystem.com/ pretty. This takes you to the main NutriSystem page, reinforcing the ad’s message that NutriSystem will make you “pretty,” i.e., thin. Kristin e-mailed NutriSystem to protest: I saw your commercial that advertised your web address as nutrisystem.com/pretty. [...]

Filed under: Advertising, Cold Hard Cash, Media, Tidbit, Weight Loss | 28 Comments »

Do you ever feel like you can change the world? You responded to Ambular’s e-mail with so many amazing ideas and so much intelligence and so much support. Here’s a response from Lowdown Panda, which made me feel proud even though I’m just the conduit here. And then came Ambular’s response in the comments: Having [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Feel Good Friday, Meta | 3 Comments »

First, there was the 14-year-old who wanted to know how to feel beautiful. Then, the 16-year-old athlete dealing with bulimia. Here’s another e-mail from a young woman (this time she’s 21) looking for some support and help from Big Fat Deal. Bolding mine. So I really don’t know how to start this e-mail. I go [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Personal, Sex & Romance | 74 Comments »

mermaid logo Originally uploaded by mo pie If you’re a regular Starbucks-goer, you may have noticed the switch to retro brown cups, with a return to the old Starbucks logo. (For reference, here is the more familiar green logo.) As with every development at the ‘Bucks, I checked in on Starbucks Gossip to see what [...]

Filed under: Advertising, Art, Old Timey | 40 Comments »

First, a slight meta note: I’m having some back-end issues with the blog, so posting may be a little spotty this week as I try to clear it up. In the meantime, I’ve been sitting on this article that inky sent me while I was out of town; it’s by local writer Violet Blue. [E]very [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fat Positive, Fatism, Feminism, Meta | 32 Comments »

At least according to John Ridley at the Huffington Post, who says it’s “insulting” to complain about weight-based discrimination: I can’t change my race or my gender. Despite my best efforts and millions of dollars spent trying to locate the fountain of youth, I just keep getting older. Yet, same as millions of Americans I [...]

Filed under: Fatism, Media, Tidbit, Weight Loss | 46 Comments »

Yesterday I ran across two great posts that I wanted to share; first, Rachel’s, which details some advice from magazines of the 1950s. (One magazine from the 70s that I sometimes bring into my classes has an article about how to raise your son to be a “real man” and contains the line, “Do you [...]

Filed under: Feel Good Friday, Feminism, Humor, Magazines, Meta, Old Timey | 5 Comments »

it’s like magic Originally uploaded by mo pie What happens when magazines are too lazy to hire an airbrusher? OK Magazine did a cover story on her supposed weight loss (“15 LBS IN JUST 4 WEEKS!”) and accompanied it with a cover photo taken in 2003. Best Week Ever claims that this can be explained [...]

Filed under: Britney Spears, Celebrities, Magazines, Media, Tidbit, Weight Loss | 12 Comments »

Here’s the e-mail I got today (bolding mine): I guess I don’t really know how to start this, other than I just read the blog about the 14 year old with a bad self image, and it gave me the courage to say something too. I’m 16 years old, and I am bulimic. It doesn’t [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Eating Disorders, Health, Kids, Meta | 30 Comments »