Not “Fattie Quickies”
I do link roundups from time to time, to try and cover links people send me or things I might otherwise miss. I was thinking of making it a regular feature, especially given how much I enjoy the Morning Shots at Monkey See and Fugs and Pieces at Go Fug Yourself. But I have a big problem: I can’t think of a name for them! Fat-themed? Food-themed? Random cleverness? I think “Fattie Quickies” is an obvious loser, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten. Please help me out in the comments! If I use your name for the column, I will send you a present!
And now, on to the things that are definitely not called “fattie quickies.”
1. Oscar-nominee Gabby Sidibe has an awesome designer.
What Hall is saying is something many women, regardless of the size, already know about fashion (high and otherwise): designers aren’t designing clothes to make women look good, they’re picking women to make their designs look good.
2. And speaking of Gabby Sidibe, she was left off of the cover of Vanity Fair’s “New Hollywood” issue, along with anyone else who isn’t thin, young, and white.
In the accompanying article, Vanity Fair writer Evgenia Peretz calls out the young cover stars by their best attributes: “downy-soft cheeks,” “button nose,” “patrician looks and celebrated pedigree,” “dewy, wide-eyed loveliness,” “Ivory-soap-girl features.” Roles for black, Asian, and Latin actors are scarce in Hollywood, but surely Sidibe, Zoe Saldana of “Avatar” and “Star Trek,” and Freida Pinto of “Slumdog Millionaire” are having their moment.
3. Adipositivity is doing a (NSFW) Valentine’s Day series in February. That’s right, pictures of couples getting it on in which at least one partner is fat.
Every day through Valentine’s Day you’ll see another Adiposer couple gettin’ at least semi for ya. But remember, most of ’em are in pre-, mid-, or post-canoodle, so some photographs may be even more NSFW than usual. Hope they make you smile as much as they do me. Happy Valentine’s Day!
4. I really enjoyed Snarkysmachine’s post on Shapely Prose about black women and the beauty ideal.
I bought some of the, “Black women can be fat and still be desirable” snakeoil often peddled by white people, never seeing it as a form of subjugation. Not hearing, the rest of the sentence, “…for black women.” Not realizing my existence was still being framed as less than. And then there’s the Black Don’t Crack meme now utilized to sell botox and wrinkle creams to women of other races. Again from an unexamined perspective it feels like progress, but, of course, it’s not. It’s using the cult of youth to force women into obedience.
Also in the comments were links to If Black Women Were White Women and Extremely Flawed Social Experiment, both of which I also read with interest.
5. Thinner Whole Foods employees get higher employee discount. Um, gross. I will not be going to Whole Foods anymore, I guess!
By rewarding a BMI of 24 — a full point below what is considered the benchmark of “overweight” — Whole Foods is not-so-subtly indicating its preference that a lower BMI is better and ideal, thus contributing to an atmosphere in which employees who do not meet this standards are made to feel ostracized and targeted. These blanket standards also ignore genetic, gender, age and ethnic differences across groups, thereby directing this sense of corporate hostility, however passive, toward those employees who may already be among the most vulnerable in the workplace: minorities, women and senior citizens. Would we tolerate this kind of “incentive” if it were directed at other groups of workers?
Talk about any of these in the comments!
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Art, Celebrities, Fashion, Gabby Sidibe, Humor, Links, Magazines, Meta, Movies, NSFW, Race & Ethnicity, Sex & Romance
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What about “Rotundities”?
“Just a taste”? “Fast food (for thought)”? It’s much easier to think of food-related jibes than fat-related ones for some reason. You could always go with something less punny, like “Quick Hits from the Fatosphere” or the like. IDK. :(
Bit Fat Bites?
“A Few to Chew On”?
Or “Nibbles”?
what about “the link ROUND up” we’re all round after all:) at least in some places!
Small Talk?
“Fattie Quickies” sounds like the name of a no-strings-attached dating site for big dudes and ladies. (Sign me up for all bear-like men over 6ft. Beards a plus).
5. Isn’t that… um… discriminatory? Especially if it is a mandatory policy for all stores. I know that the idea is for the company to encourage its employees to lead healthier lifestyles, but come on. Stupid. I know! How about giving your employees who may not be paid very much incentives up front? Like, Fruit or Veggie of the Week coupons? Or work with Community Ed programs and encourage your employees to take a healthy cooking class at a reduced price? I mean, think outside the box, people!
Hm…a segment entitled “Chewing the Fat” maybe? I liked Cleric’s suggestion of Big Fat Bites also, lol. :)
How about The Skinny for the Fatties?
Leave out the second “the”, though.
Some really good ones! Keep em coming! Woo!
I think that what might bother me most about that Whole Foods one is the “one of the new diets we’re promoting” product placement type line.
I wonder in that if thin but unhealthy employees will lose their discount. Like someone with a “healthy” BMI who smokes and has high cholesterol. Or what might be even more interesting, an underweight or anorexic employee.
And I was all happy that I’d just moved closer to a Whole Foods :-(
The Miniature News Highlights of Dr. Ivo Robotnik
The Honored Roll
:D
Re #5 & Whole Foods. Very sad, especially because I know there ARE companies who do this correctly. My husband – in his I/O Psych graduate program – worked with a small health insurance company; said company offered a yearly bonus/incentive to workers who would go to the doctor and have a physical done. I don’t remember if they had to have a clean bill of health or not, or if they just had to have proof of a physical. Regardless, they recognized that “fit” may not be a standard number, be it size, weight, or otherwise. They knew it was more important that people be conscious of their body’s overall health. If only more companies could catch on.
3. What I really want to know is where the woman in Adipositivity’s photo today got those boots! They are hot, and I have a hard time finding boots that fit over my fat calves.
Fat Little Tidbits?
And I am SO bummed about Whole Foods. They’re the ONLY place locally that carries certain foods that I really don’t want to exclude from my life (certified humane eggs, the brand of white rice bread that doesn’t suck, and yes – gluten-free donuts). Since the latter two are frozen and eggs are, you know, eggs, shipping isn’t an option, and I’m fucking frustrated at the prospect of trying to find substitutions for foods that are ALREADY substitutions, thank you gluten intolerance.
Sigh. These are so very definitely first-world probelms, as my friend N always says, but I really do long to have the privilege of being able to shop for a variety of groceries that won’t make me ill without navigating minefields of discriminatory policies.
In short, I miss Trader Joe’s & Berkeley Bowl like you wouldn’t believe.
Suggestion for the title: The Noms
Re: 5: that’s also ablest, not that I’m surprised. The whole thing is ridiculous. “You’re too fat, so we’re going to make our food, that’s supposed to be better for you, even harder to get compared to a ‘good’ employee who meets a number on a scale, ignoring their unhealthy habits so that we can fat shame. Because people lose weight when they’re ashamed of their bodies and have their mental well-being assaulted daily!”
Title Suggestion:
Plump Pickins’
Please keep talking about what most people prefer to ignore.
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Food-related & fat-happy: lardons
(a strip or cube of pork fat/bacon usually used to add flavor or texture to a dish)
Wow. Those Vanity Fair spreads are disgusting. Like, I feel like they made those girls look even more uniform than they already are