NPR did a story recently about diet books, and there were at least three things that struck me as worth talking about! 1. In the “no duh” category, diet books offer “too good to be true” promises that suck people in over and over again. “The diet category offers a tremendous amount of repeat business,” […]

Filed under: Art, Books, Cold Hard Cash, Weight Loss | 31 Comments »

The Zaftig Thespian, Jen Ponton, has a fabulous interview up at Plus Model Magazine, about being a fat actress. And not the self-loathing, Jenny Craig joining, Kirstie Alley kind, either. Jennifer Jonassen: Any dream roles? Jen Ponton: My dream role? I have the soul of a leading lady, not a sidekick–so a dream role ?(that […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, Celebrities, Fat Positive, Kirstie Alley, Magazines, Movies, Theater, Tidbit, TV | 5 Comments »

Via Marianne; click anywhere to feed the fish. I made them color coordinated with the blog. Heh. Get your own soothing little friends, and more (including a hamster and a stingray) here.

Filed under: Art, Feel Good Friday, Meta, Tidbit | 7 Comments »

My lovely friend Chiara has written a lovely poem, and the first thing I thought when I read it is that I wanted to share it with you. My last name means “round,” it literally means “round,” and usually what I say is ha ha my ancestors clearly really loved pasta and sometimes I pat […]

Filed under: Art, International, Personal, Tidbit | 1 Comment »

And you guys, it is gorgeous. Hooray! via Style Slacker. LOVE is a new, aiming-for-high-profile magazine by Conde Nast, launching in the U.K. on February 19. It is purported to be all about luxury and fashion and fashionable luxury and I don’t really care, because I probably won’t read it. But I love their very […]

Filed under: Art, Beth Ditto, Celebrities, Fat Positive, Feel Good Friday, Magazines, Media, Tidbit, TV, Weight Loss | 22 Comments »

One of my favorite sites is Manolo for the Big Girl, because these are funny ladies, and one of my favorite weekly features is their Big Girls in Art series. They make me happy every time, but this time, especially so. Check out Kal Barteski who calls herself the “bulletproof positive attitude artist.” Her work is amazing, […]

Filed under: Art, Tidbit | 5 Comments »

We wrote about Neil LaBute’s play “Fat Pig” way back in 2006 (links to a cached version of the post since mopie.com is still intermittently down) so it’s been on the radar for quite some time. But Sheila sent along this article in the Guardian, in response to the new London production of “Fat Pig,” […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, BFD Classic, Celebrities, Fat Positive, Fatism, International, Marilyn's Law, Meta, Theater | 15 Comments »

Wanna hitch a ride?Originally uploaded by strph My Flickr and Twitter friend Strph has posted the best Flickr set ever. It’s called “How Not to Shoot Fat Chicks,” and it’s a collection of very familiar rules about how fat women must never be photographed—with accompanying photos that break all the rules. The rules thus far […]

Filed under: Art, Fat Positive, Food, Humor, Meta, Personal | 22 Comments »

Henry VIIIOriginally uploaded by mo pie In the BBC Miniseries The Tudors, the creators have decided that lead actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays Henry VIII, should not gain weight as the time period advances. Why? Because he will no longer be “appealing.” (And apparently audiences will be too dumb to figure out why on […]

Filed under: Art, Celebrities, Fatism, Gossip, International, NSFW, TV | 23 Comments »

Ah yes, airbrushing, airbrushing, a favorite topic around here. This New Yorker article takes a fascinating look at Pascal Dangin, a retoucher so prized that famous photographers won’t work with anyone else, and who was name checked in The Devil Wears Prada. “Her face is too high and elongated, mainly by the angle of the […]

Filed under: Art, Celebrities, Magazines, Media | 10 Comments »

Thanks to Lucinda, who sent in the following review! I didn’t see Wanted this weekend, but my students have told me it’s really good. Did you guys see it over the holiday weekend? Did you have the same reaction as Lucinda did? I was psyched to see WANTED, the new summer blockbuster action flick — […]

Filed under: Angelina Jolie, Art, Celebrities, Fatism, Guest Post, Movies | 26 Comments »

We wrote about Deborah Voight all the way back in 2006. You might remember her as the opera singer who was fired for being too fat, and who had gastric bypass surgery. She was recently rehired to sing the same role that she was fired for, back in the day. The New York Times has […]

Filed under: Art, Celebrities, International, Music, Theater, Video, WLS | 22 Comments »

It must be childhood obesity week. On the heels of the news about the possible plateu in child obesity comes a comic from The Joy of Tech called “Fat Kids, The New Norm.” The comic depicts five kids, four of whom are fat, taunting a fifth child, who is thin. The fat kids are shown […]

Filed under: Art, Kids, Media | 27 Comments »

Originally uploaded by mo pie Or “overweight nude” as CNN calls it. The artist is Lucien Freud, and the painting was just sold for $33.6 million, making it the most expensive painting ever sold by a living artist. The model for the painting is Sue Tilley. (A picture of her can be seen here; the […]

Filed under: Art, Cold Hard Cash, Fat Positive, Fatism, International | 36 Comments »

Originally uploaded by mo pie The Vain Van by Emily Duffy was at the Maker Faire this year, and I took a picture of it for you! The back asks “I look fat? By whose measure?” and one side asks “Who profits from your self-loathing?” The other side says “Vanity, thy name is marketing.” It’s […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, Fat Positive, Feel Good Friday, Feminism, Tidbit | 8 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 »

venus of willendorf Originally uploaded by mo pie Last week, I was in Vienna. One of the things we did there was to visit the Museum of Natural History, specifically to see the 25,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf. (I had no idea this piece was in Vienna; my husband was the mastermind behind the pilgrimage.) I […]

Filed under: Art, Feminism, International, Old Timey, Personal | 16 Comments »

the big ballet Originally uploaded by mo pie In the comments, msruth mentioned Russia’s “Big Ballet” and on her advice, I went to go take a look and read all about them. The Big Ballet is a troupe of dancers from Russia who weigh a minimum of 220 pounds each. I highly recommend clicking on […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, BFD Classic, Exercise, Fat Positive, Feel Good Friday, International, Theater | 18 Comments »

hyacinth hippo Originally uploaded by mo pie Those of you out there who have seen Fantasia and who fondly remember the hippo ballet sequence might appreciate this rare glimpse into the history of Disney animation: photos of actress Hattie Noel, who was the live action reference for Hyacinth Hippo in the film. I don’t know […]

Filed under: Art, Fat Positive, Fatism, Movies, Question, Race & Ethnicity, Theater, Video | 17 Comments »

This article urges sellers on Etsy.com to be more “size-friendly.” In case you don’t know what Etsy is, it’s an incredibly cool site that allows artists and crafty people to sell their wares directly to the world. (My trick this Christmas was to think about things that people liked, and then type appropriate keywords into […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, Fashion, Fat Positive | 21 Comments »

Leonard Nimoy was on The Colbert Report last night talking about his book of photography, and why his book should be on every coffee table in America. It was so exciting! The audience cheers for the women pictured (note that these are nude photos and might not be work safe), Nimoy makes some great points, […]

Filed under: Art, Fat Positive, Feel Good Friday, Humor, NSFW, TV, Video | 35 Comments »

I’ve had the “we’re rethinking Dress Barn” tagline in the rotation for a while now, and I finally stepped into a Dress Barn this weekend to see for myself. You see, I am going to be doing a reading at this event at Colorado State University. (If anyone is in Colorado and is interested in […]

Filed under: Art, Cold Hard Cash, Fashion, Meta, Personal | 20 Comments »

I am just going to reprint heatherbelly‘s comment, because I think it’s worthy of discussion and I’m so glad she shared it! Please listen to this report aired on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, last weekend. Understand—Scott Simon is usually a fantastic host. I found myself with my jaw agape as I listened to the introduction […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, Guest Post, Media, Question | 28 Comments »

birth of venus Originally uploaded by mo pie In the comments, reader Lynette pointed me to this post from Diet Blog, about Florence Studios’ “Beautifully Big” collection. If you follow the Diet Blog link, you’ll see the original David and Michaelangelo’s David side by side, which is interesting. Of course, the picture in this post […]

Filed under: Art, Fat Positive, Fatism, Humor | 10 Comments »

beautiful sunday Originally uploaded by mo pie I love this pool. I just want to go through each one of the pictures and exclaim over your beauty. I check the pool several times a day to see if anyone has added a picture. More pictures! Tell your friends! Tell your neighbors! We are very pretty. […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, Fat Positive, Question | 4 Comments »