If you’ve never heard of Happy News, it’s a website devoted to news and lifestyle stories that are meant to be “always positive.” But an anonymous tipster wrote in and pointed out that often on the site, weight loss is equated to “happy,” and fatness is equated to “unhappy.” Curious, I did a couple of […]

Filed under: Diet Talk Warning, Fatism, Media, Weight Loss, WLS | 7 Comments »

1. Some reviews of Huge! Or as The Frisky put it, “Fat People Were On TV And, Whaddya Know, The World Didn’t End.” Entertainment Weekly L.A. Times ABC News MTV STLToday New York Times The Frisky 2. An awesome 18-year-old spent a month following Seventeen magazine dictates and blogging about it, calling it the Seventeen Magazine Project. Her intent […]

Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Fashion, Fat Positive, Gabby Sidibe, Huge, Magazines, Media, TV | 5 Comments »

1. Stella Ellis, of BettyConfidential.com, put together a story all about how to stay hot when you’re hot (via Shine). It’s a beauty and fashion round-up that’s got a ton of gorgeous dresses I covet, and some very cheering words about being comfortable in your skin and whatever you put on it. The important thing is […]

Filed under: Advertising, Advocacy, Celebrities, Fashion, Fat Positive, Humor, International, Media, Photoshop | 2 Comments »

1. We talked about April Flores, the plus-size pinup and adult film star awhile back. She’s in the news again, criticizing the ridiculous American Apparel for their sizing prejudices, and talking about her work, body confidence, and fat prejudice. As if you needed more evidence that she’s both gorgeous and awesome. I now know that […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, Beth Ditto, Celebrities, Comics, Fashion, Fat Positive, Fatism, Humor, Media | 11 Comments »

Cindy in the comments alerted us to a couple of posts on SF Gate that I thought were worthy of their own post. First, an article with the headline Fat people deny their [sic] plus size: In the same way as anorexics may have a distorted self-perception of being fat, some overweight and obese people […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fatism, International, Media, Movies, Queen Latifah, Sex & Romance | 40 Comments »

1.    I thought this was really fascinating: A professional model talks very personally about her body image issues and the modeling industry, in a guest post on the always awesome Already Pretty. I started modeling in 1998, at the age of 19, at 5’11” (180 cm) and 120 pounds (55 kg). I grew up hating […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Eating Disorders, Gossip, Kevin Smith, Kirstie Alley, Links, Media, Movies, TV | 14 Comments »

I just had to share something I noticed as I was browsing ABC.com. The picture they use to promote their “Is It Okay To Be Fat?” story is of two “faceless fatties” (better than the headless fatties, for sure); the picture they use to promote a story on “Fat Acceptance” is… of two rail-thin models. […]

Filed under: Media, Tidbit | 9 Comments »

This morning I was enjoying my morning coffee with Brad, and he told me about the Christina Hendricks controversy. (I mean, first we talked about how she is hot, then we moved on to the controversy. I mean, come on.) She was wearing a dress by Christian Siriano that got a lukewarm response from T. […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Christina Hendricks, Fatism, Mad Men, Media, Project Runway, TV | 48 Comments »

The good news: there’s been more young adult fiction lately featuring fat teenage protagonists. The bad news: the covers of the books don’t actually show any fat teens. This post at Stacked offers a nice string of examples showing body parts instead of girls, pictures of food instead of girls, and girls who are supposedly […]

Filed under: Art, Books, Fat Positive, Fatism, Feminism, Media | 12 Comments »

But man, these pictures are hot. V Magazine has released a second editorial from the forthcoming issue entitled “Curves Ahead” that is sure to spark up more debate. It features 5 plus models in everything from swimwear to lingerie to denim to a Lady Gaga-esque leotard. The editorial, shot by Solve Sundsbo, is filled with […]

Filed under: Art, Celebrities, Crystal Renn, Fat Positive, Magazines, Media, NSFW | 11 Comments »

Continuing the “we here at major women’s fashion magazines care about fat people and their happiness!” trend, Marie Claire, major women’s fashion magazine, has started a once-a-month column by Ashley Falcon, Plus-Size Stylist. Hooray! Quick, do not notice that her columns appear next to their regular “From Fat to Fit” series. Or maybe that’s just […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fashion, Fat Positive, Fatism, Magazines, Media, Question | 12 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 »

Are you feeling down, low, sad, lonely, lacking in happiness and needing a tiny little boost to get you through that last patch of Friday and boost you into the weekend? Are you feeling cynical, hateful, sure that the world is bigoted and there are no positive, body-friendly messages left on earth and that everyone […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Art, Celebrities, Fashion, Fat Positive, Feel Good Friday, Feminism, International, Magazines, Media, NSFW, Video | 37 Comments »

Oh, Kirstie Alley. You’re a ridiculously beautiful woman. You’re reasonably talented, you’re fairly charming, you’re actually pretty hilarious, even. My point is, you have many excellent qualities, all of which are ripe for the picking and/or exploitation. You could have a career, Kirstie Alley! You could be an Actress, full stop. You don’t have to […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Cold Hard Cash, Diet Talk Warning, Fatism, Gossip, Humor, Kirstie Alley, Media, TV, Weight Loss | 16 Comments »

Back in August, the big news was the Woman on Page 194 of Glamour magazine–Lizzie Miller and her beautiful belly and her regular thighs, looking gorgeous. It sparked a lot of talk all over the internet–Glamour loves you just the way you are, and Glamour is starting a revolution, and Glamour is just paying lipservice […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Celebrities, Crystal Renn, Fashion, Fat Positive, Magazines, Media | 29 Comments »

Do you remember when Karl Lagerfield was fat, and you got the feeling he sort of hated himself? He wore a lot of big, black clothes that covered him all the way up, and wandered around flapping a little fan in front of his face, in order, one assumes, to hide his double chin. It […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Diet Talk Warning, Fashion, Fatism, Gossip, Humor, International, Media, Weight Loss | 12 Comments »

Oh my GOD, Ralph Lauren! Keep your Photoshop brushes in your pants! What is wrong with you people? Earlier this month, an insane Ralph Lauren ad appeared, in which their long-time model Filippa Hamilton was photoshopped into a creepy, unrecognizable insectile creature from outer space. Hamilton was reportedly horrified by the image, and said “I […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Celebrities, Fatism, Gossip, Magazines, Media, Photoshop, Politics | 11 Comments »

Speaking of feeling confident in our bodies, have you guys heard about National Fat Talk Free Week? We’re actually two days into it, now–it started on October 19, and appears to end on October 23rd, after which, presumably, we can all go back to shit-talking our asses and blaming all our flaws and unhappinesses on […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Eating Disorders, Fat Positive, Fatism, Health, International, Magazines, Media, Politics | 5 Comments »

Kelly Osbourne has recently written an autobiography (who knew?) and has also lost weight. According to the Sydney Morning Herald: Kelly Osbourne, a one-time champion for curves, is also proud of her recent weight-loss of seven kilograms. This was achieved by a revolutionary diet where Osbourne swapped her usual fare of chips and soft drink […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Gossip, International, Kelly Osbourne, Media, Star Jones, WLS | 11 Comments »

In case you missed it, Rachel had a fabulous overview of the recent coverage of fat discrimination at Newsweek, including an article called America’s War on the Overweight: The bubbling rage against fat people in America has put researchers like Levine in a difficult position. On the one hand, she says, she wants to ensure […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Exercise, Fat Positive, Fatism, Health, Magazines, Media | 4 Comments »

Alternate title: Only Skinny People Are Allowed on TV Unless They’re Part of a Fat-Themed Reality Show. According to the New York Post: Sources say that when Brian Williams left his desk to deliver Wednesday’s nightly broadcast from the middle of the newsroom, producers brought in some ringers. “NBC newsroom staffers don’t look like Vogue […]

Filed under: Fatism, Media, TV | 9 Comments »

peta-save-the-whalesOriginally uploaded by marketingnacozinha I was catching up on my e-mail and noticed a number of people sent in the link to this PETA ad: Susan, Veronica, Lynette, Amy, and Kim, thank you! The only reason I didn’t post about it was that I didn’t feel like I had anything new to say; it’s been […]

Filed under: Advertising, Advocacy, Fatism, Kids, Media | 24 Comments »

celebrity fatwatchOriginally uploaded by mo pie I get a lot of press releases… no, a lot. Most of them are for weight-loss products, so that’s a delightful waste of time. Today I got one about a diet plan, so I deleted it, but the first paragraph was interesting. (The headline, clearly capitalizing on the fact […]

Filed under: Celebrities, Fatism, Jessica Simpson, Media, TV | 7 Comments »

From Elizabeth Kolbert in The New Yorker comes a comprehensive article attempting to determine the cause of increased obesity in America. She talks about portion sizes: In the early nineteen-sixties, a man named David Wallerstein was running a chain of movie theatres in the Midwest and wondering how to boost popcorn sales. Wallerstein had already […]

Filed under: Fatism, Health, Magazines, Media, Question, Science | 18 Comments »

In response to Roger Catlin’s article (which I can’t find online*) about fat people on TV, a reader named Chamein Canton writes a powerful response. Here’s an excerpt: [*Chamein also kindly stopped by the comments to post the text of the original article. Thanks!] I read your article about the rise in the number of […]

Filed under: Biggest Loser, Dance Your Ass Off, Drop Dead Diva, Media, More To Love, Personal, TV | 8 Comments »