Ah yes, airbrushing, airbrushing, a favorite topic around here. This New Yorker article takes a fascinating look at Pascal Dangin, a retoucher so prized that famous photographers won’t work with anyone else, and who was name checked in The Devil Wears Prada. “Her face is too high and elongated, mainly by the angle of the […]

Filed under: Art, Celebrities, Magazines, Media | 10 Comments »

You’ve probably heard of pro-ana groups online. They’re pro-anorexia groups where people, mostly young girls, of course, go to share their sources of “thinspiration” and talk about their strategies for ingesting the bare minimum of calories. Well now there’s We Bite Back, a post-pro-ana group dedicated to helping and supporting people who are recovering from […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Eating Disorders, Feminism, Kids, Media | 2 Comments »

Premise 1: Jennifer Hudson is hot. I think we can all agree that Jennifer Hudson is a beautiful girl. No matter what you thought of her acting or her role in Sex and the City: The Movie, she did look awesome. And curvy. And normal. Here she is at the premiere. Smoking, right? Premise 2: […]

Filed under: American Idol, Gossip, Jennifer Hudson, Media, Music, Photoshop, Weight Loss | 17 Comments »

mariah photoshop Originally uploaded by mo pie At this point we’re used to magazines airbrushing or misrepresenting cover photos with ironically juxtaposed headlines. But that doesn’t mean we should stop pointing it out! This week’s victim is Mariah Carey, on the cover of Elle next to the headline, “Mariah! Her New Body.” Says Gawker: “Her […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Celebrities, Magazines, Mariah Carey, Media, Weight Loss | 19 Comments »

It must be childhood obesity week. On the heels of the news about the possible plateu in child obesity comes a comic from The Joy of Tech called “Fat Kids, The New Norm.” The comic depicts five kids, four of whom are fat, taunting a fifth child, who is thin. The fat kids are shown […]

Filed under: Art, Kids, Media | 27 Comments »

In the spirit of Michael Apted’s Up series, a documentary is following the lives of children born in the year 2000 until they’re 20. Obviously, here and now, they’re around seven years old, giving us a glimpse into the lives of the millennial generation. Here’s the part that struck me especially: These seven year old […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Kids, Media, Movies | 52 Comments »

I’ve been carrying around People Magazine‘s 100 Most Beautiful issue all week, having bought it because I thought it would be interesting to talk about, but it wasn’t until the weekend that I had time to crack it open and check it out. And oh my god, it was worse than I thought! I used […]

Filed under: Beth Ditto, Celebrities, Fat Positive, Fatism, Feminism, Gossip, Jessica Simpson, Magazines, Media, Nikki Blonsky, Queen Latifah, Weight Loss | 41 Comments »

Mel sent along this article, a Chicago Tribune piece about making obesity discrimination illegal. It was an interesting read, particularly because I found myself having a couple of “what the hell?” moments as I was reading it—which made me look forward all the more to discussing it with you guys. [A]s a fat woman, I […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Media, Work | 27 Comments »

even cammy diaz isn’t perfect Originally uploaded by mo pie We all know that OK Magazine lied about Britney’s weight loss, and Glamour airbrushed America Ferrera. And now there’s another problem—or is it a problem? Conde Nast has admitted to airbrushing ultra-thin models to make them look larger. [There is] a trend towards presenting less […]

Filed under: America Ferrera, Cameron Diaz, Celebrities, Feminism, Keira Knightley, Magazines, Media | 29 Comments »

A socialite who was once chubby has lost some weight. And what perspective she has on the whole issue! So inspiring! I do have a battle to fight every day I wake up, so sometimes I give off that impression. But guys, I’m at a normal, healthy weight. And If I don’t watch every piece […]

Filed under: Food, Gossip, Media, Weight Loss | 35 Comments »

And now for the bad news. I’m posting a link to this article not to bring down the room, but to get the message out there yet again: demonizing fat and fat people is a BAD IDEA that can seriously skew our ideas about self-worth. Just ask the women who participated in the studies discussed […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fatism, Feminism, Health, Kids, Media, Science, Weight Loss | 27 Comments »

Kristin e-mailed to alert us about a new ad campaign for NutriSystem, which directs to the URL nutrisystem.com/ pretty. This takes you to the main NutriSystem page, reinforcing the ad’s message that NutriSystem will make you “pretty,” i.e., thin. Kristin e-mailed NutriSystem to protest: I saw your commercial that advertised your web address as nutrisystem.com/pretty. […]

Filed under: Advertising, Cold Hard Cash, Media, Tidbit, Weight Loss | 28 Comments »

At least according to John Ridley at the Huffington Post, who says it’s “insulting” to complain about weight-based discrimination: I can’t change my race or my gender. Despite my best efforts and millions of dollars spent trying to locate the fountain of youth, I just keep getting older. Yet, same as millions of Americans I […]

Filed under: Fatism, Media, Tidbit, Weight Loss | 46 Comments »

it’s like magic Originally uploaded by mo pie What happens when magazines are too lazy to hire an airbrusher? OK Magazine did a cover story on her supposed weight loss (“15 LBS IN JUST 4 WEEKS!”) and accompanied it with a cover photo taken in 2003. Best Week Ever claims that this can be explained […]

Filed under: Britney Spears, Celebrities, Magazines, Media, Tidbit, Weight Loss | 12 Comments »

The first thing Esteban said when watching the new Alltel commercial was “The chubby guy is missing!” I almost never pay attention to commercials (unless they contain A)badgers B) childish references to flatulence or C) songs that I love), but he was right. The chubby guy was missing and in his place, a new svelte […]

Filed under: Advertising, Fat Positive, Feel Good Friday, Media, Video | 11 Comments »

big fat ad Originally uploaded by mo pie I saw this poster in San Francisco over the weekend, put up by some public health initiative, I believe. Of course I thought of you, and snapped this picture! The first dotted line says “STARTED GOING FOR WALKS DURING LUNCH HOUR.” The second line says “STOPS ORDERING […]

Filed under: Advertising, Fatism, Feminism, Health, Media, Weight Loss | 91 Comments »

I watched this rather amazing video showing Ron Lester (Varsity Blues and Popular) and his amazing weight loss from gastric bypass surgery (and subsequent plastic surgeries to remove excess skin) and was struck by the fact that not only does his girlfriend get trotted out like some kind of prize for having lost weight, but […]

Filed under: Media, Weight Loss, WLS | 43 Comments »

The “fat-osphere” (punctuating that is getting more complicated by the minute) is in a Chicago local weekly called RedEye (with Kate Harding on the cover). Here’s a link to the article: A negative body image, on which some weight-loss programs try to capitalize, can be a barrier to engaging in healthy behavior, [Sarah Catanese] said. […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Fat Positive, Magazines, Media, Meta, Tidbit | 10 Comments »

According to Elle magazine, by way of Jezebel, men actually are hot for ultra-thin women. At least in New York. You know that whole thing about how being superskinny is an ideal originated by the fashion industry and perpetuated by female competitiveness and like, totally NOT AT ALL what men are interested in etc. etc.? […]

Filed under: Feminism, Magazines, Media, Weight Loss | 80 Comments »

I want to know what this site is saying about us! (Although the Google translation is pretty awesome and gives you the basic idea.) Thickness must Remain outdoors In Mississippi thickness in restaurants should be nothing more to eat. On the Internet protesters formed a blog scene. Their tenor: Some people are thick. Point. In […]

Filed under: Media, Meta, Tidbit | 29 Comments »

Kira Cochrane, a British writer with a column in the Guardian, hates the diet industry. And although she is “at best, reluctant about diets, and, at worst, disgusted by the very notion,” she’s going on a diet. And here is her introduction to the new column, and it is is definitely worth a read. I’m […]

Filed under: International, Magazines, Media, Weight Loss | 32 Comments »

So, I listen to this Disney podcast called Magical Definition (hey, I enjoy Disneyland) and they were talking about an upcoming Pixar movie called WALL-E; perhaps you’ve seen the previews for it? It looks super cute. Jim Hill talked about the test screenings for WALL-E on the podcast, and he also mentions it on his […]

Filed under: Fatism, Humor, Media, Movies, Question | 52 Comments »

Donna writes, on the Facebook group wall: I watched Regis & Kelly yesterday. They are putting some of their staff on a diet. “Every few years we like to lighten the load around here”. They showed the people who were on the diet 3 years ago, their starting weights and end weights. Then, their starting […]

Filed under: Media, TV, Video | 31 Comments »

Thanks to Cate, we have been alerted to a performance by Wyclef Jean, captured on video. I can’t exactly make out what he’s saying at the beginning. He wants 30 of the something-est girls to come up on stage and shake their things. But then I guess he decides he only wants skinny girls. I […]

Filed under: Fatism, Feminism, Media, Video | 34 Comments »

Originally uploaded by mo pie There are tons of great responses to our appearance on the Morning Show with Mike and Juliet. And I’m glad a lot of them are challenging what I thought was the most ridiculous statement on the show, MeMe Roth’s assertion that there would be “public outrage” if we were going […]

Filed under: Fat Positive, Fatism, Feminism, Media, Meta, Personal, TV | 39 Comments »