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June 17, 2007

Fatspiration!

Posted by Ariel Troster at 05:01 PM ET

Whenever I hear media commentators bemoaning the scourge of childhood obesity, I always wince a little bit. Even though I understand how important it is for kids to get active (and for parents to help them eat nutritious, unprocessed food), the reality is that there are many factors that affect a person's weight and girth. In many cases, poverty and food insecurity are an issue. In other cases, it's a simple matter of genes. There are many of us who work hard to stay fit and healthy, but will never ever fit into a size 8 -- which is the biggest size in Kate Moss' new clothing line for Top Shop in the UK.

Still, I am so happy to see so many foxy and fierce women bucking the body-hating trend. Beth Ditto, the uber-cool lead singer of the indie band The Gossip recently posed in all her naked, curvy glory for NME Magazine. Feminist icon Germaine Greer praised Ditto for her courage, saying, "Her intention is to force acceptance of her body type, 5ft tall and 15 stone, and by this strategy to challenge the conventional imagery of women."

Lilly Allen, the British pop star who achieved fame after posting her songs and writing on MySpace, has spoken out repeatedly about her desire to maintain her sanity in the face of celebrity body-obsession. She sings, "I want to eat spaghetti bolognese and not worry about it for days and days."

But like many of us, Lilly had a "bad body day" a few weeks ago, and posted an entry on her MySpace page claiming that industry pressure had led her to emotional collapse, and that she'd spent a day researching gastric bypass surgery. Her fans responded in droves with words of encouragement.

When I'm having a "fat day," I take my inspiration from the amazing Leslie Hall, fearless gold pants-wearing hip hop artist and keeper of the biggest Gem Sweater collection ever.

Or I watch this:

-- Cross posted to Dykes Against Harper

More entries on: Feminism

Previous: Friday links: Buying land to save it?, Development 'porn'?, Help McSweeney's and a classic redone
Next: The right to choose where to direct our political energies

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Reader comments:

wow that video was amazing! great post ariel!

Posted by: krisztina at June 17, 2007 11:19 PM

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Thanks! I find fat activism really exciting ... I know that the key to me getting healthy was first accepting all all sorts of bodies and beautiful and sexy ... when the desire for weight loss is motivated by self-hatred, it just doesn't work. I would like to see campaigns against obesity focus on how you can be healthy and desirable no matter what size you are ... I bet that'll convince more people to hit the gym than a culture of fatphobes. Nothing makes me want to stick my head inside a chocolate cake more than the sight of skinny model after skinny model. I love to see Beth Ditto looking so foxy. And sexual! Imagine!

Posted by: Ariel at June 18, 2007 11:02 AM

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I am so glad you posted this Ariel. I was really happy to see Beth (or any woman for that matter) on the cover of the latest NME when I walked into my local magazine store a few days ago. She rawks! I've seen The Gossip play a couple of times and always thought what a great role model she is. This just reinforces that.

Posted by: lisa at June 18, 2007 06:21 PM

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Thanks Lisa! She makes me all swoony. She's a rocking musician, a hot babe and a superstar activist ... she once posed naked with her trans boyfriend for On Our Backs magazine. So queer and sex-positive to boot! It just goes to show that explicit imagery can be super-empowering, especially when it depicts a range of bodies ...

Posted by: ariel at June 18, 2007 08:15 PM

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Great post. I took on this issue from the gay male perspective a little while ago: http://2fruition.livejournal.com/51596.html

Posted by: shawnsyms at June 19, 2007 09:20 AM

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Awesomest thing I have seen in a long time. I absolutely loved it.

Posted by: kassidy44 at June 23, 2007 02:33 AM

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