That’s why I object to “overweight” as a descriptor. Over what weight? The weight other people think I should be even though they have no experience with my body composition beyond looking at me? The weight a BMI chart says I should be? The weight a fashion magazine thinks I should be? The only thing I’m over is all the effort to Other my body.

This sent me looking back at one of the earliest BFD posts, about this very topic. (Although I called “overweight” a term that is “as neutral as it gets.” Which, see above.)

Interestingly, many of the terms used to describe overweight men could be considered positive. Like “beefy” or “burly” or “brawny” or “stocky,” these words imply physical strength and substance and are only applied to women when we want to say “big and butch,” whereupon they become negative again.

Although many of my ideas have evolved, and I no longer hesitate to use the word fat, it was an interesting entry to revisit. I was curious to see how the terminology has evolved, so I typed “fat” into the search box at Urban Dictionary. And, wow, I do not suggest doing that. Especially not when the synonyms include words like “bitch,” “stupid,” “whore,” “vagina,” “woman,” “smelly,” and “girl.” The number one definition is this:

According to Hollywood, What you are if you are a female weighing over 100 lbs. Nicole Richie apparently thought she was fat, now she looks like a nine-year old boy.

Ugh. Clearly a dude who thinks he’s being progressive, but really is just body-shaming in a different direction—and of course, focusing only on women and their bodies. Of course.

For “overweight,” the terms that come up include “nail the whale,” “buffet queen,” “fat chick,” and “fattractive”—again, none of which I suggest you look up. I mean, just yesterday, Urban Dictionary was very helpful in explaining to me what the new “double rainbow” meme meant. But that is some ugly, fatphobic, misogynistic stuff.

Hey, the new “related posts” feature just found another post where I looked up fat on Urban Dictionary! Plus some interesting comments, with people objecting to the word “fat” and “fatty” as well as making some observations on race.

Okay, enough going down the rabbit hole of my own previous posts. It’s been two years, which means I think it’s time to ask again: what euphemisms do you love, and which do you hate? What’s your favorite word to describe your body? If you’re thin, do you get tired of being called “scrawny” or “skinny” and told to eat a sandwich? If you’re fat, do you call yourself that? And what do you think of the word “fat” in general?

Which tabloid-favorite actress is purposefully packing on the pudge so she can launch her own weight loss line? She’s hoping to lose the first 20 pounds quickly, and cash in by following the “miracle” in a series of infomercials.

I have to say this is a pretty clever plot, and will probably work. But WHO IS IT? The folks at Blind Item Rehash are guessing Kirstie Alley, but I really doubt it. She’s already done the Jenny Craig thing, and her weight fluctuates; this seems really unlikely to be her. But beyond that, I don’t really have a guess. Someone not vain about gaining twenty pounds (so, unlikely to be Heidi Montag) but someone who needs cash… hmm.

This also reminded me how shady all of these weight loss infomercials are. I told this story way back in the early days of this blog, but here it is again:

An acquaintance of mine was tapped to appear in an infomercial for a “miracle” exercise product. They dressed him up in oversized pants, lit him unflatteringly, and had him stand with his belly pooched out and a mildly depressed look on his face. This was the “before” picture. Then they took him into another room, spray-tanned him, dressed him up, changed the lighting, and had him suck in his stomach and grin like hell. Voila! The “after” picture!

If it seems to good to be true…

Big women on the stage. By and large, they get a bum deal. If an operatic audience can translate a statuesque and well-fed soprano into a consumptive waif with tiny, frozen hands, and go home streaming snot and tears even though Mimi’s build is more matronly than miniature, why should a theatrical audience not be asked to accommodate a curvaceous Cordelia, a jouncing Juliet, a delectably plump Helen of Troy?

It might be impossible to imagine a fat “straight” heroine in a conventional film, in which Knightley-esque proportions are the norm…But on stage I infinitely prefer a big presence and a big body to the kind of antiseptic, neat-calved, pretty-pretty who packs too many vowel sounds into her Shakespeare – “Oh, my Lo-or-ord!”

It’s an interesting perspective, but the author makes a couple of mistakes. Firstly, in invoking Marilyn’s Law (oh god, not the size 16 thing again, please) but more importantly, in implying (well, outright saying) that many if not most if not all conventionally thin, “pretty-pretty” women can’t act.

I would love to see more fat women on stage and screen, even just more normal-sized women would be a great start. But I also don’t think we need to tear down the “pretty-pretty” girls while we do it. It’s not their fault that they have thin bodies, and it shouldn’t negate their acting abilities. It would just be nice to see them joined by an equal number of larger bodies—who can also be “pretty-pretty,” as we all know.

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 the larger size of the picture, and going to visit the photo gallery for some more beautiful and inspiring photos.

The Big Ballet formed in 1994 and set out to deliberately and, above all, self-confidently challenge accepted social standards in a world where the pursuit of slenderness and beauty seems obsessive. The dancers courageously and imposingly prove that grace, elegance, charisma and nimbleness is not the demesne of the “thin”, proudly presenting their voluptuous yet surprisingly sinuous and flexible figures.

Msruth described them as:

[W]omen who had done it since they were kids, were obsessed, gave it all their time, were really talented etc etc, but had been getting increasingly marginalised by their schools as they grew into their adult bodies…so they formed their own school or something, I don’t quite remember, but hurrah! Anyway, to quit rambling, the point was they were so graceful and beautiful and such amazing dancers, that even though at first I thought it was just going to be a novelty thing, but by the end I’d forgotten they were ‘fat ballet dancers’, they’d just become dancers.

Again, that photo is so lovely. And as I said on Flickr, such a contrast to the “headless fattie” photo discussed here. Awesome.

[ETA: And it turns out Weetabix posted about the Big Ballet on this very blog over a year ago! Check it out; she's got even more info for you.]

From Brazil to the Netherlands to Argentina — across cultures, ages, ethnicities and race — women make it clear they believe there is a one-dimensional and narrow, physical definition of beauty. The findings show that the ideas of beauty and physical attractiveness are largely synonymous, and although both are highly valued by society, both are rendered almost impossible to attain.

See the comments button below? Why don’t you hit it this morning, and tell us all what is beautiful about you.

The original post and comments.

Judging from the cover, this is either a story about a fat woman dreaming about being thin and having boyfriends, or about a thin woman bored with men who just wishes she could be alone and stuff her face for a change.

It’s entertainingly horrifying, as are many of the other comics on that site. And it conveys a very important lesson: if you meet a fat woman and you think she’s be hot if only she were skinny, just buy her an exercise bike. It works every time!

The original post and comments.

Forget dieting. A new study reveals that just changing one old habit a day can help you shift pounds effortlessly. Best of all, this proven weight-loss method involves no calorie counting. Instead, you have to do something different each day. Whether it’s tuning into a different radio station or giving up a favourite drink, you’ll stop living on auto-pilot.

And they don’t mean changing one food habit, either. One suggestion is to say something you’d normally keep to yourself. One is to go to a different supermarket, and leave your list at home. Unorthodox, but interesting.

The original post and comments.

Putting your life on hold and thinking you’re “too fat” to do something is one of the most depressing side effects of being overweight. It’s unfortunate that [Kirstie is] perpetuating that idea to the world; on the other hand, I’ve been there.

It made me think of our recent discussion about bellydancing, where people thought, “well, if she can do it, I can do it!” I think it also touches a little bit on the idea of being afraid to do something because of being fat. I’ve talked about my own experiences before: riding a zip line, climbing a volcano, riding on the back of a moped. All things that required getting over the “I’m too fat” fear.

So how about you? What have you done that people might not expect a fat person to do? Have you ever been afraid to do something because of your body shape? Have you ever gotten past that fear? Is there anything you’re afraid to do right now? Anything we can help talk you into?

Just an administrative note: Since I’m getting married this weekend and am in the throes of last-minute wedding details and decisions and to-dos, this week I’ll be re-posting a few “BFD classic” entries from back in the day that you may have missed the first time around. (I’ve added some commentary to most of the posts, so it’s not entirely recycled material.)

I’ll may also post something new here and there, but no guarantees. I don’t want to have to leave a deserted and empty blog while I’m trying to focus on being a Bridezilla. So I hope you’ll enjoy a tiny little blast from the past this week, and hopefully it will stir up some of the usual great conversations here!

And to kick things off, I will promise I’m not getting liposuction for the wedding. That you know of.