Oh, the postcards. The postcards with awful puns and “jokes” on them that feature very large models and often show them in the process of eating something. We’ve all seen them, right? I saw this one last month, while I was on vacation in Ohio, and I was like, “oh god, these. I remember these.” [...]

Filed under: Fatism, Kids, Personal, Postcard | 15 Comments »

1. Photographic proof that fat people existed in the past, from Manolo for the Big Girl. Some really cool pictures. 2. Lesley at Fatshionista is doing Huge recaps, and tackles the latest episode here. Also, the cast signs a Body Peace Treaty, but… there are some problems, as The Rotund explains: “Oh, hi, y’all, love [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Food, Huge, Kids, Music, Old Timey, TV | 6 Comments »

We recently talked about how relatively minor incidents can sometimes feel much more significant than they really are. There are a lot of thought-provoking stories in the comments and I urge you to check out the comments thread if you haven’t had a chance lately. I was reminded of that conversation today when I was [...]

Filed under: Art, Celebrities, Fatism, Feminism, Kids, Music, Personal, Question, Sex & Romance, TV, Video | 32 Comments »

This seems to be the week for celebrity women to advocate for body positivity—or at least, it’s the week I found all these links! First off, from Becky on Twitter comes this story about Penelope Cruz, who says you don’t have to be thin to be pretty. “I would close down all those teenage magazines [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Celebrities, Fashion, Fat Positive, Fatism, Feel Good Friday, Feminism, Gossip, Hayley Hasselhoff, Huge, International, Kids, Magazines, TV | 7 Comments »

Or, why “just take in fewer calories than you burn” is not quite that simple. Katsyuri sent in this Newsweek article, discussing how intestinal bacteria may affect the number of calories the body is able to absorb. More efficient bacteria = more calories absorbed = more “calories in” than average. The calories that count are [...]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Kids, Science, TV | 16 Comments »

Thanks to Ian (who I’ve been begging to take me to the Harry Potter theme park) and @GinandPopcorn for alerting me to this story: some guests are being turned away from the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride for being unable to fit in the seats. Universal seems to have anticipated this issue, stationing [...]

Filed under: Fatism, Harry Potter, Kids | 32 Comments »

On Heavy Girls and Sexy Times, by Silvana, at Tiger Beatdown. 2. Here is what you learn very early, as a young woman prone to fatness, even before puberty: My body is bad. My body is disgusting. My body is something for me to fight against. My body will not cooperate with my desire to [...]

Filed under: Feminism, Kids, Sex & Romance, Tidbit | 4 Comments »

1. It doesn’t “make economic sense” to make clothes in many different styles for fat people. So, if fat people just stuck to wearing muumuus, that would be great, then? I would ask why are thin women allowed to want different kinds of clothing and fat women are not? I’m pretty sure all of the [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fashion, Health, Humor, Kids | 9 Comments »

You have to admire the creativity of PR people sometimes, desperately trying to shoehorn their products into stories about whatever might be making headlines, and then blindly sending those stories to bloggers whose blogs may or may not be at all related to the products they’re trying to sell. Here are some ridiculous pitches I’ve [...]

Filed under: Advertising, American Idol, Celebrities, Feel Good Friday, Hairspray, Humor, Kids, Magazines, Meta, Music, TV | 7 Comments »

1. The new Oprah biography contains a shocking allegation about pecan pie (and, perhaps, an opportunity to become educated about food addiction). From Michelle Coppola: Oprah once ordered two pecan pies from room service and *shudder* ATE THEM BOTH!! And what, Kitty Kelley? The earth tilted on its axis from Oprah’s subsequent weight gain? As [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Celebrities, Eating Disorders, Feminism, Food, Kids, Links, Magazines, Meta, Oprah, Race & Ethnicity | 17 Comments »

Raymond de Felitta, writer/director of the film City Island, discusses his film’s attention-getting subplot in this article in Salon. A subplot involves the Rizzo family’s youngest son (the brilliant Ezra Miller) who is secretly ashamed of his adolescent yearning for the woman next door, an Internet “goddess” named Denise who is 400 pounds and a [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fat Positive, Kids, Movies | 7 Comments »

I teach a composition class, and one of the textbook exercises this week was quite illuminating! The students read a section on denotative and connotative meanings, and had to rewrite a few sentences “with words that arouse more positive feelings.” The words that the students were supposed to change were underlined. For example, they might [...]

Filed under: Feminism, Kids, Personal, Tidbit | 14 Comments »

I heard this story on the radio this morning: one California supervisor wants to ban fast food restaurants from selling toys with fast food meals. Of course, this is only one county in one state, so we’re hardly at the level of an argument before the Supreme Court. A child’s “Happy Meal” may soon be [...]

Filed under: Advertising, Health, Kids, Personal, Question, Tidbit | 45 Comments »

I just want to shake Carnie Wilson when I read articles like this. She had weight loss surgery a while back and since then has regained some of the weight she lost. And she’s still flagellating herself for it. The Wilson Phillips singer, who currently weighs 212 lbs. despite undergoing gastric bypass surgery in 1999, [...]

Filed under: Biggest Loser, Carnie Wilson, Celebrities, Gabby Sidibe, Kids, Magazines, TV, WLS | 13 Comments »

This article from the L.A. Times runs down some recent examples of fatism, such as the save-the-whales PETA ad, the mandatory “fat class” graduation requirement, and the proposed bill outlawing restaurant dining by obese people in Mississippi. The pattern, the Times posits, is that slim people are “fed up” with the obese. Some choice quotes, [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, Eating Disorders, Fatism, Health, Kids, Movies, Personal | 47 Comments »

Originally uploaded by _saturnine Ah, the 1-800-GET-THIN billboards. Although I’m sure they’re all over the place, I seem to only see them all over Los Angeles. I can’t help but imagine a sinister undercurrent. Dear Aspiring Actress Who Just Moved To Hollywood… Have lap band surgery, which is a total breeze, obviously, and be transformed [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Courtney Love, Gossip, Kids, Music, WLS | 8 Comments »

I’ve been alternately sick, or busy, or sick and busy. In the meantime, here are some things that have been going on lately… In Case You Missed Them! Even though you most likely didn’t. 1. Shapely Prose leaves the Fatosphere! As we’ve tried saying a gazillion times, [Shapely Prose] is not the movement. It is [...]

Filed under: Art, Celebrities, Fatism, Gabby Sidibe, Kids, Links, Meta, Movies, Race & Ethnicity | 15 Comments »

No, no, no, not me! But I received an email from my friend Jennifer, who is 36 weeks pregnant, and she graciously said I could reprint her words here. I found her thoughts about pregnancy as a plus-sized woman really fascinating, and I hope you will, too! She covers topics including maternity wear, the ups [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fat Positive, Fatism, Guest Post, Health, Kids | 37 Comments »

peta-save-the-whalesOriginally uploaded by marketingnacozinha I was catching up on my e-mail and noticed a number of people sent in the link to this PETA ad: Susan, Veronica, Lynette, Amy, and Kim, thank you! The only reason I didn’t post about it was that I didn’t feel like I had anything new to say; it’s been [...]

Filed under: Advertising, Advocacy, Fatism, Kids, Media | 24 Comments »

So this is a teen (tween?) band called Chair, with a song called “I’m Fat And Nobody Likes Me.” Finkbuilt describes it as “Awesome teen angst comedy mischief pop by Chair. Kind of NSFW, sophomoric and juvenile.” On YouTube, they are being compared to everyone from Jack Black to Moldy Peaches. Take a look (again, [...]

Filed under: Humor, Kids, Music, NSFW, Video | 12 Comments »

So you guys will have to tell me if I missed any big awesome discussions or news items while I was away, other than MeMe Roth still existing and being more or less insane, which it looks like was pretty well covered already. Today, I’m catching the buzz that plus size fashion options are yet [...]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Fashion, Fatism, Kids, Meta | 26 Comments »

I was entertained and sort of fascinated by Mike’s post about the new Big Mac Snack Wrap, currently being tested in Canada, the home of the Maple Leafs, half of Niagara Falls, and Robin Sparkles. The sad, sad, Big Mac Snack Wrap. It is apparently half a hamburger patty with some sauce, pickles, and lettuce, [...]

Filed under: Advertising, Diet Talk Warning, Food, Humor, International, Kids, Personal, Science | 23 Comments »

I’ve been struck down with some kind of death illness for the past few days. You’d think that being curled up on my couch for 72 hours would mean I could manage a blog post or two, but it hasn’t seemed that way. I’m hoping to be back in action tomorrow, but in the meantime, [...]

Filed under: Advertising, Advocacy, Celebrities, Fashion, Kids, Meta, Personal, Sex & Romance, TV | 10 Comments »

Believe it or not, I also follow blogs outside of the fatosphere (god, I still loathe that term), and have been following Sundry Mourning since we were both blogging over on Diaryland. I’m still a DINK (for the moment, anyway) while she’s had two very adorable boys, which I guess makes her a DITK. I [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, International, Kids | 11 Comments »

These new guidelines for childhood obesity programs are just amazing. Rachel has them listed at The F Word, complete with highlighting. In this case it indicates not white-hot rage, but happiness. Consider guidelines like… Interventions should focus on health, not weight, so as to not contribute to the overvaluation of weight and shape and negative [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Exercise, Fat Positive, Humor, Kids, Science | 7 Comments »