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 that encourage young girls to diet. Who says that to be pretty you have to be thin? Some people look better thin and some don’t. There is almost a standard being created where only thin is acceptable. The influence of those magazines on girls as young as 13 is horrific.”

I could argue (at length) about the comment that “Some people look better thin and some don’t,” because I think that’s problematic. Also the word “almost” in that bolded sentence. But the fact that she’s pissed off about this and speaking out is pretty awesome.

Via CDAN comes this letter from Sophia Bush about those ridiculous “Eat Less” shirts from Urban Outfitters.

I am fortunate enough to star on a wonderful TV show called One Tree Hill. I play a fashion designer named Brooke Davis, who started a campaign on the show called “Zero Is Not A Size” and the outpouring of love and gratitude that came my way from girls and women ALL OVER THE WORLD who have body image issues brought me to tears.

To promote starvation? To promote anorexia, which leads to heart disease, bone density loss, and a slew of other health problems, not least of all psychological issues that NEVER go away? Shame on you. I will no longer be shopping at your stores. And I will encourage the tens of thousands of female supporters I have to do the same. I have fought to boycott BP. I never imagined I would also be boycotting affordable fashion.

You should issue a public apology, and make a hefty donation to a women’s organization that supports those stricken with eating disorders. I am sickened that anyone, on any board, in your gigantic company would have voted ‘yes’ on such a thing, let alone enough of you to manufacture an item with such a hurtful message.

I’m hoping (and assuming) “Zero Is Not A Size” is not against very slim women, but instead against the idea that the size for these women has that name. But I don’t watch One Tree Hill so one of you might have to fill me in. Anyway, it sounds like Sophia Bush is very engaged with the world, and trying to use her celebrity to effect some positive change. That’s awesome.

And finally, Hayley Hasselhoff talks about the awesomeness that is Huge, and how she embraces her curves.

I related to Amber [her character] a lot when I was younger growing up, but I think I’m finally at a point in life where I’m comfortable with who I am… I’m so glad there’s a show that teenagers can look up to young girls and realize it’s okay to be voluptuous.

Three celebrities speaking out and telling teens it’s okay to be who you are? Feels like a Feel Good Friday to me.

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 those extracted by your digestive enzymes and—as more and more research is showing—the trillions of bacteria in your intestine. People whose gut bacteria are better at digesting fats and carbs than their neighbor’s will absorb all 1,500 calories in a Friendly’s Ultimate Grilled Cheese BurgerMelt, while the neighbor will absorb fewer. So even in people with identical metabolisms, the effects of eating identical foods can be different.

The bacteria-made-me-fat idea has been gathering steam since 2006. In that year, Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University and colleagues reported in a paper in Nature that obese mice and slim mice have different populations of gut bacteria. Crucially, they showed that the bacteria caused obesity, rather than obesity producing a specific mix of bacteria.

There’s also a slideshow that touches on the connection between underprivileged communities and the prevalence of fast and processed foods (along with pictures of sad fat people… but they do have heads). Here’s Katsyuri’s disclaimer:

It’s still mainly the same old tripe about exercise and calories and that “Obesity Epidemic”, but at least it doesn’t COMPLETELY blame bigger people for everything.

The article does have some more interesting tidbits:

A study published in April… found that Japanese people harbor gut bacteria that digest nori—the seaweed in sushi—but westerners do not, probably because of the Japanese diet (lots of fish and thus marine bacteria, which digest nori). That suggests that “what you eat is proving to be one of the major determinants of…the community of bacteria living in your intestine.”

I wouldn’t be surprised to see people with nefarious motives say to people trying to lose weight, ‘you must have the wrong bacteria; I have something that will help you.’

The idea here is that gut bacteria interact with intestinal cells in a way that causes them to secrete cytokines, molecules that can cause low-grade inflammation. This inflammation can, in turn, trigger insulin resistance (the mark of type 2 diabetes) and increased appetite, which is an effective way to put on weight.

As scientists work out the details by which out gut bacteria make us fat, health mandarins need to look beyond the simplistic calories in/calories out mantra for explanations of the obesity epidemic.

So what do you think: is this kind of science—shifting the blame away from fat people—a step in the right direction? Or is the focus still in the wrong place?

[Note: The title of this post is a play on an Eric Cartman quote.]

Universal seems to have anticipated this issue, stationing staff “wizards” and test-seats along the line and at the entrance to Forbidden Journey. Riders test their ability to fit in the seats, as well as the restraint (which must click three times to be deemed safe and for the potential rider to be allowed into the attraction).

Harry Potter fan Jeff Guillaume, who was turned away from the ride, has a good collection of follow-up posts and commentary here.

A lot of the debate I’ve seen is focused on safety, and rightly so. Many rides at many parks around the world use a single-bar restraint system (“lap bars”) for a row of people. One larger passenger will cause the bar to lock much higher than the waists/legs/laps of the smaller guests, presenting a safety and comfort issue.

But that is not the case on single passenger restraint systems, which most modern rides, including Forbidden Journey, employ. These are the over-the-shoulder harnesses or lap bars that lock in place differently for each passenger.

It’s strange to me, because I’ve never had any issues with any of the rides at Disneyland, and they have a whole range of restraint systems, all of which I can fit in with no problem. And I’ve been to Disneyland dozens of times, as well as Disney World in Florida and Eurodisney. I can’t think of a single time my weight was an issue in terms of me enjoying the rides.

I am a huge (HA HA GET IT) Harry Potter fan, and I have been dying to go to the new theme park. But there are only three rides in the theme park, and only one of them is the “signature” ride of the whole park. If the main attraction won’t accommodate fat people, and I might be turned away while I’m waiting in line… why would I want to spend all that money on a vacation that would end in embarrassment and shame and disappointment? I can stay home and be disappointed just the same. And I am.

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 be thin. My body is a disappointment to the people around me. I hate how all these studies and articles just assume as true that it is the natural order of things that fat girls will feel bad about themselves, as if this is, in fact, the proper way to view yourself when you are fat. No, this is not natural. This does not come from looking in the mirror. Girls are inculcated with messages that fatness is bad and that their bodies are their enemies. Loving your body is not option. That fatness-shame, combined with the puberty-shame of our puritanical, anti-woman, anti-sex culture, means that at the onset of puberty fat girls undergo deep, deep dissociation with their bodies. This happens to all kinds of girls, but especially fat girls.

There’s a lot more: go read! Especially teenagers and the teenager-adjacent. And let me know what you think.

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 thin people I have met want different kinds of clothing. I know for a fact that not all thin women want professional clothing or sun dresses. But the fact that they made it seem like asking for jeans is this crazy notion really pissed me off.

2. A three-year-old on Fat Fairies.

“But just because she has a big moom doesn’t make her a bad person, Mummy. Some fairies have big mooms and some fairies have little mooms but they are all good fairies.”

3. Myths about fat bodies from Fat Heffalump.

I want to talk about fat bodies tonight. Cos you know, all the stuff over the past week about body image, all the cries of Disgusting! Vile! Lazy! Unhealthy! Gross! Smelly! and so on that proliferate when we have talk about fat bodies has been burbling about my head and I think that a lot of fat haters and those that fear fat have absolutely no idea about what a fat body really is like, or what it’s like to inhabit a fat body.

4. The Fatistician talks about trusting your doctor.

I think people who are not fat as well as many medical professionals are unaware of the serious trust gap between medical professionals and fat people who’ve been told that their rash/pain/infection/brain tumor will go away if they just stop being fat. Studies have shown that medical professionals do not trust fat patients. But I think it is also important to point out that some of their fat patients don’t trust them either, and for good reason.

5. And B. Miller is having a Pay It Forward contest on her blog. It’s especially geared towards fiction writers, which is tragic, as my Young Adult novel is not yet finished, nor has it yet been published, nor am I currently rich and famous. Any second now, though. Thanks for Tweeting me about this contest!

“Betty White is going to host SNL. Will she wear a [Product Name] girdle? Been known to wear girdles daily, viewers are predicting she will host Saturday night’s show in one of today’s most scandalous fashions.”

Nice dangling modifier there, PR person. (That being said, girdle or no girdle, I’m going to be watching the hell out of SNL this weekend. And Betty White can do or say or wear whatever she wants! She’s a Golden Girl!)

“[Product Name] will established itself as one of the most sought after web sites that provides live feeds and information for people and the media to discover what the country really thinks about current issues. With the heartbreaking end to Kate Gosselin’s professional dance career on DWTS, many are wondering what will happen to the future of post-Kate Dancing With the Stars!”

It was heartbreaking, you guys. Didn’t your heart just break when Kate and her crappy dancing got voted off? Haven’t you been WONDERING ABOUT THE FUTURE ever since?? (The best part is that the website determined 67% of people thought the show would be fine. Okay then! PHEW! Guess we dodged that bullet, America!)

Parents and celebrities alike are turning to the [Product Name] to comfort their infant. Just look at the pages of this week’s People Magazine where you will find Sandra Bullock watching her new baby, Louis, sleep peacefully in a [Product]!

What does this have to do with my blog, anyway? Oh, apparently Marissa Janet Winkotur also uses [Product]. Okay then. Makes total sense!

[Product Name]’s “Pick an Idol” promotion may offer a glimpse into who might take the American Idol prize this season! Each week, the Idol with the most votes receives a complimentary bouquet of [Product] in a color selected by the fans. Since the promotion began, Crystal Bowersox has been near or at the top every week with Casey James, Lee Dewyze, Andrew Garcia and Katy Stevens also winning.

Yeah, how’s that working out for you, Andrew and “Katy”?

Weirdly, as rando as these press releases are, they all have one thing in common. I guess it’s true what they say: celebrities sell! Or at least, they try to.

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 I’ve mentioned many times before in this blog, I’m a food addict, and if indeed Oprah suffers from the same problem (which I personally think she does) eating two pies in a sitting ain’t no thang. I have, after a particularly bad day, personally inhaled a whole pizza and chased it with a cheesecake.

Of course, people are reading this to reinforce “Gross! fat people and their fat eating!” instead of thinking about binge eating as an actual disorder, along the lines of the comparatively (and incorrectly) glamorized anorexia and bulimia. No, it’s just, let’s lash out at Oprah, a powerful woman of color, and target something foolproof: her weight.

2. This article about reframing the war on obesity makes a few good points, but there’s also quite a bit of fat shaming.

Instead of having a discussion about obesity, I wish it could be framed in the language of “nutrition” or “nourishment.” Because I’d like to include all the kids, fat and thin, big and small, in a larger discussion of food.

I see lots of thin kids at school and they are eating the same foods as the obese kids. Are they eating the right calories and fats to nourish their bodies? Somehow I don’t think so… [it's just that] in our thin world it’s easy to say “let’s fight fat!”

Apparently originally, the blogger wrote “…being obese is a big problem and if you are overweight, you did something to get there.” People took issue in the comments, but I saw a lot of “don’t blame kids, blame their fat, lazy parents!” The full comment has been edited out, but the “being obese is a big problem” is still there.

3. And speaking of kids, PETA strikes again!

The advertisement? “Tot Teetering on Childhood Obesity? Go Vegan!” You know the fools at PETA were all, “OMG HILARIOUS PLAY ON TEETER-TOTTER OMG HIGH FIVE!!!”

Ugh, this kills me. I know getting upset about PETA’s press releases is completely futile* but still I rise. Can you imagine a little fat kid (who, btw, is already teased mercilessly because kids are the motherflipping MEANEST) coming to the playground and seeing those teeter-totters? Stunts like this don’t turn kids vegan but I bet they could turn them suicidal. Further, how many fat kids do you know who venture near a teeter-totter anyway, it’s already ground for public humiliation. Way to know your audience, PETA!

And what of all the thin kids with malnutrition and fast food diets? There are tons of them, believe it. Just because they’re skinny, they get a free pass? Thin does not healthy make. What a crappy lesson all the way around.

4. An interesting article about classism in Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution:

Food Revolution highlights how much of the war on obesity is rooted in classism. One scene shows Oliver reacting to a newspaper article that suggests he thinks the people of Huntington are cola-swilling rubes who think an apple is just a character in the Bible. So most of his time isn’t spent cooking, it’s spent convincing residents he doesn’t look down on them. It’ll be an uphill battle. Advice on better eating isn’t evaluated on the quality of the advice as much as on its source. The lower-middle class doesn’t want to be lectured by a more well-off person about how easy and worthwhile upgrading one’s diet is, because the immediate thought is, sure, easy for you, perhaps. When Oliver arrives in Huntington with his British accent and his crates of radicchio, he’s dooming himself from the start. He’s not only a rich guy, he’s a rich British guy, thumbing his nose at our good, old-fashioned American preservatives.

5. The Curvy Fashionista came to Igigi with a group of us last week, and she is awesome. Maybe now that I’ve decided to follow her around like a baby duckling in search of fashion advice, I’ll be plugged in more to events like these.

Thanks to Michelle, Rebecca, Aych, Ian, and Jess for the links!

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 proud advocate of BBWs… one of the most frequently asked question I get at Q&As is: “What’s with you and the fat chick stuff?” Only people don’t come out and say it quite that way. Instead they say:

“Uh … the section of the film with the … larger woman … and the boy who um … likes her … (pause, then) … um — why?”

The director explains that he created this subplot to try and find a secret for the teenage boy to keep that was original, rather than “been there, done that.” The article also has a look at the casting process for the character of Denise which will surprise, oh, nobody.

When I wrote the word “obese” in my script, it somehow got translated to “overweight” to the breakdown service. As a result, we were deluged with photos of women who were, like, 170 pounds. As I poured through them in dismay, I realized that a Hollywood casting director’s idea of obese and what I was writing about were about 200 pounds apart. When I told them that I needed to see people much, MUCH larger, they answered:

“Oh. But you don’t really want to cast somebody that fat, do you?”

To which my answer became a defiant: “Fatter.”

Thanks to Weetabix for the link!

For example, they might change “Felix was a mediocre student” to “Felix was an average student” or “The stench from the kitchen meant dinner was ready” to “The aroma from the kitchen…” One of the sentences was “My neighbor was a fat spinster lady.”

Here are some of the choices the students made. Some students thought different euphemisms were better than “fat.”

My neighbor was a plus-sized, single lady.
My neighbor was an overweight, single older woman.
My neighbor was a chubby single lady.
My neighbor was a big unmarried woman.

Some students thought it was “more positive” not to mention her weight at all.

My neighbor was an unmarried woman.
My neighbor was an independent lady.
My neighbor was a brilliant lady.

Best of all is this one: it would be “more positive” if she were thin!

My neighbor was a lean single lady.

You could also look at what they did with “spinster”–is her unmarried state worth noting? Is her weight? Talk about a teachable moment.

A child’s “Happy Meal” may soon be a little less happy in Santa Clara County, where a local official wants to prevent fast-food restaurants from giving away inexpensive toys with kids’ orders. County supervisor Ken Yeager plans to ask his colleagues today to order up a law regulating when fast-food outlets can serve toy cars, action figures and other freebies as part of their children’s’ menus. Yeager says the toys entice young customers to load up on high-calorie fare and may contribute to childhood obesity.

The poll here is interesting, too. I mean so far there are only a whopping 7 votes, but one of the choices is “Sometimes I go out of the way to eat fast food because of a toy they are offering.” and it got me reminiscing. When I was a kid I definitely went out of my way to go to McDonald’s to collect their little plastic Chicken McNugget people (anyone else remember those?) and in college I got really addicted to collecting Monopoly game pieces whenever they had a contest. Of course these days I try to be very moderate about fast food, and I almost always get Happy Meals with apple dippers instead of fries, rather than “grownup” meals. (Which means I get toys! Woo!)

So what do you think–if you have kids, do you allow them to eat at McDonald’s? Do the toys factor in to your decision? Have you ever collected any of the Happy Meal toys? And should McDonald’s be free to sell whatever they want along with their Happy Meals, or is it more like Joe Camel, damaging advertising aimed at children that should be curtailed? I’m very curious to hear your opinions!