Character: Megan, played by Melissa McCarthy

Credits: Before Bridesmaids, probably best known for Gilmore Girls and Mike & Molly, though she started off in the Groundlings. As far as her reputation among comics goes, this interview is worth reading.

Plot points: Megan is one of the eponymous bridesmaids in this female-centric, Kristin Wiig-centric comedy. At first you might think she’s the obligatory token fat bridesmaid that is going to be the butt of a lot of fat jokes, but she is really an astonishing character who basically steals the movie. (Or she would, if Kristin Wiig weren’t also so good in it.)

Stereotypes: The trailer had me worried. She’s the one most excited about the food at the Brazilian restaurant, and the first one to have gastrointestinal distress (though it eventually strikes everyone, her “I’m not confident which end that came out of” line is the one in the trailer). But ultimately, the character defies stereotypes: she’s smart, she’s independent, she’s rich, she’s brave, and she’s sensible. She is the character who (literally and figuratively) knocks some sense into our mopey heroine, Kristin Wiig, in one of the movie’s best scenes. She is honestly a joy to watch.

Sex/Romance/Attractiveness: In the sequence on the plane, she’s shown aggressively hitting on her seatmate (played by her real-life husband) and this sexual aggressiveness is played for laughs. There’s also a joke in which sex involves a sandwich, although by the time this joke comes up, my sense is that the audience is totally on Team Megan, and you’re laughing with her, not at her.

Fat jokes: There are a few (like “I naturally just don’t bloat” at the restaurant, which is meant to be ironic). Again, the reason I found them forgivable is because fat is not the be-all and end-all of this character, and most of the jokes involving her (and there are a lot) don’t involve fat at all. (My favorite one is probably her driving past Annie after the bridal shower, which I won’t spoil.) Admittedly it’s been a while since I saw the movie, so if I’m forgetting anything, hit me up in the comments.

The bottom line: McCarthy is basically playing the Zach Galafinakis part in this movie, and she does it brilliantly. There are a few jokes involving size or food, but Megan never, ever feels like a generic “fat girl” character. She feels like a real comedic creation. In that same interview, Rose Byrne says, “Melissa is nothing at all like Megan. That’s not hiring someone to do what they do; that’s a real performance. Melissa’s beautiful and feminine, but Megan’s tone—it’s almost like she’s a coach. There’s no doubt in her voice. For me a lot of the comedy comes from the tension between the wildness of her ideas and the way she would say them with such authority and confidence and speed.”

Rating on the offense-o-meter (10 being Norbit): 2

But how’s the movie?: You can probably already tell that I enjoyed it. In fact, I laughed so hard my water broke! (Okay, that’s probably not true, but my water did break in the parking lot right after we saw the movie. I was really glad we’d made it all the way through; it would have sucked to miss it.) Really hilarious, and a terrific rejoinder to the “women aren’t funny” trope. I can’t wait to see Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids 2. And congratulations to her on her Emmy nomination! Now that I know what McCarthy can do, I almost want to watch Mike & Molly.

1. From Feed Me: Fat women are paid less than men in the workplace. So obviously, we should lose weight. Wait, what?

Fat women are paid less than women who aren’t fat; fat men, on average, earn comparable salaries to men who aren’t fat. So women are penalized by employers for being fat… All the young women who don’t identify as feminists because they don’t have to fly that flag anymore should take note of studies like this one. Gender discrimination is alive and well in 21st-century America.

But that’s not where the writer of this story went. No, her conclusion was quite different. She wrote, “It’s bad news, but maybe it will help fund better prevention strategies and new treatment methods for this growing scourge.”

Excuse me? Did I hear you right? The answer to discrimination is getting rid of the quality that’s being discriminated against?

2. From Already Pretty: the problem with “she shouldn’t wear that.”

[S]tylistic shoulds and shouldn’ts reinforce the idea that there are absolute rights and wrongs in clothing choices, tastes, and body shapes. Saying a woman “shouldn’t” wear something because of her figure supports the idea that there is one way to look good. And there isn’t. In fact, women who push social comfort levels with their stylistic choices may gradually force the observing public to accept that. Although some may prefer that women with cellulite conceal it, women with bony clavicles mask them, and women with zits apply cover-up, each woman is entitled to make her own choices.

3. The theme of the comp class I’m teaching this semester is feminism (actually, I told them it was unofficially called “F the Patriarchy”—it’s led to some terrific debate and discussion) and I shared this tidbit from Shakesville with them the other day. A headline reads “Man badly burned when girlfriend’s house set on fire” when, in actuality, he was her ex-boyfriend and stalker. And oh yeah, he set the fire.

[A]n amazing example of how violence against women is minimized in news reporting… the violent stalker is badly burned. His intended victims, who merely were doused with gasoline and terrorized, are OK.

4. From Womanist Musings: Gabourey Sidibe as “Mammy.”

There can be no denial that there are some people who will look at Gabourey and see mammy smiling back at them both consciously and unconsciously, yet that is not a function of her, but a function of Whiteness. When we use fat hatred to claim that her success is obscuring the talents of other Black women, we are only playing into the divisive strategy that Whiteness has long used to control people of colour. Even the Black women that some believe are deserving of greater accolades, are still perceived by Whiteness as fitting into either the jezebel or sapphire trope, and therefore; the way to divest ourselves of these horrible caricatures, is not to further demean another Black woman, but to defeat the idea that any of these labels are representative of Black womanhood. The entity that needs to disappear is mammy and not Gabourey.

5. Terrific satirical essay from Lesley about the importance of the “suffering ween.”

The sight of fat women is a heavy cross said men must bear every moment they step out into the public spaces where people congregate, be they city streets or shopping malls or public transportation or the dentist’s office. Their eyes burning as though filled with a raging fire, their inability to control their speech — the inescapable, uncontrollable need to instruct the offending woman on the pain she is selfishly causing them — this is hardly their fault! They must say something, in the hope that their words will drive the fat woman back into the shadows and thereby cause the unthinkable torture being imposed upon their enfeebled weens to finally relent. They cannot be responsible for the things they say and do while in such agony. We cannot rightly blame them when it is men, and the relative rigidity of their supremely important peckers, who are being attacked here, attacked by fat women who dare to allow themselves to be seen.

Pretty awesome collection of links, am I right? Let’s discuss in the comments!

Thanks to Make My Blog Pretty for being awesome and doing a great job with all these little details. And please play around with these new features and let me know if anything looks off or weird or whatnot. There is now an “email us” link in the sidebar, or Twitter me up.

Secondly, this really has nothing to do with anything, but I just had to share this video of Inefficient Drinking Cat.

For me, the winning shot is at 1:43. Although 2:02 is pretty awesome too.

Thanks for the link, aych!

It’s got the universal man/woman icons on it, only the woman is bigger and it says “Team Player” underneath, the implication being that the guy wearing the shirt will “take one for the team” and chat up the fat friend so his bros can hit on the hot chick at the bar.

WTF! There are plenty of men for whom I am the one they WANT to hit on, the the bullet they take so their friend can get the hot girl. I *am* the hot girl! Stop opressing me with your douchebag t-shirts!

Intrigued by the tag “fat girl” on the shirt itself, I clicked it to see what other shirts were being offered. The pleasant surprise is that they were more positive than negative, with slogans like “Fat Girl Pride!” and “Everyone Loves A Fat Girl” outweighing (no pun intended) shirts like the misogynistic crap pictured here.

Still, check out this misogynistic crap. The whole discussion of “entering” is just gross in and of itself, and once again it’s both objectifying women and reinforcing the notion that certain women are societally “acceptable” to have sex with, and others are not.

Still, there’s always the amusing T-shirt reading, “Help, this FAT girl ate me!” Which would only make sense if written by a fat girl who wants to poke fun at the “skinny girl trying to get out” trope.

Seriously, it’s one thing to encourage your overweight friend or relative to lose a little weight for general health reasons. But to imply that a woman needs to lose weight for just one freaking day?

Our tipster Heather let us know that the comments had some pretty good responses, though—at least before it all totally goes to hell—and also a lot of back and forth with concern trolls and regular troll trolls, so be forewarned if you decide to visit. But here’s a selection:

Don’t even “encourage your overweight friend or relative to lose a little weight for general health reasons” unless you know for a FACT that that’s a concept that’s totally new to her (or him). Most fat people have heard it many times, and many have been publicly insulted by total strangers.

I’m interested in who this ad is targeting… Brides only seems a bit wrong to me. It’s not that I don’t see the humor; I just think there are better ways to convey the joke without isolating brides as the people who need to lose weight…

The guys don’t realize that (no matter whether you’re large, normal, or tiny) the minute, say, facebook realizes you’re engaged you start getting “bridal weight loss” ads targeted to you. It’s annoying as f*ck!

Responding to someone calling her “a big fat fatty” because she criticized the ad:

Not that it’s any of your business, but I have never had weight issues and have been “skinny as a beanpole” (?!) according to my Grandma for my entire life. I think that’s part of why I hate this ad: I hate seeing so many products targeting women who are overweight and making them feel bad about themselves. I especially hate when they target brides because it’s 100% gimmicky. Plus, many women who aren’t overweight feel fat because of advertising. It’s sad.

But anyway, you sound like a helluva guy. A real ace. Keep it up!

Obviously, it isn’t just the ad, but the product itself that’s an issue here. Back in my dieting days I too tried SlimFast, and then felt like a loser because—for some strange reason—one can of chocolate-flavored chemicals actually did not satisfy my hunger. Possibly because I am a human person with a stomach.

Miraculously, I managed to get married anyway! Who would have thought!?

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!

what is the most ridiculous diet of all time

My nominees are the Tapeworm Diet, the ever-popular Baby Food Diet, and the Intravenous Diet. But I’m sure someone will invent an even stupider one any second now.

justin beiber is a big fat deal

Okay, to my knowledge we’ve never talked about Justin Beiber on this blog. (Until now.) I have to admit the way he has been a Twitter trending topic off and on for pretty much my entire adult life has been impressive, though.

chub rub causing hole in jeans

Well, it happens to the best of us! Some great ideas for repairing jeans are here, or find a pair of jeans you like and stock up!

how did john goodman lose so much weight

I had no idea he had! But apparently he has. I don’t know how, though!

blog communities for fat girls

HELL YEAH. Step right up!

The important thing is that we accept ourselves. When we accept ourselves, the rest of the world will too. Or they won’t – but that will be their problem. Throughout my entire life, I have been a full figured woman. I will never be a size 0, 4, or even a 10, but that does not stop me from looking my best, like Amber Riley from Glee. As the weather heats up, I grab the opportunity to wear sexy clothing, break out my great summer accessories, and flaunt my full hourglass-and-a-half figure in yet another season.

 2. Gabi of Young, Fat, and Fabulous is a finalist in MTV’s Twitter Jockey contest!

As much as I love fashion, I also love social media and popular culture; this is an amazing opportunity, and I truly need all of your support! How great would it be if there was a fashionable, body-positive plus size girl working in mainstream media (and MTV at that)? Plus, if I win, I can guarantee A LOT more outfit posts…can you imagine my wardrobe if I actually had steady income? Man.

The main thing I need you guys to do is FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY (my username is @gabifresh). There will be a series of challenges and you will have to follow me there in order to help! The more followers and interaction I have with you guys, the better. Secondly, PLEASE help spread the word and tell your friends to follow me. Post on your blogs, facebook, twitter pages, youtube channels, or anything else you can think of.

I’m not entirely sure what a “Twitter jockey” is (back in my day, MTV ran videos! And we liked it!), but I know I love the idea of Gabi winning. Go, Gabi, go! Jockey the hell out of that Twitter!

3. Via Salon’s Broadsheet: This is beautiful, very cool, and nerdy, but it also appeals to my sense of comedy: a pin-up calendar featuring ladies so skinny, they’re all bones. Literally. IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT, AMERICA?

Japanese manufacturer Eizo has put together pictorials of 12 skeletons showing off their fibulas, tailbones and rib cages in classic car model poses — and, damn, these skele-girls got femurs for daaays.

4. Fashionista covers a British retailer with a major gimmick for their new swimwear campaign: All of their models are totally unPhotoshopped.  Which sounds awesome–except it’s not like they’re dragging regular women out of bed and throwing them head-first and uncombed into bikinis:

It’s a bit of a stretch to suggest that showcasing clothes on already perfect bodies will make the rest of us any more comfortable with the idea of buying THAT bikini. As in all of the highly hyped makeup-free magazine features we’ve seen (and Britney and Demi’s ‘before’ ad shots), the model is still meticulously made up, lit, styled, toned, etc.
Still, we have to applaud any move that challenges industry-wide assumptions and spurs on conversation.

I think I feel pretty much the same—I still struggle with the idea that these are perfect bodies to which we ought to aspire (obviously a flawed and troubling assumption), but I love that these are real women, not  creepily “perfected” lies forced upon us by a fashion hivemind! Viva la revolucion! In my heart, it’s hope that it’s a start.

“Try an almond stacked on top of a dried apricot — it tastes like a cookie. Really.”

Um… no. I’m not exactly a foodologist, but I’m pretty sure that this snack would taste like a nut on top of a dried piece of fruit.

Sometimes we get so inundated with this kind of ridiculous advice that we need a reality check. Yes, it’s ridiculous to drink hot lemon water instead of eating. I mean, come on! What are we, Cheerios?

“Sometimes I add a teaspoon of sand.”