Yes, it’s a BFD post! I’m hoping to get back into posting more regularly, and to that end, going through a slight backlog of e-mailed questions. Thanks for your patience (and feel free to re-send anything you’d like an answer to). Today’s question comes from Melissa, who writes: I need a cute crossbody bag for […]

Filed under: Ask BFD, Fashion, Meta, Question, Tidbit | 20 Comments »

BFDiva Laurie sent me a very exciting email recently: she’s been chosen to be on TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress: Big Bliss. It is a spinoff of their Say Yes to the Dress series, and it’s about, as you may guess, shopping for a wedding dress. The Big Bliss spinoff focuses on plus-sized brides. […]

Filed under: Ask BFD, Fashion, Personal, Sex & Romance, TV, Video | 9 Comments »

Jessica has a friend who’s getting married, and she needs help with her dress! Hi there! I recently came across your blog and love it! Thank you so much for speaking up for the big girls! My best friend is getting married in October and we are having a horrible time finding any actual stores […]

Filed under: Ask BFD, Question | 37 Comments »

Part of my “homework” for the childbirth class we just started is to talk to people who have “had the birth experience” that I want. Of course, I have no idea. But I was hoping you would share your thoughts and birth stories with me! I have friends who have had home births and hypnobirths […]

Filed under: Kids, Mommyblog, Personal, Question | 41 Comments »

I’ve really been wanting to post something non-pregnancy related, and go through the links in my inbox, but it’s still a little chaotic around here! I’m freelancing part time, teaching full time, and moving into our new house. So a lot is going on, and I thank you for your patience while I get things […]

Filed under: Kids, Mommyblog, Personal, Question, Weight Loss | 33 Comments »

At the urging of various relatives and friends, I’m trying to put together a baby registry for Wigburg. You wouldn’t think that this would really be a fatty thing, but it turns out that for a few items, it is! So I figured: where better to ask about this stuff than BFD, right? First question: […]

Filed under: Kids, Mommyblog, Personal, Question, Tidbit | 34 Comments »

Over at The Rotund, Marianne recently posted a piece about the normalizing power of shoe shopping. Because they are never JUST shoes. They’re what I was, for a long time, allowed – when you’re fat and your options are limited, sometimes shoes become the thing you use to express yourself… It’s one of the only […]

Filed under: Fashion, Fat Positive, Question | 52 Comments »

Apparently I’m on a movie kick, but I couldn’t resist sharing this great article in Newsweek exploring the subtle sexism in recent kid movies. …One in four female characters was depicted in “sexy, tight, or alluring attire,” compared with one in 25 male characters. The female characters were also more likely than men to be […]

Filed under: Disney, Fatism, Feminism, Kids, Movies, Question, Weetabix | 48 Comments »

A few days ago, I read the comments of this post on The F Word, discussing the idea that “every woman is beautiful.” This comment from Meerkat has really stuck with me since I read it. Unless she is not confident, because those people are hideous even if they are supermodels! Or so I have […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Feminism, Personal, Question | 47 Comments »

This next question actually was left as a comment, but I thought it would be worth turning it into an entry. Hello all, I’m Lisa. I’m 32, 5’4″ short and weigh about 300lbs (it fluctuates). Would that I could say that I have the blessing of an hourglass shape, but no. I’m one of the […]

Filed under: Ask BFD, Fashion, Question | 28 Comments »

We have another great Ask BFD question, this time from Barnardgirl! She’s wondering about the cognitive dissonance of being an advocate and still not accepting yourself fully. Bolding mine: Dear BFD, First, thanks for adding an Ask BFD category. I love your blog and the FA blogosphere so much- I wish I’d known about it […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Ask BFD, Eating Disorders, Feminism, Magazines, Question | 6 Comments »

The Rotund writes about reclaiming the word fat. 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 […]

Filed under: BFD Classic, Fat Positive, Fatism, Feminism, Question | 28 Comments »

This email landed in our inbox this week, and it inspired me to add a new category called “Ask BFD” to file this post under. I’m going to try and go back and tag some of the terrific posts that have sprung from reader questions. In the meantime, I think this is a great question, […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Ask BFD, Exercise, Question, Weight Loss | 34 Comments »

Earlier this week, a plea for advice turned up in the comments. It directed us to this Dear Sugar column, where a man with “physical deformities and joint abnormalities” wrote in asking for advice: My problem—and my problem with most advice-outlets—is that there’s not much of a resource for people like me. In movies, ugly […]

Filed under: Question, Sex & Romance | 50 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 »

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 »

One of our most commented posts ever is the “how do strangers treat you?” post linked in the sidebar. It’s been two years, and we keep getting responses that are so thoughtful and represent such a range of experience. I wanted to post some of the recent ones. First, Becky is mocked in front of […]

Filed under: Fatism, Feminism, Meta, Question, Sex & Romance | 17 Comments »

Here’s an email that I got from BFDiva Mary! She found a very cool statue out in the wild: So, a long while back – I am hoping it was one year, but fear it may be two! – you had a bit of a series on BFD about fat women in art – Venus […]

Filed under: Art, Feel Good Friday, Guest Post, Question | 7 Comments »

A few days ago, I had never heard of Huge, but it occurred to me that we hadn’t heard from Nikki Blonsky in a while. Lo and behold, IMDB informed me that she (and Glee’s Ashley Fink) were starring in a new show on ABC Family called Huge. Here’s the description from Wikipedia: Huge is […]

Filed under: Biggest Loser, Celebrities, Glee, Magazines, Nikki Blonsky, Photoshop, Question, TV | 22 Comments »

I’ve been feeling the need to find some new blogs to squeeze into my already overfull Google reader! So I figured, it’s Friday, let’s chat about our favorite stops on the Internet these days! For Fatosphere stuff, I read the Notes from the Fatosphere feed, as well as the Alltop Fatosphere listing, and of course […]

Filed under: Fashion, Fat Positive, Feel Good Friday, Feminism, Gossip, Meta, Question | 11 Comments »

This post at Racialicious (originally posted at Red Vinyl Shoes) is about black plus-size models in mainstream fashion, but the part that really struck me was this (bolding mine): A popular (white) misconception is that fat is more acceptable in the black community. This is patently untrue. Hip-hop culture is often pointed to when one […]

Filed under: Advocacy, Celebrities, Fashion, Fatism, Gabby Sidibe, Question, Race & Ethnicity | 7 Comments »

In the tradition of Wedding Barbie, Pregnant Barbie, and Sexy Barbie, here’s Man Barbie! Where should BFDudes do their shopping? Jez writes in: So, I have been trying to help my similarly-weighty fiance to find clothes and I found it even more difficult to find interesting, fashion-forward clothing options for him than I’ve ever experienced […]

Filed under: BFDudes, Fashion, Question, Tidbit | 20 Comments »

I got an email this morning about a controversy brewing at ABC, who is refusing to air a lingerie ad for Lane Bryant that features a plus-sized model. Specifically, “a pleasantly plump model [who] gracefully shows off her curves before the camera in a slew of sexy poses.” (Because she’s sexy she gets to be […]

Filed under: Advertising, American Idol, Celebrities, Fashion, Fatism, Question, Sex & Romance, TV, Video | 50 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 »