Infernal Question —
There are two simple questions that you should never, ever ask a woman: how old are you and how much do you weight?
I learned these twin taboos as a child and have treated them with a gravity reserved for the social guidelines of appropriate funeral behavior.
But as a guy, I can frankly say I’ve never understood their importance.
Who cares how old I am? It’s just a number signifying how many years I’ve been lucky enough to exist (Sunday I’ll turn 33. Whoopideedoo!)
How cares how much I weight? It’s just a number signifying how much mass I possess. (I hover around 265. Somebody call Bob Harper!)
To me, neither number seemed to justify the sort of Fort Knox-level security with which many women guard those numbers.
Today, I understand our culture a bit better and can see where the shame and embarrassment comes from: everywhere.
Born This Weigh
Trigger warning: Discussion of Lady Gaga’s eating disorders.
Lady Gaga has come a long way since 2008, when she plastered a lightning bolt on her face and recorded a music video in someone’s house telling us to “just dance.”
In four short years, she has become one of the biggest pop singers in musical history. Although not quite authentic (there’s a lot of Elton John, David Bowie, Missing Persons’ Dale Bozzio and Madonna in her), there are some really cool qualities about her. She’s a supporter of LGBT rights, speaks out against bullying and tells everyone to accept themselves for who they are. She also has a killer voice, as shown here in a piano-only performance of Eh, Eh.
But she’s made some blunders, such as riding in a wheelchair and pretending to be physically disabled in her Paparazzi video, then rolling onto stage in a wheelchair at a Sydney, Australia concert. In response, fans threw eggs at her.
Now, a new controversy calls into question her sincerity about self-acceptance.
Unintended Consequences
Trigger Warning: Discussion of physical and emotional fallout from being starved as a child.
By now, we’ve all heard, and dissected, the story of the Vogue mom, Dara-Lynn Weiss, who put her 7-year-old daughter, Bea, on a diet because the daughter was “too fat.” Quite a few of us responded with outrage that this woman received a book contract about her ordeal of putting her daughter on a year-long diet.
When the story came out, I wanted to write this post, but I couldn’t. This is a very difficult post to write, but one I need to write, and I think some people may need to read. See, I was that daughter. Oh, I am not a 7-year-old girl whose mother writes for Vogue magazine, but I was put on a diet from the time I was 8 until I was 14.
“I got a free ice cream cone for being cute. Thanks universe.” and other comments that annoy me
This is a quote from one of my Facebook friends today. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think she’s absolutely adorable. That’s not the problem. The problem is that I see a beauty privilege that’s constantly taken as normal and never questioned. I’ve known people who get free food (like my quoted friend), free drinks, free gas, received help moving or carrying things, gotten to skip ahead in line at the store or for tickets, and more.
Unashamed Glutton —
Trigger Warning: Discussion of ridiculous historical diets.
This is Gile Coren: writer, food critic, and “unashamed glutton.”
At least that’s how he describes himself.
Giles is joined by performer, broadcaster and part-time vegetarian, Sue Perkins.
Together, Giles and Sue host one of the most unique, entertaining and fascinating shows on British television today, “Supersizers Go…”
Holley Mangold has a great snatch
Remember Holley Mangold, one of the two amazing American women going for the Olympic gold this summer in the Super Heavyweight division of women’s weight lifting? Well, this is just a quick note to let y’all know she is selling t-shirts, hoodies, onesies, mugs, water bottles, laptop skins, messenger bags, and much, much more through Cafe Press to help fund her training.
Designs range from patriotic…
… to girl power…
… to the delightfully bawdy.
In an effort to support Holley, we will be including the following link in the corner of our blog:
They have sizes running up to 3x depending on style, but most are 2x (according to the manufacturer, that is a size 22-24 in women) I especially like her logo for American Snatch
And I would totally wear the boy shorts somewhere naughty
So, if you want to support a rad fatty in her quest for Olympic gold, check out Holley’s fan gear page and buy yourself, and someone you love, a souvenir of fatty power!
One Hell of a (Fat) Character
Ages ago, I wrote a post as part of an arts series titled “Big Fat Abstraction.” This is another part of that series, except this time I cover fiction and how to develop stories and characters. You can apply this advice to fictional novels, short stories, screenplays, or any written form.
In my opinion, there is only one thing in fiction that is worse than devolving into stereotypes: overwriting a story or character.
Is Your Personality Making You Fat? (Oh FFS!?!!?)
Trigger warning: The article discussed is basically a bunch of cheesy weight loss tips based on personality type.
I was scanning Yahoo!’s news and came across this article. One of these days, I’ll learn not to follow Yahoo’s articles on health/lifestyle, but they are so much fun for tearing apart and making fun. Especially this article. Read more…
Willkommene Leser von Diet Ziet!
Begnadigen Sie meine unbeholfene Babelfish Übersetzung.
Sie können Leser mehr über unseren Kampf gegen Strong4Life in diesem einleitenden Pfosten: http://fiercefatties.com/2012/02/18/strong4life-101
Sie können den Grund, warum wir diese Kampagne glauben, sowie die Alternative auch lesen ungesund dass ist, die wir uns hier empfehlen würden: http://fiercefatties.com/2012/01/13/brave-new-world
Schließlich können Sie über die Annäherung Health at Every Size erfahren zur Gesundheit, dass wir befürworten, eher als Gewichtverlust: http://fiercefatties.com/2012/02/09/welcome-bbc-readers
Auch wir hoben über $21.000 (USD) an und haben z.Z. sechs Anschlagtafeln und 10 Bushaltestelleschutz, die Georgia bis das Ende Mai laufen lassen. Sie können über unsere erfolgreiche Kampagne in Erwiderung auf Strong4Life hier erlernen:http://www.supportallkids.com
Danke für das Besuchen wir, und ich hoffe, dass Sie Ihren Aufenthalt genießen.
Home Game —
I stumbled across a story on Jezebel about Tosh.0 encouraging his viewers to record their friends playing a game he calls “Lightly Touching Women’s Stomachs While They’re Sitting Down.”
He doesn’t talk much about the reasons why, but he does say, “Make sure she’s aware that you are in fact feeling a roll.”
I’ve seen a few episodes of Tosh.0 and his cringe-worthy humor. I have a pretty dark and morbid sense of humor, so I’ve found myself laughing in spite of my better judgement. But I’ve grown a bit bored with the whole “cruelty as humor” schtick that seems to have permeated our culture. It’s not that I’m against making jokes about particular groups or stereotypes, but it’s just so easy to be a half-wit asshole that I typically feel sorry for those who rely on cruelty humor for a laugh.