Millions of Americans go through this agony every day; 68% of us are overweight or obese. Yet we have few literary insights about obesity to help comfort us; zero provocative tales about the plight of the salad-muncher for us to identify with during bleak dieting times; hardly any entertaining stories about hitting the gym which might propel us to suck it up and go to pilates class after a long workday. We turn to Oprah, or The Biggest Loser, or Weight Watchers—but not fiction.

So yeah, he’s looking for “perceptive insights about struggling with obesity” in his literature. Not exactly what I’m looking for in my own literature about fat people, quite frankly. Some of the comments are noteworthy. Cynthia Hawkins says:

I can’t think of a work that might be about struggles with obesity … but even more interesting, I can’t think of a character who just happens to be overweight who isn’t also a baffoon, a source of comedy in some way, a sidekick, or a villain, etc.

James says:

It strikes me that ‘fat fiction’ would be quite a niche market with a limited appeal to people who haven’t struggled with weight. Our favourite characters tend to be ones we can relate to, or aspire to be like.

Really—if someone is fat, there’s no way we would ever “aspire to be like” them? Because any good qualities they may have are overshadowed by their fatness, I presume? Ridiculous.

And BuffPuff’s comment (worth reading the whole thing, but I can’t figure out how to link it; just scroll down) is just the bomb:

I would say that the reason there aren’t many books with fat protagonists in either literary or popular fiction is because we live in a highly fat phobic culture. If we didn’t, literary agents wouldn’t feel the need to pose questions about the commercial appeal of same to the readers of their blogs…

In all the books I’ve ever read featuring a fat protagonist, weight/self image has been an issue of some kind and self loathing writ large. Art, after all, imitates life and it’s near impossible, as a fat individual, to make one’s way in such an openly hostile environment and not have those issues come up. This is particularly true of women, who regularly bond over their perceived physical shortcomings, particularly when it comes to issues of food and weight and regardless of what size they are. Why do you think Bridget Jones’s Diary – a book about a neurotic, weight-fixated ninny, who isn’t actually fat – struck such a massive chord with the public?

This, however, is where art and life seem to part company. What there aren’t many of are novels in which a fat female protagonist is permitted to find love, happiness or success without losing weight by some means first, (broken heart leading to convenient loss of appetite/fortuitously timed sickness/Weight Watchers), or where they’re only permitted to find happiness with another fat person because, let’s face it, no one else would have them, (and, yes, this is sarcasm). I tend to avoid these like the plague. As a fat woman whose self-esteem improved in leaps and bounds the moment she decided to make peace with her body and quit the infernal diet-go-round for good, I have a major problem with that kind of tired, patronising pish. It’s not dissimilar to the state of gay fiction back in the pre-Stonewall dark ages – you could publish it, film it or put it on the stage … just as long as the characters you were portraying were shown to be wretched, embittered, lonely and seething with self-hatred, preferably enough to hang themselves in the final act.

That whole discussion weirdly made me think of Mike and Molly. Alan Sepinwall recently said that the show “is constantly at war over whether it wants to be laughing with or at its main characters. The ‘with’ parts I like, and Gardell and McCarthy are charming. The ‘at’ parts are nauseating.”

We want to see fat characters in TV and in books, and in film, but we don’t want them to be shown as objects of pity or (the dreaded Jemima J syndrome) people whose sad lives improve immeasurably once they are thin.

So, what are your favorite books with fat characters in them? And how do you want to see fat people portrayed in books?

Thanks to aych for the link!

I was reminded of that conversation today when I was listening to Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” on the radio, and feeling vaguely oppressed by the lyrics. In case you don’t know the song, the chorus goes like this:

California girls
We’re unforgettable
Daisy Dukes
Bikinis on top
Sun-kissed skin
So hot
We’ll melt your Popsicle
Oh oh oh

Admittedly, this is a stupid thing to feel oppressed by. But growing up as a lifelong California girl, I was always conscious that I didn’t live up to the familiar stereotype. I grew up with the Beach Boys song, of course, and all the videos that showed what a California girl was “supposed” to look like, and it wasn’t me. I freckle instead of tan, my hair is brown instead of blonde, and I certainly am not the thin but busty girl in Daisy Dukes and a bikini (and usually white and blonde) rollerblading on Venice Beach, who is the typical “California girl.”

Probably only seven girls in the world meet all these qualifications (and one of them is Chrissy Snow from Three’s Company) but I didn’t really understand that at the time—I just felt like I wasn’t measuring up. I guess I was afraid I would let people down, in some weird way. (And by “people” I mean “heterosexual men” who, of course, must have an unlimited supply of stereotypically beautiful, scantily clad women to look at and imagine having sex with at all times.)

So, it was a childish fear, which my all-grown-up feminist brain can easily dispense with, but it resurfaced thanks to Katy Perry, and I figured it might be interesting to share it.

Here’s the video for “California Gurls,” which is admittedly pretty cute… but it also presents girls as objects—Katy Perry is naked in it, and one girl is literally unwrapped like a present, and they are decorated in candy (because they are intended to be consumed, after all), and Snoop Dogg raps about girls being “tan, toned, fit, and ready,” and the whole thing is, from a feminist standpoint, very problematic. I mean, “We’ll melt your Popsicle”? This song is addressed to men, and promising them sexual gratification with a wink. Which is kind of Katy Perry’s schtick, right? I mean, “I Kissed A Girl” is one of my favorite gym songs, but it’s still all “tee hee” about bisexuality, presumably because men think hot chicks kissing each other is hot.

Anyway. The point being, I was driving around thinking about this today, and wondering if anyone else had a similar story about something minor that nevertheless makes you feel somehow oppressed. And I’d also love to know if there are stereotypes about the people who live where you live—and if so, whether you live up to them or not.

2. I think I’m in love with Amanda Piasecki, who coined the term “Fatshionista,” after reading this interview on Big Bum Jumble.

At my best and most resilient, I enjoy exaggerating everything about my size and rocking hot, gruesome, femme monstrosity. At my most weary and over-it, I work a surly, fat Russian Riviera look. For a long time, I attempted to dye my hair the same color red as every woman in communist Poland had, but no one made the connection except my immigrant family, and my skin looked terrible. Now it’s a less belligerent Californian henna color. I am one of the least invisible people I know, even when I’m trying to be – I receive a lot of street hassle, from come-ons to fat bashing, and everything in between. I do the best with it that I can, and sometimes my outfits are a way of fighting back or making a visual inside joke with other outsiders.

And wait, she lives in Oakland? Amanda, come hang out with me! East Bay represent!

3. Sherri Shepherd is going to play Lula in the adaptation of Janet Evanovich’s book One for the Money. I envisioned Lula as being heavier based on the book descriptions, but then again, I envisioned Stephanie Plum as being not Katherine Heigl, so…

4. I don’t watch Hung (or get HBO), but for those of you who do, I got a really interesting email from Cleofaye about fat politics on that show! In her words:

I don’t know if you watch the show hung on HBO, I don’t really like it that much, but it’s in between True Blood and Entourage, so what else am I going to do for a half hour?… the lead character is Ray, a male prostitute, but the relavent story line actually involves his ex wife and daughter. His ex wife Jessica is played by Anna Heche, stereotypically beautiful. Her daughter, Darby, is played by Sianoa Smit-McPhee. She’s fat and doesn’t apologize for it. She’s shown as smart, confident and attractive. In one episode she attends a fat protest, where a group of fat women distribute slices of cake and chant things like “Fat? So!” The exchange between Darby and her mother in this scene is really telling for such relationships, with Jessica refusing the cake and not understanding why it upsets Darby and her friends. I thought you guys over at BFD would find it interesting.

Here’s a clip featuring Smit-McPhee, in case you’re curious. (It was the only one I could find, of an Angry Dad Moment—if anyone can find the cake scene, that would be awesome.)

[ETA: Don't miss Sarah's report in the comments. Thanks, Sarah!]

5. And finally, a girlcrush shoutout to commenter Sheildmaiden1196, who said in the Urban Outfitters T-shirt thread:

I got [a T-shirt] from ‘The Onion’ store that says “I wish somebody would do something about how fat I am”. I like to wear it to the gym.

Ha!

We recently talked about some fat art spotted in the wild, and I was reminded of that post when I was in Antwerp visiting the Rubenshuis.

The Rubenshuis (Rubens House) is a fabulous little museum, a home and studio designed by Rubens in the 17th century in which he lived and worked. The building itself is spectacular, and it’s also chock full of amazing art by Rubens and others. A definite “don’t miss” if you’re ever in Antwerp. And on the back facade is this statue of Venus looking—well—Rubenesque.

When I got home from the trip, I had an email waiting for me from Mary about this sculpture, a tactile, interactive piece meant to feel like rolls of fat. And it’s also called Venus. The artist, Nick Turvey, says:

“This [is a] recently completed sculpture, currently on exhibition outside the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. It’s carved from a block of upholstery foam, and coated in a rubber skin, so when you grab hold of those rolls of fat you find they are actually soft. Some people are disgusted, others love it, but it’s certainly provoking reactions. It’s one of a series I’m making about the materiality of the human body.”

I love that both of these pieces, created centuries apart, have the same name—the name of the goddess of love and beauty. And I also love that they both deal with voluptuousness as a theme. And I also love the challenging and provocative nature of Nick’s piece. Yay art!

Our body project is a collection of personal narratives written about bodies. They range from broad declarations of body and experience to small intricate pieces focusing on body parts or functions. Most importantly, they are written and shared here in an effort to create a community for positive body image and sexual experience. They are written and shared here to remind us that we are not alone with the pain of a distorted or negative self perception, but also to remind us, perhaps more importantly, perhaps not, that we are not alone when we feel good, really good, in a world where people are often unaccustomed to sharing expressions of joy about their bodies.

And from “Hip to the Hips”:

“Hey. Hey you. Nice hips.”

I was just trying to shift from one class to another, dragging my feet so that they didn’t ever lift off the ground, past the lockers on the second floor. What? What did that boy just say to me? I’m just trying to get to my next class. Just trying to get through the day. Just trying to get through high school. Why I am being noticed? Why did that mean? How could one even have nice hips? Does that mean I’m fat? I just wanted to hide–or better yet melt away–be invisible. But I just had to keep on walking down the hallway, embarrassed and confused.

Lots of great reading there, and they accept contributions! Or you can, as ever, share your own body thoughts or creative expressions in the comments.

Thanks to Jenfu for the link!

So, a long while back – I am hoping it was one year, but fear it may be two! – you had a bit of a series on BFD about fat women in art – Venus of Willendorf and others. And since then, I’ve wanted to send you this statue, in the FDR Post Office in Manhattan, at 53rd and 3rd. She’s placed next to the escalator, so it’s hard to get a good picture of her – and this one is from my cell. She’s called “The Big Woman”, and is made of rough pieces patted together into the shape you see.

I love her. She is the big woman, and she’s one of the only female bodies I’ve ever seen that I feel some connection with – the shape reminds me of my own, in terms of certain contours. I don’t know what the artist thought or felt about calling her the “Big Woman”, but it makes me feel she is proud and fierce, and every time I go to the Post Office, she makes me happy. So, I, er, just wanted t o share.

Thanks for the investigative journalism, Mary! Has anyone else seen any good fat art lately?

I now know that confidence and being a happy, positive person plays a more important role in attraction than body size alone. My main motivation for doing erotic work is to make the statement that fat women can express their sexuality and be sexual beings. I am challenge the norms of what is considered beautiful and sexy. I want people to examine their own ideas of what they consider appealing. For many people beauty does not just come in a size 0.

In related news, this is a very funny take on American Apparel’s “not our demographic” bullshit.

2. Holy crap you guys, it’s the solution we’ve all been waiting for! I love Allie Brosh and her finely tuned sense of the ridiculous.

The Weasel Belt is a revolutionary new product that uses the wonders of weasels to whittle your waist!  Was that egregious alliteration annoying? You bet it was!

Anyway, the Weasel Belt works by attaching a cage-like structure to your abdomen and then releasing several live, rabid weasels into the enclosure.  You don’t even have to do anything!  You just sit there and let the weasels gnaw your love handles away!

3. Speaking of weasels, Julien MacDonald has gone on record with his foot in his mouth, which must have taken some serious flexibility. He says plus-size models aren’t taken seriously, and shouldn’t win a modeling competition. Because he’s an ass.

“There were no plus-size models,” Macdonald reportedly said of [Britain's Next Top Model].

“This is a serious show. You can’t have a plus-size girl winning — it makes it a joke.

“It’s not fair on them — you’re setting them up for a fall. I know what would happen to them. They are looked down on.”

Because maybe, way too often, still, even after all the “celebration of ‘real women’” fooferah going on in the popular media, plus size models are usually not included in modeling competitions and taken as seriously as smaller-sized models, maybe? WEIRD. Shut up, Julien. Can I call you Julien? Too bad.

4. This was very cool—an interview with a plus-size fashion stylist. She’s got some old chestnuts about “creating proportion” and fear of “adding bulk” and whatnot (maybe she should have a long conversation with the deeply fabulous chestnut-roasting Beth Ditto), but she also has some interesting things to say about the industry, fashion, and even getting into the business.

I hope that as a stylist I can contribute to the plus size fashion industry as an educator, role model, and mentor. I truly enjoy connecting to real women all over the country and helping them feel great about themselves by offering them a fresh perspective on plus fashion and style. I have found my niche with the plus industry and I hope to continue partnering with plus related companies, designers, and industry leaders to reach out to society and media and showcase curvy women in a positive, flattering way.

5. This made me happy. You need something beautiful to hang in your house, and remind you that the female body has been worshipped for millennia? Check out this print.

Amy says her favorite part is this:

So how do Jose and Susan feel about being representatives of the state of British health? ‘I’m not ideal, but if this is what the average man in the UK looks like, then people can draw their own conclusions,’ says Jose. ‘Most of my mates look more like me than David Beckham.’
Susan says: ‘I hope women will look at me and realise that the stick-thin models they see in magazines aren’t the norm. I am average and proud of that.’

My least favorite part is that the article devolves into OMG OBESITY CRISIS and OMG AVERAGE IS SO FAT NOW!!11!! Shock horror! Except that they look, you know. Perfectly average.

*I did question the fact that they selected two white people. It seems problematic to default to white = average. Wouldn’t a truly “average” person be mixed race?

For its June 2010 issue, French Marie Claire has gone curvy with editorials featuring plus-size models in lingerie and swimsuits à la française–that’s right, only bottoms, no tops!

Of course, these are all models, so “plus-size” is like a size 10. I personally took a counterbalancing stroll through some wonderful recent pieces at Adipositivity. Mostly NSFW. Except this one, which I love. And this one!

It made me want to take my own half-naked pictures, even if I wouldn’t necessarily post them on the Internet for the world to see. But there’s so much beauty in all types of bodies. It really is lovely to be reminded of that.

Happy Friday!

Who were these “flabulous” celebrities? Beyonce, Jessica Simpson, Britney, Kirstie Alley, and Snooki. I mean, seriously. Did you doubt they would all be women? Plus, they sent me some accompanying photos showing the offenses, and they all looked like this. Where’s the “love handles” on Beyonce? Not that there’s anything wrong with “love handles,” Jesus. At least they have a cute name.

2. Okay, here’s a link, and it’s a good one: the “obesity stigma” is not actually helpful. Well, no effing duh. Which is basically what The Well-Rounded Mama says:

I suppose I should be grateful that someone is taking time to disprove the kinds of lame claims that more stigma is needed, not less. On the flip side, though, is that while they are concerned about the negative effects of obesity stigma on fat people, the big concern is that this stigma gets in the way of obesity intervention efforts…

But at least they are saying something against obesity stigma and countering the usual nonsense out there. It just amazes me that some idiots can actually believe that obesity stigma is really an effective tool for health improvement.

3. Another good one: obesity ills are “a myth” according to an Ohio State University study, via Big Fat Blog.

“There is a myth going on. Our findings show being overweight is no different from being what we believe is a healthy weight and this is across a person’s entire lifespan. For college-age adults, this should help them realize that they don’t have to worry so much if they have a BMI of 27 or 28. Some young people with these BMIs feel like, ‘I’m going to have all these problems, I need to try 50 different diets.’ And what is all that stress and dieting doing to your body? Probably more damage than the extra 15 pounds is.”

4. I ran across a Listmania list on Amazon today called “Large-size heroines and more.” Leonard Nimoy, The Gossip, and Nikki Blonsky are all represented, as are some projects I’d never heard of, such as an anthology called Such A Pretty Face…

Each tale has a plus-sized heroine or hero, ranging from a mermaid to a fairy-tale princess.

As well as a guide for plus-sized brides, some Fat Studies readers, and a UK series called Fat Friends.

I can’t vouch for level of empowerment each thing on the list has–for instance, I know Queen Sized was problematic, and there’s a weight loss memoir on there from someone named Michelle McManus, who won Pop Idol in the UK–but there were enough interesting things listed that I figured I’d pass it along.

5. Finally, 340 (and counting) blogs have been added to the comprehensive Fierce Freethinking Fatties Feed, and there are sub-feeds like Fat Acceptance, Fatshion, and Political Allies. (And other sub-feeds that do allow diet talk, so click those with caution.) If you want to find some new reading material or to add your blog to one of those feeds, check it out. Thanks for the heads up, Shannon!