Comments on: 10 Things I Have Learned About Kirstie Alley Via Twitter

By: Kari

Kari — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:29:48 +0000

Dancing Queen: Better late then never so here goes:

I always thought of Fat Acceptance, or size acceptance, as simply, “Love Yourself”. Skin colour, hair colour, hair type, height, weight, where you tend to gain weight, the nose you got from your grandfather, etc.

I highly disagreed with everything that Kirstie Alley said because to me, it was representative of what a lot of people go through – what my family and friends are going through *right now* even. I’ve heard almost the same things coming from their mouths and personally, when you’ve seen and heard the same thing being repeated for years – something has to give. Science has not found a way to safely make fat people thin, or vice versa – so let’s be happy with our biology. Let’s just focus on real happiness than the “happiness” that would come when weight is lost.

I see this kind of behaviour being emulated by younger and younger girls, and even boys, who were previously thought to be “immune” to this kind of body shame. And to me, there’s something wrong with that. Children are supposed to be, well, children. Hopscotch and lego and swings and bubble blowers and tree climbing and such. Not… body hatred.

I also have to ad that I found lisa-marie’s comment slightly perplexing – I don’t think I ever heard of any celebrity blaming others on their weight gain. As far as I know, it’s always “X celebrity falls off the wagon”, not “so-and-so makes X celebrity fall of wagon”. Maybe I am wrong.

I only begun reading more or less recently – I think starting late last year or early this year or so? Maybe I’m a latecomer.

By: Addish

Addish — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 04:39:06 +0000

That thing that Kate Harding said is so true. Bashing yourself for how fat you are is so popular it’s disgusting. I’m tired of telling my friends how beautiful they are. Sometimes I wish they could see themselves through my eyes.

Also since I’ve accepted my body and began loving it, I always feel like the odd one out when the body bashing begins since I don’t take part in it. So wierd.

By: Dancing Queen

Dancing Queen — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:41:48 +0000

Kari- your first comment to Lisa-Marie made me wonder what kind of blog this is? I used to read Mopie and have occasionally popped in here to read a post now and then, but I guess I myself am not sure anymore. I am honestly asking what the philosophy is- is this a fat acceptance blog or a love my body whether it is thin or fat blog or all perspectives are welcome as long as you are not putting others down on purpose?
When I used to read here more, there were a lot of discussions about a post like Kirsties- some agreed, some disagreed, but all comments were welcome- I get the feeling now that only fat acceptance comments are the norm- I have no problem with that- just curious for clarification… anyone?

By: Kari

Kari — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 03:19:40 +0000

Lisa-marie: I’m sorry, but do you know what blog this is? If you want to talk about the “truth hurting”, what’s really hurting more is how her story reflects THOUSANDS of people across the globe who like her, FAIL at dieting.

And she’s releasing a “weight loss program”, which in the future will show to be a huge failure, like all the other diets and “programs” before it.

And you know what really gets to me? When young teenagers, or even children emulate this kind of self-hatred towards themselves. For an online example, go to yahoo answers. Every day will be a girl asking if she’s too heavy, how to lose her weight, how to tone this, how to be anorexic, or simply, hating her fat. Sounds familiar?

She’s bashing herself up for something that is biological, and from her years of yo-yo dieting. If she realised that she’s better off just being healthy, even if though she may stay fat, I think she’ll be much happier off. I know I am, as plenty of other people here.

By: lisa-marie

lisa-marie — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:44:34 +0000

I read that article and found her honesty refreshing and inspiring. Where many celebrities blame everyone else for their problems, Kirstie is taking full responsibility for her weight gain – I really admire that. The comments she makes towards herself and her fat body may sound harsh, but you know? sometimes the truth hurts. Admitting to yourself you’ve fallen off the wagon and failed can be hard, but once you do you’re able to make positive changes and move forward. I wish Kirstie well and hope that even if she doesn’t attain her goals, that she will at least regain her health and happiness.

By: Ana

Ana — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:15:47 +0000

This post is interesting. I came across it while out there on the net looking up health articles. I’ve had Kirstie on Twitter for a while, and frankly, I’m over the excitement of Twittering celebrities.
The term social network is a misnomer, because all they’re doing is plugging their latest music, books, interviews and that’s about it. It’s a selfish undertaking. Celebrities expect everyone else to add them to their Twitter.
Anyway…
I’ve had weight issues ever since I was a kid. Not due to my love for food, but after two decades of searching, I’ve figured that the deaths of my parents triggered a lot. I basically see overeating as inverted frustration and anger, a form of depression, but not as debilitating.
Celebrity weight loss ceased to have meaning for me when I saw Oprah endure the crash diet years ago, and relapse. Then she hired a personal chef, to relapse. Being overweight isn’t just about food, and if these celebrities admitted that, then they’d have to explore the other nastier issues or inner demons that act as triggers.
Ultimately, I believe that as long as Kirstie continues to capitalise, she’ll always be on the diet/exercise see-saw, and she’ll be more frustrated. I can’t say I’m a ‘fat activist’. I’m not a big fan of my own flab, I’ve been working on it at the gym for six months three times a week, am not on a crash diet, and yeah it takes longer. But I don’t do it to eliminate fat to resemble a celebrity. I do it so I can buy regular clothes.
These celebrities, I don’t even know why they do it. It’s not for health. It’s partially for money (in Kirstie’s case), so they can reignite their career, and that’s a sad reflection of what their careers are, dependent on their looks.

By: joojooluv

joojooluv — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:19:19 +0000

yeesh! I thought I had trouble with my body image – but I guess celebrities have more fabulous body image problems. She could do a lot more as a fat-positive role model for actresses and women in general instead of wallowing in self hate. Makes me cringe.

By: Lirael

Lirael — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:37:08 +0000

I think the suggestion is though that bodies do change over time, they are not stagnant. Though your experience was that your weight gravitated toward losing rather than gaining over time whereas Kirstie’s body obviously gained it did change and I think the point is, it’s silly to expect to remain a certain way all your life. Some people for the most part remain within the same 5-10lb range most of their lives but I’m certain that if nothing else, their faces got smile lines, and their bodies aged.

To not expect that is just setting oneself up for unhappiness, not to mention the way our society so abhors that kind of change is just plain unreasonable. Being thin does not keep you from getting old, and quite frankly, from doing what all mortals do, fat, thin, pink, purple and, you know, being like mortal.

By: Mary

Mary — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:18:06 +0000

My 65-year-old body is 8 pounds lighter than my 11-year-old body was. Middle age, or senior citizenship, doesn’t guarantee weight gain.

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:09:00 +0000

As someone who is learning to accept that my 48-year-old body is about 20 pounds heavier than my 38-year-old body was, I can sympathize with her thinking she should still be the size she was on Cheers. It takes some getting used to, but damn, girl, quit with the wishful thinking.

Hollywood is not really the place to get a realistic body image though.

Someone upthread said that her body would be different after having two kids, but I think both of her kids are adopted.