I don’t know who Alesha Dixon is. I know that she is British, smokingly hot, and according to her extensive and detailed Wikipedia page, she danced her way to fame in the television series Strictly Come Dancing, the show that became Dancing with the Stars in the U.S. She’s also a model, was a singer […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Feel Good Friday, International, Media | 11 Comments »

The Guardian runs a feature called Private Lives, in which readers write in with their problems, and the Guardian’s expert provides her expert advice, along with a healthy helping of the peanut gallery’s remarks. The audience is encouraged to write in with their very helpful ideas on how to fix these people’s problems, and then […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Health, International, Media, Question, Weight Loss | 10 Comments »

Recently, a reader sent along Gina Kolata’s article from the New York Times discussing some obesity myths that are not news to us, exactly, but good to see in print nevertheless. I think I read it before, but really, it was worth reading again. Many of the so-called facts about obesity… amount to speculation or […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fat Positive, Media, Science, TV | 24 Comments »

Jennifer Love Hewitt has gone through a tremendous amount of shit in the past couple of years–after daring to appear in a bikini with a fabulous body that was, nonetheless, less-than-Hollywood perfect, she was soundly mocked and ridiculed and called fat. She defended herself, said she was happy with her curvy body and proud and […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fatism, Gossip, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Magazines, Media | 15 Comments »

Susan Orbach, the feminist psychologist who wrote Fat is a Feminist Issue, is coming out with a new book called Bodies. In it, she’s examining how our relationship with our bodies has reached a crisis point, not just in terms of the fear and phobia of fat and the size-zero culture, but how the endless […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Books, Eating Disorders, Feminism, International, Media, Tidbit | 8 Comments »

I love Jenna Fischer, which is why I haven’t picked up that issue of SELF. I know it would just piss me off. I mean look at the cover: two of the most promiment headlines are “LOVE YOUR BODY SECRETS (Feel Sexier At Any Size)” and “LOSE INCHES ALL OVER (You’ll Be Slimmer In Just 18 Minutes A Day).” I think I love my body more because I don’t read SELF. And Jenna doesn’t address the issue of being photoshopped at all, even though it seems pretty obvious that they did in fact photoshop the hell out of her.

Filed under: Gossip, Magazines, Media, Photoshop, The Office, TV | 9 Comments »

I ran across this news in my google reader, and at first blush, it made me happy–a picture of a little girl with a hula hoop! The idea of a small sponsoring an exciting activity day for kids, saying Hey, kids, it is cool to go out and play and run and be active and […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Exercise, Health, Kids, Media | 13 Comments »

My baby cousin, who I should not call my baby cousin because she is twenty years old and that is pretty much an adult, is just beautiful. She used to be a pretty little girl, but she has grown up into a spectacular woman–smart and funny and generous, but she also lucked out physically. She’s […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Feminism, Health, Kids, Media, Personal | 18 Comments »

Jessica at Jezebel wrote a while back about the Glamour magazine diet blog Margarita Shapes Up. What’s disconcerting is the anxious tone that has crept into her posts in recent weeks, culminating in a post about leaving her dad’s birthday party early so that she could go to yoga. It’s clear that she feels a […]

Filed under: Feminism, Magazines, Media, Question, Weight Loss | 60 Comments »

In the world of celebrities, the phrase “full figured” is applied to such women as Jennifer Lopez, Kate Winslet, and America Ferrera—a category of women who I’ve always viewed as “Hollywood fat.” The women who are called “full figured” are often treated as overweight by the media; we’ve seen it time and again. The problem […]

Filed under: America Ferrera, Celebrities, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Lopez, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley, Magazines, Media, TV | 24 Comments »

No, I don’t usually write about politics here, but I am absolutely obsessed with the American presidential election. I can’t even tell you how many times a day I check FiveThirtyEight; it’s a sickness. So when I found an article about fat people and the election, I made a beeline for my web browser so […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, International, Media | 36 Comments »

BFDude Matt saw Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist this weekend, and wrote in with some observations about the film. (I love his reference to Kermit and Miss Piggy; I totally related to them back in high school.) Hi Monique, something I noticed while watching Nick & Norah tonight that might be BFD related. Kat Dennings […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fat Positive, Feminism, Media, Movies | 27 Comments »

A couple of people have sent me this link this morning, and thank you very much to all of you! The New York Times has written an article about de-stigmatizing fat, the fat acceptance movement, and the genetics of obesity. An absolute must-read. But some activists and academics, part of a growing social movement known […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fat Positive, Health, Media, Science, Tidbit | 12 Comments »

I ran across an advice column today in my Google alerts that managed to make me indignant on three totally different levels, one at a time. Allow me to take you along on my journey! It really starts with the first paragraph of the question. My boyfriend Chris is 6 foot, 7 inches. I’m 5-foot, […]

Filed under: Fatism, Humor, Media, Sex & Romance | 30 Comments »

In this week’s issue, Entertainment Weekly catches on to the problem with the tiny bodies on 90210. But the article is worth reading even for those of us who already talked about it. First, the problem: Almost without exception, the young actresses on The CW’s spin-off are alarmingly thin, with arms that seem thickest at […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Celebrities, Gossip, Magazines, Media, TV | 23 Comments »

How’s this for a concept: Enjoying food instead of dieting, because dieting doesn’t work. It’s a movement! It’s a zeitgeist! Or at least it’s an article in the New York Times: After decades of obsessing about fat, calories and carbs, many dieters have made the unorthodox decision to simply enjoy food again. That doesn’t mean […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Food, Health, Media, Science | 17 Comments »

Generation XXLOriginally uploaded by crayolarabbit I used to see this ad in San Francisco, when driving onto the onramp of the Bay Bridge. It’s an ad for Kaiser Permanente, which is the same HMO that does the “thrive” commercials. My main issue is that this ad portrays a young girl (of course it’s a girl) […]

Filed under: Advertising, Advocacy, Fatism, Health, Kids, Media, Tidbit | 18 Comments »

Whenever I’m asked who this blog is for, I inevitably say it’s for my teenage self—and for teenagers who are like her. So it might not be too surprising that my hot button issue is the way the media talks to teenage girls. For example, in magazines like Teen Vogue that may be subtly promoting […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Books, Celebrities, Eating Disorders, Fashion, Feminism, Kids, Magazines, Media | 18 Comments »

Interesting post at TMZ of all places, about Queen Latifah’s endorsement of the Jenny Craig diet (which, if you recall I had issues with). You can follow that link to see some before and after shots of Queen Latifah, but this is the entirety of the post: We’re hearing there’s a new strategy in Jenny […]

Filed under: Advertising, Celebrities, Cold Hard Cash, Gossip, Kirstie Alley, Magazines, Media, Queen Latifah, Weight Loss | 36 Comments »

Originally uploaded by mo pie I have been reading Elastic Waist daily since it launched; especially since my friends (including BFD contributor Weetabix) write for the site. I have been on their “daily special” show and have even written a guest post or two for them. However, the fact remains that it is a corporate-sponsored […]

Filed under: Advertising, Cold Hard Cash, Fatism, Feminism, Magazines, Media, Meta | 19 Comments »

Oh this is a fucking wonderful idea: an MTV reality show called Model Maker that asks women to lose up to eighty pounds in twelve weeks. Doing the math, that’s approximately seven pounds per week. The goal is, of course, to be “thin” and “beautiful” enough to be a model. (One of the prizes is […]

Filed under: Eating Disorders, Feminism, Health, Media, Personal, TV, Weight Loss | 15 Comments »

After a whole lot of OBESITY EPIDEMIC OMG!!1! in the news lately, finally we have some good news in the New York Times, where the headline reads “Better to Be Fat and Fit Than Skinny and Unfit.” The researchers chalk it up in part to the assumptions people make when they hear the words “overweight” […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Exercise, Fat Positive, Health, Media, Personal, Science | 18 Comments »

Us Magazine has a slideshow of the “weight winners of the year“—naturally, the stars who have lost weight this year! And look great! Woo! And they’re all women. OF COURSE. Because who cares if men gain or lose weight? Nobody! Woo! Stars include J. Love, Ricki Lake, Kim Locke, Vanessa Williams, and multiple women (including […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Feminism, Gossip, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kids, Magazines, Mariah Carey, Media, Ricki Lake | 28 Comments »

Are you watching the Beijing Olympics? I’m catching parts of it, and it’s a big watercooler topic here at work. The other day, Joy Nash (among others) posted some photos of Olympians of varying shapes and sizes. It kinda cracks your head open to realize that each of these people [is] perfect. They’re uniquely suited […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Exercise, Feminism, Media | 11 Comments »

fat princessOriginally uploaded by mo pie The furor over the game “Fat Princess” has finally hit the mainstream media, and its long past time I wrote about it here. After all, back in those halcyon days when I had spare time, I used to play video games; these days, my husband and one of my […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fatism, Feminism, Humor, Media | 23 Comments »