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 »

Since we were just talking about “lose weight for your wedding” pressure, this post by Silvana of Tiger Beatdown really resonated. I was pretty fine with my body. Fine with being a fat bride. Fine with the fact that I was wearing a strapless dress which showed off my, yes, arms — which are considered [...]

Filed under: Fatism, Personal, Sex & Romance, Tidbit | 5 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 »

In case you’re not familiar with eShakti, they have an amazing concept. They will customize their garments to your exact specifications. You break out the measuring tape, you tell them exactly what to do so their clothes will fit your body, and they will do it. It’s like magic, especially if you are hard to [...]

Filed under: Advertising, Fashion, Personal, Review | 15 Comments »

I had a fabulous time last weekend seeing Adam Lambert’s show at the Warfield in San Francisco. In fact, I was right up against the stage, so close that I could see the individual flecks of glitter on his skin. And other than a few songs that I don’t really care for, it was a [...]

Filed under: Adam Lambert, Celebrities, Fatism, Personal, Question, Video | 23 Comments »

It all began with a detailed post by SageAutumn on Livejournal about her showering routine, a “how-to on showering as a big girl.” Drying off water with a towel when you have baby oil on is SUPER easy, all you have to do is pat dry really. But after that, DRY OFF… lay in front [...]

Filed under: Personal, Question, TV | 53 Comments »

It’s Feel Good Friday, so how about some topless plus-size models? Follow this link! NSFW! (And thanks to Laurie for the link!) For its June 2010 issue, French Marie Claire has gone curvy with editorials featuring plus-size models in lingerie and swimsuits à la française–that’s right, only bottoms, no tops! Of course, these are all [...]

Filed under: Art, Fat Positive, Feel Good Friday, International, Magazines, NSFW, Personal, Sex & Romance, Tidbit | 11 Comments »

Bing.com is sending people here because Jennifer Aniston is reportedly on the Baby Food Diet. But she was on the Baby Food Diet all the way back in 2007! I guess this is news because now her trainer is referring to it as the “Baby Food Cleanse.” The diet involves eating 14 servings of baby [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Diet Talk, Food, Gossip, Jennifer Aniston, Meta, Personal, Tidbit, Weight Loss | 19 Comments »

Our own Jenfu is featured in this article at MSNBC, along with Pasta Queen and a tiny little piece of my hair in Jen’s “before” photo. (Here’s the original photo.) Although it shares a theme with Kate Harding’s The Fantasy of Weight Loss, be aware that the article discusses diets and WLS and has some [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Diet Talk Warning, Jenfu, Meta, Personal, WLS, Weight Loss | 7 Comments »

So I wrote an entry in February about growing older gracefully, in which I said: I’ve decided my theme for Year 35 is going to be carpe diem, and to that end, I’m going to try and cross 35 items off my lifelong to-do list. Carpe diem, man, it’s a classic. I mean come on, [...]

Filed under: Meta, Personal, Question | 14 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 »

Those of us who attended Weetacon this year were asked if we’d like to snag ourselves some Igigi outfits and then do little writeups of them. Of course, remembering how well that worked out for us last time, I was on board! I chose the Cosenza dress, with its asymmetrical neckline and its sparkly business. [...]

Filed under: Fashion, Feel Good Friday, Meta, Personal, Review | 18 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 have a lot of experience with body acceptance but, it turns out, not so much with age acceptance. I almost titled this post, in all caps, AGE ACCEPTANCE: PLEASE HELP ME. In approximately a month, I’ll be turning 35. I’ve been noticing more gray hairs, a few wrinkles on my face. 35 is a [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Personal, Question | 65 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 »

And I’m going to be spending it with the fam. Feel free to use this as an open thread if there’s anything we should all know about or if you need to vent because your family makes you feel guilty about how much you weigh. (Oh, is that just me? Nevermind.) (Now I feel bad [...]

Filed under: Meta, Personal, Tidbit | 11 Comments »

In case you’re wondering where I’ve gone this week, it’s finals week (well it’s the first of two finals weeks, but we won’t talk about that) and I am busy writing, giving, and grading finals! In the meantime I’m loving the fashion do’s and don’ts you guys have come up with; it’s given me wardrobe [...]

Filed under: Celebrities, Diet Talk, Meta, Personal, Weight Loss | 9 Comments »

I realized the other day while purchasing yet another sweater with horizontal stripes that I actually have a lot of clothes that have stripes on them. For a long time that was a big fashion no-no in my brain, because STRIPES = FAT = OMG! = AAH! But then I stopped worrying about it. My [...]

Filed under: Fashion, Personal, Question, Tidbit | 43 Comments »

There’s a girl on the campus where I teach who wears the CUH-yutest sweater. I asked her where she got it and she went on at length about how her family had finally gotten her a decent gift for her birthday this year, hallelujah! It was a cute conversation, but a cuter sweater. And I [...]

Filed under: Fashion, Humor, Personal, Question | 26 Comments »

We’ve talked about the separate-but-equal thing in fashion, but have we talked about it in the wider world, in social situations? Because here we have an article on Plus-Size Nightclubs–night clubs that are, as perhaps indicated by the term “plus-size nightclub,” set up and run specifically for plus-size patrons. “When you’re not what they consider [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Cold Hard Cash, Fat Positive, Personal, Politics, Question | 42 Comments »

Pepsi Max – Save the calories for baconOriginally uploaded by jsmjr Women drink Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi; men drink Coke Zero and Pepsi Max, aka the diet sodas without the word “diet” in the name. Since diets are for girls! Feminist blogs such as The Gender Bender Blog and I Blame the Patriarchy both [...]

Filed under: Advertising, Advocacy, Diet Talk Warning, Feminism, Media, Personal | 46 Comments »

I just finished Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol on audiobook. (Please don’t judge me. I drive a lot.) And I wanted to talk about the character of Trish–especially once I saw my own thoughts echoed on one of the Amazon reviews. Spoilers for The Lost Symbol after the jump…

Filed under: Books, Personal | 9 Comments »

Lord ByronOriginally uploaded by jadc01 My life these days is almost 100% schoolwork, as I am currently teaching five classes at two different colleges. (I spend my entire weekends grading; it’s exhausting.) This week, my literature class is going to start on the Romantics, and I was doing some reading about old friends like John [...]

Filed under: Books, Celebrities, Old Timey, Personal | 9 Comments »

I was catching up on my blog reading this weekend and found two posts I thought were especially worth passing along. First, I really enjoyed Kate’s post, “We Already Know We’re Fat“: “This so-called epidemic is not made up of theoretical fucking people who are just as fat as you can possibly imagine. It’s made [...]

Filed under: Health, Meta, Personal, Question, Science, Sex & Romance | 2 Comments »

Although I saw this news about this when Kate Harding Twittered about it, I didn’t get a chance to post the link until today! It’s a story about a study that suggests having larger or more muscular thighs is better than having thin ones. People who have agonised over their fat thighs might be able [...]

Filed under: Fat Positive, Health, Personal, Science | 7 Comments »