Sunday, February 21, 2010

Check it out!


I don't usually do this, but another OSU Women's Studies student just posted this song:

Fat Grrrls

and it was so remarkably apropos I just had do share. Enjoy!!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

A Fat Feminist Fashionista on a Rampage!

elle

Fat is the news today

I've been wanting to write a bit of a "fat rant" (check out the excellent YouTube videos by that name here)for a while now--particularly since the State of the Union Address when Michelle Obama's campaign against childhood obesity was rolled out--because I am sick and tired of all the misconceptions running around about fat. Then, like a piece of cake on a platter (yes, that was deliberate imagery), today had 2 news stories about size and discrimination; one all bad, one so-so.

First to recap the news:

1. Kevin Smith, director of Clerks and other such defining films of my generation, was removed from a flight for being fat. There are lots of details to the story, and you can read them here, but I want to state here, this was not some 4 seater plane that you have to balance the weight on both sides so you can fly kinda plane, it was a regular ol' flight. A shout out to Mr. Smith for shouting rather than slinking away in humiliation.

2. Fashion week! I have also been wanting to write a fashion post for a while, 'cause some feminists love fashion despite its major issues. Anyway, NPR had a short blurb today on the growing number of 'plus size' models in the shows. It's an interesting read--people know that they should be saying the 'right' thing, but they manage to neatly pass off the responsibility each time. Editors say they would print pictures of larger women if the designers would make the sample sizes to fit them, etc. etc. Then comes the fall from grace--apparently showing women who are not a size 00 would be celebrating an unhealthy lifestyle--i.e. it would be making it OK to be larger. GASP! We certainly can't have that!! ACK!!!

There are so many things going on here that you will have to please pardon me if I miss a few. There was a nice response to the Kevin Smith article from a personal standpoint published today on Slate, but among all the buzz there has been little discussion of the social issues here. We'll get to those in a different post, right now I just want to say fa few things. In no particular order:

1. Fat does not necessarily equal unhealthy
2. Just because you're not saying fat-phobic things doesn't mean that you're a great person, it just means that you're not overt about it (this means you Ms. Givhan).
3. Fat does not necessarily equal unhealthy
4. Fat people are not fat because they're lazy, over-consuming, idiots who are oblivious to their situation. Believe me, they are more aware of it than you are.
5. Fat does not necessarily equal unhealthy
6. The fashion industry can kiss my bootay. According to Robin Givhan from the Washington Post, it's just as bad to glorify larger bodies in our obese nation. Guess what Ms. Givhan I wear those sizes and my BMI (which is a crap measurement we all know) puts me squarely in normal. That's right, not obese, not even overweight, but NORMAL. I say there is nothing wrong with glorifying everyone!

There's a part of her message that really bugs me (and that's not even counting the incredibly unnecessary horizontally hostile comment about Mariah Carey that does nothing to forward her point). It's when she says (in the NPR article): On one end, the fashion industry is showing us these very thin 14- and 15-year-old girls and portraying them as women...On the other hand, there's the unhealthy nature of obesity and the politically correct aspect of saying, "You should be happy with who you are," she said. Guess what, YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY WITH WHO YOU ARE!! For a variety of reasons, one of which is that if you are trying to loose unhealthy weight you will NEVER do it with self-loathing and a desire to look like a model.

So, listen up Ms. Givhan, Ms. Obama, and all the rest of you out there. If we don't work on making people happy with the bodies they have right now, they will never have healthy bodies, fat or thin. In a society rampant with eating disorders (and disordered eating), depression, and an understanding of how dangerous yo-yo dieting is perhaps we should be focusing on what's on the inside.

Stay tuned for a more academic discussion of obesity as a social justice issue--it is.

Rise Up Speak Out for CARDV


Join us on February 18 at Cloud 9 for Rise Up Speak Out-- an open mic night celebrating the voice of resistance against sexual assault and domestic violence. The time has come, and we are standing up and using our creative expression to transform the culture of complacency around violence against women. Presented by the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and ASOSU Women's Affairs Task Force. Two dollar cover charge goes directly to the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence. Bring your spirit. Raise your voice!