tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-910217825926292222024-03-13T03:15:26.448-04:00A Relief From ComedyFat. Got the Girl. Not a Sidekick. And kind of pissed off.Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-42409497345571822782011-03-21T23:38:00.000-04:002011-03-21T23:38:50.731-04:00Acronyms Mean Things<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>Edit to Add: With apologies to Shannon. Posted </i>then<i> looked at my feed and "Hey look at that!" GMTA?</i><br />
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There is a post-thread currently running on <a href="http://craftastrophies.tumblr.com/post/3098995220/its-like-i-dont-know-that-tumblr-is-short-format-or">Tumblr that's had a turn or two</a>. . . Maybe three or four, on the regular blog circuit. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Every now and again the 'inclusion issue' comes up within the online F/A community. Like the Good Fatty / Bad Fatty kerfuffle and the Diet Talk brawls that tend to flare up. This time it was an inbetweenie, someone who has experienced, remembered, or feels that they've experienced weight based bias or fat shaming, someone who now feels segregated <i>within</i> fat acceptance for not being fat <i>enough</i>. The issue has come up before and, if I'm not mistaken, the last time originated with a person or group who felt marginalized within F/A for being TOO fat. It can foster <a href="http://red3.blogspot.com/2011/03/satisfactioning-ourselves.html">in depth examination of the messages we might be trying to send</a>. Generate <a href="http://www.therotund.com/?p=1113">frustrated missives calling for and end to the divisions and button-holling</a> typically caused by such discussion, and a general irritation at the seeming need for Fat Acceptance advocates to explain, re-explain, review, clarify, and re-clarify forever and ever, Ramen. <a href="http://silentbeep.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/my-current-helplessness-with-how-fa-is-communicated/">All this is enough make folks wonder what message, if any, is actually getting through.</a></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Perhaps there's a simpler explanation for why this happens so frequently. Maybe the simplest explanation is; 'It's not about <i>you</i>.' Really? It's about <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>us</b></span> as fat people. This would include <i>you,</i> if <i>you</i> want it to. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dealing with body issues is a deeply personal thing. It shapes how people feel about themselves and can effect one's sense of self-worth (As if we didn't know this already) to the extent that a lot of us are constantly searching for ways to improve, modify, or completely change our bodies (This we know as well. There's a point here. It's coming). When something new comes along (like, say, <i>accepting </i> your body as is) many people will dive in head-first looking for The Apocryphal Revelation that will Change Everything. . . For Me. Unfortunately, after getting around some skepticism over the initial message, I think many find. . . Not something that is focused like a laser on<i> their specific</i> situation, but something spread out across a broad spectrum of situations. Hence the feeling of betrayal, "This Movement <i>said </i>it was about Fat People but it's not about what I want to do / feel / think or how I am / want to be. BUT I'M FAT TOO!!". Ummm, yes. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">And, no. Social Justice Movements generally aren't about individual people. In fact, they tend not to focus on rigidly defined types of people with exclusive attributes. Or, at least they TRY not to. This, then, would be the point; If you're looking to join a movement that's concerned with changing things for a loosely defined group of people solely to see what YOU can get out of it, you might not be going in with good motivations. There is also the distinct possibility that you're not going to come out with anything resembling what you were looking for. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">"But what about the 'Lifestyle' part? I thought Body Acceptance was supposed to be about being inclusive of <i>everyone.</i>" Yes, Fat Acceptance <i>should</i> be all inclusive, and I would argue that it's made valiant efforts in trying to do just that. But we also have a long history of ACTIVE appropriation from Diet Culture (The primary reason for the 'No Diet Talk' philosophy many adhere to). Where Blogs, Forums and Community Spaces have been overrun by people seeking to give or receive diet advise. With a little open minded reflection one might understand a little nervousness about growing trends that seem to be headed in the direction of <a href="http://therotund.tumblr.com/post/3961569509/dear-fuckyeahchubbyfashion">erasing or undermining the experiences of those who don't just <i>feel</i> fat but are, in fact, <i>actually</i> fat</a>. Still, Inclusion might not be IMpossible. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As the questions of who's not fat enough and who's too fat circle around for yet another pass, I find myself fighting my own 'divided = conquered' issues. Not quite comfortable with the idea that <i>BODY</i> Acceptance and <i>FAT</i> Acceptance might not always be the same thing. It has been a discussion we've had before and, personally, I've always had a problem with the implications of internal segregation. This movement however, like most organisms, is evolving and the possible interpretations of what Body / Size / Fat Acceptance <i>means </i>must evolve with it. So, perhaps now, these are distinctions we should start working to define. <a href="http://fiercefatties.com/2011/03/21/cross-post-can-you-be-culturally-fat/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">And this might well be a good place to start.</a></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"> </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Billy Corgan / Mina Loy (M.O.H.)</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-67072767546479716452010-11-12T14:22:00.001-05:002010-11-12T14:22:58.526-05:00Of Course, Maura Wasn't the First<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There's been a lot of discussion regarding fat people In TV shows of late. Specifically Marie Claire, Maura Kelly, fat people in <i>public </i>displays of affection, and how those PDA's offend her esthetic sensibilities. Or, more accurately how many people find Mrs. Kelly's publicly stated disgust, with the PDA's of said fat people, offensive. While it is throughly gratifying to see people outside the realms of Fat Acceptance acknowledging <a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2010/10/in-todays-fat-hate-pages.html">that fat people are, indeed, worthy of Human affection</a>, the messages have still been rather mixed. Apparently some have come to the conclusion that while overweight people deserve love, 'Obese' people are 'Unhealthy' and, well. . . . Something Has to Be Done About <i>Them</i>. Oddly enough, though they acknowledge that fat people might be human, there is still this attitude that we are a problem that needs to be <span style="text-decoration: underline;">solved.</span> The point of view that fat people as <i>things</i> which need to be dealt with rather than people who are distinctly <i>different</i> persists. Especially amongst those who continue to view fatness as a disease (that we <i>allow </i>ourselves to be infected with like an STD and <i>refuse</i> to get treatment for) or an addiction (That we are to <i>weak</i> to resist or to <i>stupid</i> to realize is doing us harm). Now, WHAT should be done? Despite the abundance of 'experts' with every kind of theory imaginable, NONE of them really knows. I mean, if one has the sanity points to slog through the comments on most of these responses, it doesn't even seem like they can accurately <b>define</b> where the 'problem' <i>starts</i>. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Who IS or ISN'T obese is often so nebulously vague and varies so widely from one POV to the next as to make most distinctions ludicrous. I've seen obesity defined by body <i>shape</i>, as BMI's of 28, 35, and over 40, without regard to muscle density or even height. I've seen it defined as body weights from 200 pounds to 600. People who appear to fall, well, over the <i>official</i> threshold for obesity (30 BMI= X >209Lbs @ 5ft-9in) according to the almighty Body Mass Index, have been deemed 'Not that fat' (Note: MORBID Obesity = BMI > 40 or 278Lbs @ 5ft-9in). It's like people. . . . Well, REALLY don't know what, the fuck, their talking about. And I'm not being even remotely sarcastic. It almost seems as if people have so many <a href="http://kateharding.net/bmi-illustrated/">varying pictures</a> and definitions in their heads, of what obesity <i>really</i> looks like / <i>really</i> is, that no one can even describe it accurately. Or perhaps, simplest explanations often being the correct ones, the <i>official means</i> by which we define obesity and maybe even peoples own perceptions of what it is or isn't, are totally FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Repair). As for Maura's little faux pas? Well, as I am perhaps overly fond of saying, 'Folks, this ain't new.' </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In early May of 2008 there was an incident that could easily be descried as <i>worse</i> than Maura Kelly's apparent capacity for conveying insult. Oddly enough the incident was perpetrated by another young lady who later tried to blame her actions on a history of eating disorder and also produced a completely disingenuous, faux-appology when the heat of mass disapproval came down on her head. <a href="http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/28/a-report-on-an-anti-fat-anti-trans-wiscon-report/">The Rachel Moss / WisCon Incident</a> grew out of one woman's act of depraved indifference for the dignity of her fellow human beings (<a href="http://www.malcolmgin.com/blog/2008/05/31/meta-post-about-the-wiscon-troller/">Unfortunately many links concerning the original post and the OP itself are long dead</a>. Primarily, I believe, because the OP was so classless and distasteful. But also, I believe a lot of it faded away because the backlash <i>against </i>Mrs. Moss went way too far into Mob [and I don't mean Mafia] Justice territory). </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mrs. Moss decided to post several pictures she'd taken at a Feminist/SciFi convention that was/is inclusive of transgender folk, POC, and fat people, with passions for writing, science fiction, social justice, and politics. The problem? Mrs. Moss posted those pics to the fortresses of troll masturbatory solitude, Something Awful and 4Chan. Along with droll, snark filled, commentary that tore down individual participants at the con for their gender status, race, and appearance. Then, in an apparent afterthought, she decided to photoshop in hand-drawn happy faces over those people (generally fat people) she deemed objectionable. Most probably in a half-assed nod toward preserving anonymity. I'll grant that this might be more consideration than current, cell phone, photo snipers are wont to display for their victims/targets of scorn. The, oh-so-classy, fucknecks at People of Walmart come immediately to mind, but there is a distinction here. One that might be irrelevant to the level of violation, arrogance and pure spitefulness that ANY act of photo sniping requires, but a distinction that should not be overlooked. That is; at WisCon as at any other convention of like-minded people, there is supposed to be a certain amount of solidarity. People who attend most conventions are there because they have an interest or enjoyment of the subject the convention is centered around. Thus, one would expect to be safe form ridicule by, at least, ones fellow attendees. People who are subjected to overt scrutiny in their daily lives often go to conventions for this very thing and come to view such settings as safe spaces where they can, not only meet like minded people, but get away from all the negative scrutiny. I mean, attendees at a Clown convention, people who sometimes make a living with humor at their own expense, would not expect their fellow conventioneers to walk around taking pictures and making comments like, 'Look at all the, big shoed, losers in here!'. Yet this is pretty much, exactly <a href="http://theangryblackwoman.wordpress.com/2008/05/28/what-rachel-moss-did/">what Mrs. Moss did</a>. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One of the major differences between these two incidences? Rachel Moss got less media coverage. The WisCon Incident was virtually unknown and definitely unreported outside the spaces of Fat Acceptance, Transgender, and the of SciFi Convention community and Mrs. Moss's actions, arguably much worse than Mrs. Kelly's words, <a href="http://kateharding.net/2008/05/28/two-quotes-on-the-wiscon-drama/">breed some pretty ugly reactions</a>. She was subject to cyber-stalking, work place harassment, her home address was posted to the web, she was definitely threatened with violence, and she may even have received death threats. In Moss's case, some of that ugliness may have been initiated or encouraged by devotees of the two, so called, twisted humor websites she originally posted her pictures and hate-filled observations to. Both sites, in their perpetual anonymous mob solidarity, ended up turning on her and venting their bile not only on the convention / conventioneers she'd managed to draw their attention to, but on her as well. <a href="http://www.mamamia.com.au/weblog/2010/04/a-weekly-family-weigh-in-would-you-should-you.html">But then, what about what Mia Freedman had to say</a>?</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Arguably, the question Mrs. Freedman posses in the title of her initial post on family weigh-in's could be seen as an innocent one. In the world outside of F/A, obsession with weight fluctuation, no matter how minute in some cases, is still seen as a good thing. However, when a few people from the growing F/A community in Oz (G'Day Austrailia!) postulated some <a href="http://mymilkspilt.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/fat-fall-out-and-a-big-bowl-o-crazy/">reasonable alternatives</a> in comments? <a href="http://www.mamamia.com.au/weblog/2010/05/meet-the-people-who-want-to-be-as-fat-as-possible.html">Well, things went</a>, generally, <a href="http://mymilkspilt.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/fat-fall-out-and-a-big-bowl-o-crazy/">south from there</a>. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The problem here? Apparently Mrs. Freedman who, perhaps coincidentally perhaps not, has freelanced for Marie Clair, also holds a chair on the <a href="http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Ellis/Media/Releases/Pages/Article_090304_121922.aspx">National Advisory Group on Body Image</a> to the Australian Ministry for Youth and she <i>clearly,</i> doesn't <b>get it.</b> Now, I don't mean that she doesn't get that the worlds current 'Obesity Epidemic' (Scare quotes are and always will be appropriate with this moral panic, far as I'm concerned) is a complete crock of shite. The bullhorns and barking dobermans are still a bit too loud on that one to expect anything other than irrational fear. No, apparently what Mrs. Freedman doesn't get is the possibility that all this panic, this myopic focus on weight as a proxy for health, is doing more harm than good to both fat and <i>nonfat</i> kids everywhere. Well, that and the possibility that Mrs. Freedman might not be the best candidate for ANY health advisory panel. She does, after all, have some rather <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/tweet-this-mia-the-misfortune-of-others-isnt-entertainment/story-e6frg6zo-1225771869491">unusual views on what is, or isn't funny, where disability is concerned</a>. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">That all of these incidents share common elements, outrageously offensive acts/statements followed by patronizing fauxpology before they, inevitably, fade into the mists of non-memory, hasn't been lost on me. I've seriously considered the possibility that Maura may have modeled her attention getting OP on one or both of the previous two. It's not entirely impossible that Marie Clair's editors had prior knowledge of them and decided to cash in on the media furor. Especially since Mia Freedmen has / had a working relationship with that publisher. I mean, Mia survived and look at all the publicity she got out of it. My Conspiracy Brain senses a disturbance in the Force. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">With the world, now concerned about the very real effects of bullying and it's probable roots in self-shame, the past act's of those who engage in shaming others as a coping / deflection / survival tactic, should not be glossed or passed over. And they should <span style="text-decoration: underline;">never</span> be used as a means to garner attention or drum up publicity. In my experience the best way to prevent that sort of thing is to <i>remember</i> when, where, how it all happened before<i>. </i>As a wise, old, magician from one of my favorite movies, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082348/"><i>Excalibur</i></a><i>, </i>quotes; "Fore it is the doom of men, that they <i>forget." </i> </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble / Little Wing (instrumental)</span> </div><div><br />
</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-43918655574832003542010-10-26T15:09:00.000-04:002010-10-26T15:09:47.475-04:00In Todays Fat Hate Pages. . .<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We have an <a href="http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/dating-blog/overweight-couples-on-television">article from Marie Claire</a>. In which the author has some rather pointed dislikes of, even the <i>idea, </i>that fat people might do, yah know, things that 'normal' human beings do. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><em></em></div><em><blockquote>So anyway, yes, I think I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other ... because I'd be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything. To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room — just like I'd find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine addict slumping in a chair.<br />
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Now, don't go getting the wrong impression: I have a few friends who could be called plump. I'm not some size-ist jerk. </div></blockquote></em><br />
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yes. You just read a classic 'I'm not ___ist! I've got friends who are ____' dodge attempt. Classic because when it's used in attempts to excuse other types of bigotry it usually gets, immediately, called for what it is and stopped cold. But when your talking about fat people? Well, THAT'S not bigotry. That's <i>motivational</i>. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">So the gist of this article is that the author is disgusted by the sight of fat people. Walking across rooms, displaying affection (<a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2010/10/media-errors-salt-peppa-and-little.html">. . . maybe, having. . . Sex!! OMG!!!</a>), aping human behavior, and subjecting innocent 'Normals' to actually witnessing them living their obese lives (As the Fat Quasi-Dead, of course). This vitriolic rant brought on by the audacity those objectionably obese people have shown in actually appearing on TV. In a show about fat people. Worse; <i>WITH</i> fat people. Doing things fat people aught not do. Sure the show is comedy and, properly, laughs AT them in almost every scene (what else are you going to do with fat people in comedy?), but then it tries to show them doing <i>other </i>things. Human things. Why, it's Pro-obesity / Healthcare depleating / anti-health and, according to the authors Oppression Olympics ethics, exacerbates <i>her</i> eating disorder. It must be stricken from existence (and, more importantly, sight) immediately. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This isn't hate. This is concern for our health. Or anger at the healthcare waste we represent. Or, maybe, something about addiction or disease or HFCS despite the fact that, for most fat people, none of that has anything to do with being fat. But it sounds more compassionate than 'EWWW FATTIES!!1!1!!!1' so just go-with-it (See; Bigotry Dodge- above) </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Four words; 'Fuck that' and 'Fuck you'</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The author is getting and will continue to get white-hot responses to her asshatery. Good. Gone are the days when you could disparage and belittle people simply because of their size or because their bodies don't meet your, arbitrary, standards. Fat Hate exists and you are part of the problem. We, the fat, have known this all along but now we are all about pushing it back into peoples faces. Making SURE they CAN'T deny it's existence, others can't laugh it off as insignificant, or still others can't excuse it because their 'concerned'/it's 'traditional'. Welcome to the badgers den, Dear. Hope you brought plenty of bandages. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">OH!!! On a side note; there has been an excellent suggestion by <a href="http://definatalie.tumblr.com/post/1404972594/re-that-shitty-blog-post-on-marie-claire">Definatalie</a>, that fat folks engaged in the very human activity of loving one another, send the author examples of their capacity for affection (SFW only of course) along with letters detailing how little we appreciate her public attempt at humiliation. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">To that I would only add 2 things; </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">1) CC your letters to ABC Family as an example of why a show like 'Huge' is necessary.</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">2) Drop that <a href="http://love.twowholecakes.org/index.php?album=fat-love">The Museum of Fat Love</a> link right in.</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Curtis Mayfield / Pusherman</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-39303188397556752532010-10-22T14:35:00.001-04:002010-10-23T22:35:47.469-04:00Media Errors / Salt, Peppa, and a Little Suger in Your Bowl.<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Looks like this is starting to turn into one of those once-in-a-while, type, things. Well, que sera, sera. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>SOOOOO </i>much has gone on in the Interwebz of Fat since I last found my way here. It looked, for a minute, like Big Media might actually <a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2010/08/yes-im-fat-but-am-i-huge.html">have something relevant to say</a> in re; fat people having Emotions, Feelings, Problems, and ya know, Lives. Basically all that good shit most folks just assume fat people <i>don't </i> have because all we ever see on TV is <a href="http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/SecretLife-AmericanTeenager13.jpg">this</a> and <a href="http://www.mmm-mag.com/2010/05/21/sloat.jpghttp://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/Secret-Life-American-Teenager-10.jpg">this</a>. But not <a href="http://www.j-14.com/2010/06/Huge.jpg">this</a>,. . . </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center;"> This</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcETVxnaRTsQSpeoocOsOL-Cbhyphenhyphen352q2u77m4aiuJWEOJwhPcmS80M-8NBabCOapXVVSZsbiC2r1xskvC13FESDL94OdiF08tpMwmJvDijc7bXWevLLWCQe4Nc_NcnQ_lkEi2K-G_oco9/s1600/Dante-Carter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcETVxnaRTsQSpeoocOsOL-Cbhyphenhyphen352q2u77m4aiuJWEOJwhPcmS80M-8NBabCOapXVVSZsbiC2r1xskvC13FESDL94OdiF08tpMwmJvDijc7bXWevLLWCQe4Nc_NcnQ_lkEi2K-G_oco9/s320/Dante-Carter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center;">Or, oh Grod never, this. . .</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlO3l-HqCzMEN-NCFyg6Xb7aafEJfuz8r8yu2vTCjqryYrtL8Nbd-5ernYfWB72-EA5qFrCpbWgxS0L4UyY5L8we_oz4JO6GAhFtBX6k6kKrsEwGro6WNZWlotOG6ci211ynNZwCfE0QVb/s1600/Dante-Carter3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlO3l-HqCzMEN-NCFyg6Xb7aafEJfuz8r8yu2vTCjqryYrtL8Nbd-5ernYfWB72-EA5qFrCpbWgxS0L4UyY5L8we_oz4JO6GAhFtBX6k6kKrsEwGro6WNZWlotOG6ci211ynNZwCfE0QVb/s320/Dante-Carter3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">[On a, tenuously-related, note; Screen caps here because these images seem to have been scrubbed from the interntz. If they ever existed anywhere but the episode in the first place. See; <a href="http://sugaredvenom.tumblr.com/post/1352483993/dear-fatphobia-thin-privilege-deniers">The Google Proof</a> for further examples of the marginalization of fat people]. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Unfortunately, it seems we are unlikely to see where this TV show could have taken us as that it's been <a href="http://www.fatshionista.com/cms/index.php?option=com_mojo&Itemid=69&p=563">canceled</a>. Despite having out-rated other new shows on the ABC Family line-up and the positive buzz it generated.</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I encourage anyone who might be reading this and able to appreciate what the show was really about, to let the networks know. <a href="http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/savehuge">Sign the petition </a>or hit <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=113504972043208&v=info">Facebook</a>. Now, onwards to the subject at hand, but first a message re; our inspiration- </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I've mentioned before but not nearly enough how, fucking, amazing <a href="http://www.therotund.com/">The Rotund</a> is. When it comes to what living fat in a fatophobic world really means, MK is a total pyromanic. Lighting fires with her remarkable <a href="http://www.therotund.com/?p=995">eloquence</a>, and incredible <a href="http://www.therotund.com/?p=961">intelligence</a>. I really wanna be her when i grow up. Case in point; <a href="http://www.therotund.com/?p=1011">Fatties Have Sex</a>.</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">*********</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As MK, notes, this ain't an easy subject to broach for a number of reasons, not all of which are particular to being fat. After all, as puritanical in it's mores as this country still is, and despite our varied perversions, we'll probably never be fully comfortable talking about sex or sexuality in any way, form, or fashion. Hide it from the from sight, shield the children from any concept of it's existence, block all thought involving the probability that <span style="text-decoration: underline;">everyone</span> you know, is having, will have, or HAS had sex with someone else. That they have, occasionally, pleasured themselves at some point as well (Yes, even Tea Party members do it. Well, except for, maybe Chistine O'Donnell who seems to get off on stroking her own ego instead). However, the disgust society reserves for fat people in general does not play an insignificant role in making it that much harder for us to talk about anything, vaguely, sexual. Brian at <a href="http://red3.blogspot.com/2010/10/lets-reference-salt-n-pepa-bay-bee.html">Red No.3</a> relates how complete exclusion of fat people as sexual beings from societies awareness has even effected our language. To the extent that we may not even have the ability to express or discuss it properly. He touches on how people, particularly men in my experience, who are drawn to or have a preference for fat partners are often described as 'fetishests'. A term which, like 'obesity', adds an almost clinical spin to any conversation and is most often associated with deviance. 'Cause, as everyone knows, anyone interested in a fat sex partner, <i>must</i> be just, fucking, strange -full stop. MK actually dropped one of my favorite posts on this subject over a <a href="http://www.therotund.com/?p=590">year ago</a> and I find it still very powerful today. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">All of this as a means to point out how difficult it can be for fat folk in general, to actually get over the hump of actually talking about humpin-. . . (No, not going there). Well, that, and as a personal stalling tactic too. See because, difficult as it is for fat women to venture into this sometimes, completely unexplored conversational territory, for men it can be much like getting a bad molar pulled. Hard for the puller and <i>really</i> uncomfortable for the pullee. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Sex is GOOD. FSMDamn, is it good when we can get some of it. And I suppose that this might be seen as one of the problems that crop up when you consider the complexities of gendered relationships in humans. For men it's often a preoccupation bordering on obsession (can you say; The Porn Industrial Complex? It's been around since the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_of_willendorf">dawn of history</a> [Oh look! She's fat!] so I figured you could) and we sometimes tend to view it as a <i>thing</i> we can possess with the 'winner' being the One Who Gets the Most. A goal to be achieved (GOT it!. . . Next!) or as a tool / strategy / weapon to be used against The Other (Thus completes my vague, half theory half opinion, on one of the possible drives behind rape). Take it up a several levels, add the extremely powerful variable of fat to <i>any</i> part of the equation, and things get kinda nutz. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Generally speaking, being fat and seeking / having sex / a sexual relationship for men can be, very much, like the difficult experiences I've seen described by many fat women. Now, I realize that to relate them as <i>equally</i> difficult is to ignore the power of a male dominated society which is, at best, privileged or ignorant and at worst willfully ignorant (read; stupid) or malicious. But we do suffer many of the same hang-ups (She/he CAN'T be into me. I'm FAT.), performance anxieties (What if I <i>can't</i> go-all-night / pretzle myself into THAT position or start sweating / drooling / whatever?), and body issues (No jiggling. S/he'll get grossed out. My beer gut will get in the way. They MUST be gay / experimenting / desperate 'cause my butt/thighs/tits are bigger than theirs. Lights out! Couldn't handle any laughter when/IF I take off my boxers / briefs). As with women, these things often matter less than we think they do. Men are just, culturally, trained to think / care about them less. That is, until The Moment of Truth. Usually right after mutual interest has been confirmed for the first time or we suddenly find ourselves alone in a room with an, obviously aroused, partner. Then it's Panic Time. Believe me, the Romance Novel version of a guy who can sweep a sex partner he's only just met, off their feet, into a bed, and straight to the peak of Mt, Ecstasy like it was opening a can of soda, is just that; Fiction. Those that have the <i>appearance</i> of being able to do it that easily are either very good at concealing their emotions or are so self-obsorbed that none of this even occurs to them. If your into that, knock yourself out. Here's to hoping you don't wake up to something unpleasant/ expensive / you could do without. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"> </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">For most human beings* sex is a necessity and, since fat people are human beings, we have sex to (Radical, no?). Fat women and fat men have sex with thin people, inbetweenies, and with each other. You might not like this but Reality really doesn't require your approval. So, wether you'd rather not think about it or are so fatophobic as to believe that it <i>shouldn't</i> be, there is really only one thing you can do here; Deal with it. However, as fat people living our lives, our options are much more varied. You get to deal with that too. Unfortunately, so much of sexual tastes re; men is bound up with bonding amongst each other. To me, this seems so counter-intuitive. I mean, get ten guys into a group, and no two will concur on the single 'hottest' media packaged 'Babe'. All that says to me is that diversity in preference not only exists, it's ubiquitous. 'Mousey, blue-eyed, brunettes, with perky breasts, skaters calves, porcelain skin, and pierced, but no Tatts.' are not attributes ALL men are going to find appealing. The amount of variation within this LIMITED set of, purely physical, attributes is enough to insure that no two men will find any two models similarly appealing. Yet, the whole equation changes when you add 'Fat' to the mix. Why? Because certain individuals don't <i>like</i> it. When has that EVER mattered? And why do we, as men or as people really (there <i>are</i> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">women</span> who think fat admirers, male / female, weird), LET it influence us to such an extent? These are some of the questions I'd like to have answers to in re; sex & attraction. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">REF DESK (Or; People who are MUCH better at talking about all of this then I am) </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Big-Love-Sourcebook-People-Those/dp/1890159166/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287765678&sr=1-1-fkmr1">Big Big Love</a> by Hanne Blanke</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Not exactly the Karma Sutra for fat folk (Primarily because it's not illustrated. Damnit!) but one of the THE BEST books I've ever read on the subject. The author deals with positions, hang-ups, and many of the concerns / questions surrounding sex and love for larger bodies in a frank and sincere manner. A must-read for Fat Lovers and Lovers of fat everywhere. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://blog.nudemuse.org/">NudeMuse. . .daily nattering</a></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I've been reading Shannon's stuff for years and she does not mince words. The occasional Troll or three perhaps but minced words? Never. From what I've read there aren't that many things occupying the higher orbits of sexual enquiry, that she wouldn't, at least, be willing to discuss (I've never run across any <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scatology">scat</a> chat but, of course, the illegal or physically / mentally damaging needn't bother entering the room much less trying to sit at the table). She gets that fat people have sex (duh) and runs something of an question / advice column through the site. As, I think she would say, 'Ask your sexytimes questions, Lovelies. Answers may inform / titillate'. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">*(there are also people who can live without sex entirely but, since I'm not one of them, I'm can't speak to that. At least, not beyond acknowledging the reality of asexual or nonsexual people completing the diverse spectrum of human sexuality)</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dire Straights / Tunnel of Love</div><div><br />
</div></span></span></div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-6805354621508827972010-08-11T17:36:00.000-04:002010-08-11T17:36:15.526-04:00Yes I'm Fat, But Am I Huge?<div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I've pretty much reserved judgement on the TV show 'Huge' up until now. Mainly because Life (with the Big 'L') seen fit to make sure I've got less and less time to actually sit down and write <i>anything</i> these days and, well, I guess you could say I've been a little gun shy about it. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">See, I'm one cynical son-of-a-bitch. Show me a cloud with a sliver lining and I'll start asking how it could carry something so much heavier than water vapor. Gift Horse? Open wide so I can get a good look at those molars. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">So, when I become aware of something as potentially <b>awesome</b> as a show that seems to portray fat folk with much the same kinds of feelings, passions, thoughts, and failings as other human beings (Cause, ya know, that's what we <i>are)</i>. A <i>smart TV show</i> that seems to <i>get it</i>. I tend to start looking for the construction crane that's about to drop a whole shoe store on my head. I just didn't want to start hollering about falling sky because, well, it is quite a nice sky and we all know what happened to the last guy that did. Still, <a href="http://www.bigfatblog.com/here-it-huge-stab-back">is that what appears to be happening with 'Huge'</a>? At this point, it takes an actual, conscience, effort for me to believe that it MIGHT <i>not</i> be. Considering how, frustratingly, often this has happend in the past we, as fat people, would have to be idiots not to think, 'Here it comes again'. And despite what some True Believers in the 'Healthist' Camp might think (with their dogmatic creed's about what is and <i>isn't</i> healthy), <a href="http://red3.blogspot.com/2010/08/cynicism-still-winning-bet.html">we are not idiots</a>.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Hope is generally a positive failing though. It can and has been argued that, without it, the entire species would have joined dinosaurs on the 'Nice Try. NEXT!' list a long time ago. As such, I can hope that this is, maybe, a blip. Just some exec at the Network insisting that the writers let people know that being fat is, yah know, bad (<a href="http://kateharding.net/faq/but-dont-you-realize-fat-is-unhealthy/">OMGZ!1!!1! Why didn't anybody TELL us?!7!</a>). I can hope that, as potentially ruinous as Network/Exec Interference can be, it isn't the actual writers (Winnie Holzman [Exec Prod/Write] and daughter Savannah Dooley [Prod/Write], of whom I've heard so many good things) trying to inject the standard 'Weight loss=The-Only-Way-To-Health' rhetoric. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">So far the show has demonstrated a fairly insightful awareness of the fact that there is NOTHING simple about being fat in this society (ie; the calories in/calories out crap-spiel and associated garbage). It's shown a unique vision in depicting fat people as more than objects of humor or scorn, and, so far mostly, resisted the almost auto-reflexive messages of 'your not good enough until you lose weight/are trying desperately to lose weight' or the ever patronizing 'Love yourself! But lose the weight 'cause fat's not <i>healthy' *</i>insert: Waggling Finger of Disapproval<i>*</i>. If 'Huge' does start sliding down either of those slippery slopes or any of the numerous other 'Just lose weight, Fatty!' excuses used to try and denigrate fat people into becoming unfat, then it'll just be par for the course. A very disappointing slice on a course where all the greens are covered by sand-traps and holes have been plugged with concrete. I can only hope that the Network / Execs can be convinced of the unique opportunity they have here and that the writers / producers don't get hooked on Obesity EpiPanic Cool Aid. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But right now, I've got the next Fairway on my mind. Just in case this one ends up turning into the Same, Old, Game. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Pink Floyd / A Pillow of Winds</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-50236833636488647112010-08-01T15:23:00.002-04:002010-08-01T15:32:33.856-04:00Why, yes. Yes I am. Thank you.<div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">That would be two things, actually- </div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">1) Fat; But I think we've established that some time ago. Still, recent events seem to have necessitated re-iteration. We'll get into this in a few. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">2) Back; (see what I did there with the 'Fat' and the 'Back'?. . . Ok, it's been a while, cut me a break) I know those of you might actually follow my meager rantings haven't heard from me for a minute, I've been unusually busy these last few months. Up and down the east coast dealing with Family Drama. Driving cross country for Vaca / a Family Function. Which, of course, involved a lot of planning, prep, Family Drama, driving, some sight seeing, More Family Drama, function attendance and A Lot More Family Drama. Then some Unexpected Family Drama once we got home. Did I mention the Family Drama? Yeah, everything goes better with a little FD sprinkled on top. Or so I've been told. Now on too this Fat thing.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Cheese-O-Pete! Talk about your ridiculously clumsy, blatantly obvious, attempt at Mind Fucking! It seems there's this new, fledgling, movement amongst rabidly Anti-fat Medical Folk. Well, actually, I'm not sure that we CAN call them Anti-Fat since, technically, they now appear to be Pro-Fat. Only not for the reasons, or with the intents, one might expect. You see there is this 'Health Minister' in the UK who is of the mind that the word 'Obese' shouldn't be used to describe people who are larger than the, rather arbitrarily, accepted standard (sounds like a production line issue to me but what do I know about unit / model specs? Oh wait, we're talking <i>people.</i> My bad). No, instead the larger / heavier than average human should be described as 'Fat'. Umm. . . Ok. I'm all for it. I mean, that's what I <b>am</b> after all. If the physical state of my body needs description, then the word that gets the job done nicely, thank you, is 'Fat'. <a href="http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/saguy/mortality.pdf">So much so that a lot of fat people, myself included, have put years into trying to reclaim this particular word</a>. Working to remove the infantile, pejorative connotations most are used to using by pointing out just how childish and dull-witted an insult it really is. I mean, if I already identify as fat, how insulting can it be to call me something that I already, unashamedly acknowledge I am? And what are we, anyway? 6 years old?. . . Well, <i>some</i> of us might be. Mentally if not pysically. Anyway, this new attitude from the medical community couldn't be anything but good, right? <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1298394/Call-overweight-people-fat-instead-obese-says-health-minister.html">Yeah, not so much, actually</a>. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This is the medical community after all. It's their job to remind us, over, and over, and over, and over, and. . . Well, you get the idea- that being fat is nasty, bad, morally incorrect, unclean, and can be associated with terminal eyestrain amongst many, many, MANY other medical conditions on an ever growing list, that Includes cooties. . . I think (So hard to keep track). What's more, it's not acceptable. So, in <i>this</i> particular case, we get a 'Health Minister' trying to convince others in the medical community to call us fat because. . . </div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">They feel that this will hurt our feelings and, of course, make us lose weight. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I know. . . I know!!. . . It's ok, <a href="http://obesitytimebomb.blogspot.com/2010/07/two-words-fat-and-obese.html">I'll wait until your finished laughing so you can catch your breath</a>. Only took <i>me </i>about 20 minutes but then I'm DETHFATZ and either on the verge of expiring or completely incapable of physical exertion at all (this would be an 'Everybody knows' thing). <span style="font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia;">Unfortunately there's another side to this story that, frankly, isn't so funny. A few things actually, but one of the things that stuck-out for me was Professor Steve Field of the Royal College of GP's statement- </span></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
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<em><blockquote>. 'I think the term obese " medicalises" the state,' he said. 'It makes it a third-person issue.</blockquote></em><br />
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</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">AGREED!!!! Fatness is NOT a disease. No matter how BADLY some people want to believe it, try to rationalize it, or wish it were so. Trying to MAKE it a disease with technical language isn't going to do anything more than <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/doctors-should-tell-overweight-patients-that-they-are-fat/story-e6frf7l6-1225898699043">stigmatize a certain group of people and single them out for ostracizing</a>. By Jove, I think he Gets It! . . . Well, let's not start patting the Good Prof on the head just yet. Because it appears that this is EXACTLY what Prof Field wants to do-</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><em></em></div><em></em><br />
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<em><blockquote>'I think we need sometimes to be more brutal and honest.<br />
<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;">You can be popular by saying the things people want to hear and in the NHS we too often do that when we should spell things out clearly</span>.'</i></div></blockquote></em><br />
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</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">'Honest' brutality in the name of 'helping' people. I am SO sure. That this guy is either an idiot, an ass, or has sadomasochistic / control / ego issues. Yeah, I said that. They want to use, prognosis-by-chimpanze, reverse psych tactics on me, I should get to examine the oatmeal between <i>their</i> ears with a dirty magnifying glass. And that's, pretty much, what this recommendation represents; Chimp Counter-Psych Warfare; co-opt the targets language or ideals, and then try to use it against them.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This is not new Health Minister. Perhaps you should give Weight Watchers International a call and ask them how their 'Diets Don't Work' (but we're <i>not</i> a diet. *snicker*) campaign is working out for them. Could turn out to be an enlightening conversation. Then, maybe, go check out the Fatosphere for a little more enlightenment on what kind of people rate as actual human beings with thought processes, experience, and the ability to think for themselves. But be careful, we wouldn't want your tiny little worldview to get rocked too hard. This IS for your own good after all.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Tool / Lateralus</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-72322676954423433522010-06-15T11:26:00.000-04:002010-06-15T11:26:57.239-04:00Play Ball. Get Paid.<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Pretty much follows, doesn't it? Once again we are shown the true, caring, altruism of the diet industry in their attempts to push into an under-exploited market. That market would be; men. Via what they perceive as the most reliable route into the male psyche; sports and Sports Figures. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">You want evidence that the Diet Industry has a definite, profit driven, interest in mind-fucking the worlds populous? <a href="http://www.bfdblog.com/2010/06/14/nutriscam/">Here ya go</a>. They've been doing this little dance with women for YEARS and -well, I was going to say , 'getting away with it', but actually it's more like, 'making oil tanker loads of money'- based on societies twisted ideas about what women 'should' look like and what is 'expected' of them. However, so far they haven't been able to figure out a reliable enough avenue into male body insecurity to make a decent profit. Undermining self image ain't gonna do it, a fashion / trend 'centric approach was <i>never</i> gonna work, even piggybacking onto the FATZ = DETH!11!! terror mongering of the Obesity EpiPanic hasn't proved all that profitable. What's a stalled-out Industrial Complex to do? Work the Youth / Adonis / Sports angles, obviously. They're about the only avenues left to try.</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">'Adonis' (The, so called, Perfect Body / Six-pack Ads / Gym Butt) angle has been around for years and is based on undermining body image. Your thighs aren't cut, your butt is huge, you've got a gut, you should hate your guns-of-jello biceps, and your bitch tits are <i>disgusting</i> (sound familiar ladies?). The 'Youth' angle is fairly recent, capitalizing on America's throw-away attitude towards anyone over 45. And nothing gets under a mans skin like being perceived as useless. Hence the steady increase in male body implants, face lifts, hair coloring, and the hair replacement business. It's not enough to be a 50 yr old driving an expensive sports car. Now you have to LOOK 25-35 or your just a silly old guy being pathetic. But worry not! Nutrisysdumb is on the case! Working that comfy, familiar, 'Sports' angle!! </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Personally, I noticed them starting to nose in on the market with this angle about 5 years ago and, from a business standpoint, it's only logical. Most guys dream about being just like ___________ (Fill in Blank with designated Athlete) Unfortunately most Athlete's who are still playing already enjoy 'Perfect Body' status, so no joy there, but the retired guys? The Desk Jockeys, Talking Heads, Legends-gone-soft? Pure bankroll. The occasional working athlete who might be 'carrying a little too much' or the <a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2009/12/fat-man-on-field.html">Coach on the Sidelines</a> running the show? If you can get a hook in 'um, it's a potential gold strike. So, yeah, PutridSystem is all about pushing up on former sports figures with bags full of money and truckloads of Hokey Meals. And maybe they make a few suggestions about how to pile on some extra Lbs. while waiting for the delivery truck full of patented pseudo-food. Yah know, for those all-important 'Before' photos. Makes the 'After' shots more. . . . <i>Dynamic</i>. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Right. Just don't try to convince me this clown car full of asshats is out working for the betterment of mens health. Not buying that sentiment or their product. Haven't got time or interest for either.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Blur / Song 2</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-63146392272037134712010-05-12T18:13:00.001-04:002010-05-12T18:15:00.987-04:00Moving is Good. Destination is Important Too.<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">So, we now have an <a href="http://govne.ws/item/The-First-Lady-Unveils-Childhood-Obesity-Task-Force-Action-Plan">action plan from the First Ladies 'Lets Move' program</a>. First blush; It would seem that Mrs. Obama and the Childhood Obesity Task Force have been listening. To whom? I couldn't say. However, the one thing that I did noticed while listining to the Press Conference is the distinct lack of the phrase 'weight loss'. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There is a focus on nutrition in both schools and home which, in my opinion, is fine and well. Efforts to improve the quality and nutritional value of school breakfast / lunch programs, <i>real</i> and <i>realistic</i> efforts undertaken locally by nutritional / medical professionals and backed by the Fed Gov (Unlike those fronted by a certain <a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2010/03/fuck-jamie-oliver-and-shiny-white-horse.html">Celebrity <i>Chef</i></a> who just <b>plays</b> one on TV) are more likely to improve HEALTH across the board for children. Most importantly for children with intermittent access.</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There is also a lot of focus on food manufacturers and advertisers. Again, this would seem a <i>necessary</i> effort. Particularly in the advertising arena. I can remember when children's cartoons where silly entertainment and when they became nothing more than half-hour commercials for toys. It was almost inevitable that the food industry would get in on the act and equally inevitable that the whole thing would get out-of-control. There was / is FAR too much money to be made. Now, it would be the height of naiveté to believe that this doesn't effect children but does it mean we should start banning toys with kids Happy Meals? <a href="http://intellectualbabe.blogspot.com/2010/04/of-course-its-because-of-toys.html">Ummm, No</a>. We're doing pretty good so far. Lets not start back-sliding into EpiPanic rhetoric, K? </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One of the other things that this Action Plan seems to address is the Food Desert phenomena. Recognition that it DOES exist is an important first step and it, obviously, isn't something that's going to be easy to resolve. As that it is a recently recognized problem I wouldn't expect guaranteed, sure-fire, solutions. I'm not sure that putting a lot of the burden of insuring proper nutrition for ALL kids (which is pretty much how I'm viewing this entire program) on schools is going to work. There are strong, market driven, reasons why these deserts exist. The impetus to supply cheap, high-calorie, 'pseudo-food' in low income area's is akin to a gravitational effect and reversing or mitigating <i>that</i> is going to take something on the level of creating anti-gravity. First we've got to find out if it's even <i>possible.</i> Within the framework of a universe where Big Business is one of the driving forces behind it's physical laws, I'm not all that sure that it is. It's entirely possible that this might be one of those things that requires CULTURAL change before we see any positive movement. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Exercise infrastructure / safety; How could this be anything <i>but</i> good? Insuring that kids have safe places to play and be active is a no-brainer as far as what <i>should</i> be happening. Why it isn't is a WHOLE 'nother question. Theories for that particular question run from 'blame-Nintendo/Xbox' to crack vial littered basketball courts and, again, answers to any of these problems won't come easy. Dealing with crime is a function of law enforcement. It's not like we've been ignoring it over the years but the world, it seems, has changed. Have Criminals become less discriminating? Willing to hurt, maim, kill anybody that gets in their way? Maybe. Maybe not. Are there more abnormal individuals out there <i>targeting</i> children than before? Yes. And no. Is the media instigating fear of the world outside our doors with sensationalist reporting. Yes. . . Unfortunately the options for passive, sedentary, entertainment are also much more pervasive than they've ever been in the history of humanity. I'd argue that not only is it possible to believe it's safer indoors but that staying inside, for kids at least, is the more attractive option. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Again these are, primarily, attitudes that need to change. Take it from those of us in the <i>fight</i> for <a href="feed://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user%2F12383239744273972341%2Flabel%2FNotes%20from%20the%20Fatosphere">Fat / Size Acceptance</a>; this ain't easy, but it can be done. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Speaking of FA/SA, it would seem that the low whistle from those of us tired of being judged / penalized for the size of our bodies has been heard (Or, at least, one can <i>hope</i>). As one of the rallying cries of FA/SA states- <a href="http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=174333345&blogId=534207946">'Nothing about us, without us'</a>. In my review of both the Mrs. Obama's speech and the task forces Q & A afterwards, not ONCE, was there mention of weight loss as a proxy for 'good health'. This is significant. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Could it be that Michelle Obama and her Task Force have gotten, at least, <i>PART</i> of the message? Weight loss <b>≠</b> Good Health. A radical, oft decried, concept that can illicit completely irrational reactions from a LOT of different people. Reactions so ingrained they're almost <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaLvUzpsfIfqO-C8EsIwTXNKwBXpPAJF8SKfINSpak9PEW0zXuZwSXqe1GpYBldXCTVT4-wJBgW4iPfSIYvi3AcWExlL6sSFWaiIZqXVOo8JegFBdo6c9VfMwdABT4DY2C3oyO6B-rpKR/s1600-h/fathatebingo1.jpg">predictable</a> ('But being fat <i>isn't healthy!1!1!). </i>Perhaps FLOTUS and her Team have come to realize that if you want to <i>seriously</i> address the issue of HEALTH<i> </i>in regards to Fat People in this country, it might be a good idea to consult with the people who are, indeed, fat. Find out what we have found to work, what doesn't, isn't <i>likely</i> to, and what goals might be deemed more realistic than others. <i>Experience</i>, after all, is usually considered a fairly good teacher. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">That being said, there are still problems with this program. It seems to leave a lot of the usual stigmatization of weight out of it's practices but still manages to be antagonistic in it's intent. And this is probably due to it's focus on <a href="http://silentbeep.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/this-fills-me-with-dread-so-yeah-this-may-be-triggering-for-yall-too/">'fighting obesity'</a> rather than on the overall health of ALL children. There's no such thing as a program that's gotten everything perfectly right, straight out of the gate. However, imagine for a moment, what could be achieved if the focus were really on health. Cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and strength, balanced and varied nutrition. Imagine if more fat kids turned out to be living healthier while more underweight kids and more normal-appearing-UNhealthy kids became more healthy as well. As fewer of ANY of those types of kids become likely to show signs of the body warping image or psychological issues that run rampant in their parents now. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I mean, I'm not seeing a down-side here. So. . . When do we get around to dropping this 'obesity' nonsense and start concentrating on real Health? Are we still listening? </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Dire Striaghts / Once Upon A Time In The West</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-43104054796175963632010-05-03T12:59:00.000-04:002010-05-03T12:59:55.240-04:00Big Questions? Big Science! . . . More Questions.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">A funny thing happened on the way to the Doctor.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><div style="text-align: auto;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> He said; 'The Patients are revolting!!</div><div style="text-align: left;"> I said; 'In know. Fewer and fewer seem to think you guys actually </div><div style="text-align: left;"> know what your doing. It's almost like their ready </div><div style="text-align: left;"> to take up arms or something.'</div><div style="text-align: left;"> He said; 'No, no. I mean, they're <i>revolting</i>. I really don't like them </div><div style="text-align: left;"> very much.'</div><div style="text-align: left;"> I said; 'Oh. . . Well, hope you can work that out then.'</div><br />
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</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One might think the members of the Medical Science Community would know the potential harm that comes <span style="color: #4a2488;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/medical-research-lies-dam_b_555525.html">from shooting one's self in the foot</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">,</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">b</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">ut. . . </span></span></div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Science, or one of it's basic tenants, is supposed to be non-biased integrity. The pursuit of fact has long been the doctrine of, really, any kind of science in it's quest for the incontrovertible 'truths' about that which has, previously, been unknown. Unfortunately, we humans love our biases. especially when they make us <i>look</i> good.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This particular article focuses on medical science and it's relationship to pharmacological research. However, one might argue that there <i>has</i> been a certain amount of. . . Scientific obfuscation in matters pertaining, obesity and the frenzy of 'crisis' news that surrounds it.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We've seen this before. Checking our <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63I5PH20100419"><span style="color: #001fe7; text-decoration: underline;">friendly</span></a> media providers we find a new '<a href="http://www.wcpn.org/WCPN/news/30308/"><span style="color: #001fe7; text-decoration: underline;">death scare</span></a>' health report about the '<a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-13868-Health-and-Science-Examiner~y2010m4d9-Obese-pregnant-women-put-unborn-child-at-risk-for-heart-defects"><span style="color: #001fe7; text-decoration: underline;">dangers</span></a>' of obesity almost every <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elaine-schattner/we-are-all-fat-and-have-c_b_506247.html"><span style="color: #001fe7; text-decoration: underline;">month</span></a> (Ok, well that last one is a ringer but you get the idea).</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We are virtually inundated with so much information pointing toward the shear <a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2009/11/ha-haaaaa-ha-ha-ha.html"><span style="color: #4a2488; text-decoration: underline;">lethality</span></a> of fat, one almost wonders how there could possibly be ANY fat people walking around anywhere. Or, <a href="http://living400lbs.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/losing-weight-doesnt-prevent-cancer/"><span style="color: #4a2488; text-decoration: underline;">perhaps</span></a>, there's <a href="http://living400lbs.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/ada-not-all-fat-people-get-diabetes/"><span style="color: #4a2488; text-decoration: underline;">less</span></a> to <a href="http://donewiththisshit.tumblr.com/post/557812047/withtiredeyes-ilovefat-donewiththisshit"><span style="color: #4a2488; text-decoration: underline;">all of this</span></a> than we're being led to believe. Less fact and perhaps too much agenda. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One might wonder; What would be the purpose of disseminating all this bad information? What would be the purpose? Well, like fat itself, the answer to that can get a little complicated. As the HuffPo article on medical research suggests, Medicine has traditional momentum to account for some of it's entrenched attitudes. However, in the case of obesity, we've also got a 40 - 60 <i>billion</i> dollar diet industry, a media machine capable of shaping societal perception, Insurance concerns who's bottom-line interests revolve around paying out as few claims and disqualifying as many people as possible, and WLS? If the revenue generated by that particular medical specialty is a fraction of what the diet industry pulls in, we are talking about a <i>lot</i> of money. As it turns out, money is a pretty <a href="http://bilt4hugin.livejournal.com/7350.html"><span style="color: #4a2488; text-decoration: underline;">good motivator</span></a>. But this phenomena in the scientific community is not just powered by greed and industry specific interest. There are also powerful social / cultural components facilitating and often directing this mis/disinformation. In a society where it's quite simply <i>acceptable</i> to hate fat people, how can it not? Now layer on a general ignorance of how / why people become fat, why it's nearly impossible for some to lose weight (Umm because some of us are <i>supposed</i> to be fat? Just a guess.), and add irrational beliefs about how individual bodies <i>should</i> work or how they <i>should</i> <b>look </b>and you get a toxic environment in which, even incorruptible Science, is not immune to influence. As a caveat, the last Presidential Administrations attitudes about what science is and what it should say, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design"><span style="color: #001fe7; text-decoration: underline;">didn't help any</span></a>. Still the question of <i>why</i> researchers and those who do the Big Science thing might be compromising their own integrity, really isn't the most significant one. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It seems that some of the most important questions in all of this often go unaddressed: What is this doing to the reliability, the reputation, the dependability, of Science and, by extension, medicine in general? How will this willingness to 'sell out' fat people for a quick buck, for an entrenched bias, or for a perceived 'societal good' while ignoring inconvenient truths or passing off junk science as cannon, effect what we 'know' in the future? Obviously these would be questions that could potentially effect, not just fat people, but <i>everyone. </i>However, we'll <i>need</i> to get over our general dislike of a certain class of people before we can even address<i> </i>them. For those skipping ahead, that would be; Fat People. Not <i>im</i>possible but as history has shown, often not a very easy thing to do. If we don't want the Scientific Process to become short-hand for 'just another rumor mill', perhaps we should get started. <span style="font: 15.0px Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Cars / Bye Bye Love</div></span></span>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-14753620649708429142010-04-20T01:01:00.000-04:002010-04-20T01:01:52.557-04:00When DEATFATZ Isn't Just a Stupid Rhetorical Term<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Lets talk about fat and death for a minute, shall we? I was reading a recent article linked from <a href="http://www.google.com/reader/view/feed/http%3A%2F%2Fsilentbeep.wordpress.com%2Ffeed%2F">SilentBeep</a> <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik18-2010apr18,0,4485135.column?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MostEmailed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+E-mailed+Stories%29">regarding a man who died tragically</a> after having WLS in an effort to better his position at his job. Before we even get into the twisted psychology of a world where people are practically <i>forced </i>into changing the state of their <i>bodies</i> just to get ahead. Lets talk about that death thing. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">See, because not only is <i>life </i> different for fat people. Largely due to forces outside their control (that would be other peoples perceptions and attitudes) but so is death. We've talked here and other places about the disdain, dismissal, and out right hatred <a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2010/01/spin-spin-doctor.html">fat people often experience from the medical community</a>. Well, there's this little thought-about fact that people commonly overlook; Coroners are Doctors too. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">One line from the WLS article stood out for me and brought this back into stark recall- </div><blockquote><span style="font: 15.0px Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"</span></span></span>Three days later, Brooks was dead. At the autopsy, a Riverside County coroner found stomach contents leaking around the edges of the lap-band and more than a liter of pus in his abdomen. On her report she listed the cause of death as "<i>peritonitis due to lap-band procedure due to</i> <b>obesity</b>." <span style="font: 15.0px Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></blockquote><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">*Emphasis mine*</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">My Immediate thought; 'Yes. Most thin people don't bother with Lap-band surgery so, of course, he was fat. Why the redundancy? Especially on a Cause of Death? Perhaps because Coroners have quite a habit of including 'obesity' on COD's. Even when the actual COD had nothing to DO with the decedents weight. Willie Brooks wasn't killed by 'obesity'. He was killed by an infection due to a botched lap-band surgery. If Joan Rivers were to die during a botched botox injection (Surgical procedure according to Med Coding guidelines) would 'vanity' be listed as a contributing factor on her COD? </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Is this kind of thing rampant? Is it something that happens occasionally or in isolated situations? Who knows. The decedent in these kinds of cases isn't likely to complain. Less likely in fact, than fat living patients confronted with medical stigma who don't really have anybody they can reliably complain TOO. So it gets left to the Coroner or family members. Unfortunately family is often inclined to, either go along with whatever, or in some cases, they may actually agree with the assessment no matter how invalid it might be. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There are, of course, those who would question the possibility of people in the medical community actually doing these kinds of things / having these kinds of attitudes. To them I would only say- </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">*REAL Trigger Warning*</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"> Following is a link who's comments are toxic in the extreme. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"> The post from which they thread is, quite possibly, worse.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">*REAL Trigger Warning* </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="http://docsontheweb.blogspot.com/2007/12/naked-fat-and-dead.html">Read this.</a> </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">If this is any indication of how some Emergency <i>Medical</i> personnel actually feel about fat decedents, what are we to think about anybody else in the field of medicine? Including Coroners. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There is one other thing people might consider when thinking about this truly sad state of affairs. Beyond the theft of any dignity a person might be accorded after ones demise, there is the skewing of statistical data that could, in fact, effect the living. How many fat people have died in car accidents, been killed by falling objects, or after falling from heights? How many have been shocked, burned, murdered, or simply died inexplicably and had obesity or some tenuous relation to obesity included in their COD's? And how would that effect the calculations for the overall rate of death due to obesity which is taken directly from any mention of obesity in each COD? I mean, it's not like this kind of <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3142605.html">mathamatical / statistical inaccuracy hasn't happened before</a>. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">So, yeah, I'm gonna have a little trouble trusting all those sparkly statistical pronouncements of the future perfect doom that <i>might</i> be (Unless somebody's got those winning Lotto Numbers for next week. I keep asking. Email me). More importantly I'd rather think about what's definitely happening <i>right now. </i>Like how there are Surgical Mills exploiting people in much the same way the Diet Industrial Complex has for years. Taring up peoples insides with what amounts to human experimentation (Now THERE's some statistics I'd be interested in seeing. If only we could get some clean numbers), pushing false hope (30% body mass loss on average?), lies (Ummm, <i>remission</i> of diabetes is NOT a 'cure'. That <b>remission</b> thing? Yeah, that's your clue.), and commercial disinformation (Watch any lap band Ad and Realize that you don't need WLS to do <i>any</i> of those things). All this just to get that check deposited, put you on the table under the knife, and get you out the door. Oh! Of course, because their concerned about your <i>health</i>. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mustn't forget about that. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Hum / Stars</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-86850211626561855072010-04-15T14:07:00.001-04:002010-04-16T14:04:58.747-04:00Whipsaw<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;">Well, I was dueling with one of the worse species of trolls out there earlier this week. Actually, I can't really call this individual a Troll, per sea. The Forum in which our little contest played out is commonly held as a place for more intelligent discussion of sociological issues and doesn't really identify as a F/A space. My fuzzy friend surely fashioned zieself as something of an intelligentsia and our discussion, if you can call it that, revolved around St. James Oliver and his current crusade. Unsurprisingly this particular 'discussion' ended as anyone familiar with discussions of the Obesity EpiPanic might expect. With a vehement but dignified, 'I'm right, damnit! *insert logical fallacy* Your stupid! And I'm leaving! So you STFU!!!' I could almost sense the ether, coalescing around zie's sublime maturity.</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In any case, all the the usual tropes had already been covered. 'We're just concerned about your health', 'Don't you know how unhealthy Fat is?', 'Loosing weight is easy. / Cal in - Cal out'. By the time I thought to get out my <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaLvUzpsfIfqO-C8EsIwTXNKwBXpPAJF8SKfINSpak9PEW0zXuZwSXqe1GpYBldXCTVT4-wJBgW4iPfSIYvi3AcWExlL6sSFWaiIZqXVOo8JegFBdo6c9VfMwdABT4DY2C3oyO6B-rpKR/s1600-h/fathatebingo1.jpg">Bingo Card</a>, we had already drifted into the always entertaining realms of Personal Responsibility (We may want to expand the cards or add new ones). This particular bit of whiny, drip-spittle never fails to amuse me. See, because it always seems to be people who exhibit the least impulse control or display a near total lack of any kind of responsibility to others who are the <i>first</i> to bring it up. The Catholic Church (What else do I need to say?), Congressmen who's behaviors run the gamut of heckling on the House Floor like it was a WWE wrestling match, to Governors who disappear for days while on tryst with their mistresses. Or those who just can't seem to keep their hands off their own staff. Female OR Male. Which I thought was supposed to be Abby Normal but then I've always had trouble twisting my logic far enough around to understand Gay-Conservative Homophobia. . . . Right. Back to the point. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Although I have an extreme dislike of Jamie the Wise for reasons I've already detailed (<a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2010/03/fuck-jamie-oliver-and-shiny-white-horse.html">perhaps a bit overly strenuously</a>). Suffice it to say that JO's past actions speak to me quite clearly, thank you. I have no interest in anything he has to say now, especially since <a href="http://haescommunity.org/">others have said it all much better</a>. And, in light of his refusal to acknowledge those actions, I feel no obligation to subject myself to any more of his drivel. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As for the general tenor of the thread on which The Contestant and I had our 'discussion'? It was actually rational, if not entirely reasonable. A trend I've been noticing in other discussion spaces for quite a few weeks now. Perhaps I'm just pushing it but I don't think cautious optimism is unwarranted. Are people starting to actually listen to the <i>Fat People</i> invariably involved in all this rather than trying to talk over, around, past, and through us? Would be nice. I suppose we'll see if we are actually starting to head in a better direction. However, what concerns me now is the blow-back to come.</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Even if this does turn out to be a new attitude where fat AND the people who happen to have more of it is concerned, there are those like my intellectual friend who will not so easily let go of their long-held beliefs. I mean, there aren't that many kinds of Others walking around that can be classified as inferior with little more than a glance. And, of course, the infallibility of medicine and incorruptible nature of science are incontrovertible, absolute. Dare I say it? Almost. . . <i>Sacred.</i> One does not question their providence nor does one doubt the oracle of Statistics. Without which life spans cannot be augured, afflictions cannot be foretold and the future cannot be clearly known. As with most things so fervently believed, any suggestion to the contrary cannot be just refuted. Every effort must be made to repudiate it out of existence. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Which means that for fat people, attitudes <i>may</i> be getting better, but it's also likely that certain aspects will probably get uglier as well. Dragging knuckle, furry eye-ball, kinda ugly. 'Cause, yah know, Conventional Wisdom is <i>such</i> a jealous god. <br />
<br />
*****UPDATE****<br />
<br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;">Well, it seems that St. Jamie<a href="http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2010/04/skinny-jesus-chef-less-messiah-more.html"> made a few errors</a> in his <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: line-through;">machinations</span> calculations. But what where you expecting? After all he's just a <i>chef</i> after all. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Deep Purple / Perfect Strangers</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-89560068476807920022010-04-05T19:32:00.000-04:002010-04-05T19:32:56.028-04:00CannonBall!<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">When I was a, moderately smaller wee monster, on family summer outings to the community swimming pool, one of my favorite moves was a staple of fat boys at pools everywhere. The infamous Cannonball. Get as much air as you can off the deck, grab your knees, and everyone in the immediate vicinity gets wet on impact. Good Times. In that vein here's a random splash of hits that have caught my attention recently. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There's been a lot of excellent word smithing going on in the 'Spere of late. The kind that has you nodding your head as you read it, shouting 'Yes!' at the machine sitting in front of you, or on the verge of breaking-down with it's heart breaking sadness or the rage inducing pointlessness of societal attitudes that make it necessary. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Case in point; The, ever excellent, Lesely at Fatshionista sends up a post about <a href="http://www.fatshionista.com/cms/index.php?option=com_mojo&Itemid=69&p=362">what it means to be an obese child</a>. As is common with 'Obesity Epidemic' rhetoric, the medical community, media concerns, politicians -basically anyone on the street with an opinion and the compulsion to express it- tend to talk <i>about</i> fat people as if we weren't in the room. As if <i>adults</i> being discussed, like children, have no input in a conversation <i>about</i> them. Again, these are adults writing their recollections of childhood. How much worse is it for <i>actual </i>children. Or, perhaps more accurately, how much worse does it promise to be if certain <i><a href="http://silentbeep.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/michelle-obama-is-making-me-sad/">initiatives</a></i> prove unable to disentangle morality from body weight / body weight from health. How positive and lasting will their experiences be when how they feel about what's being done TOO <i>them</i> is deemed completely irrelevant. The common sentiment? They're kids, they don't know what's good for them. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">And that's kind of odd when you consider it's coming from a generation practically pathological about not being anything like their own parents. A generation who can tell you exactly how the trauma's of their own 'draconian childhoods' have deprived them of complete and whole 'functionality'. They're now so myopically focused on being 'buds' with <i>their</i> children that whole generations have grown up, virtually, without parents. Now, of course, they just have to 'engage'. It's an epidemic after all. So they must be sure, <i>by any means necessary</i>, that The Children (tm) don't end up like those Fatty-fatty Boomba's on TV. 'Cause that'll kill 'um quiq. Erybody says so. Even teh Doktor who's been tellin' us th same ting fr yers. And it's Helthy. So Jus Do It (tm). Mmmkay?'</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Previous to Lesley's missive pointing out what should be obvious, Living~400 came in with what some in Fat Health Skepticism might call unimaginable. That would be the <a href="http://living400lbs.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/on-acceptance/">positive aspects of being fat</a> (Now begins the screaming, the tooth gnashing. . .) <a href="http://living400lbs.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/search-trends-diabetes/">and the fact that Fat <span style="font: 13.0px Georgia;"><b>≠</b> </span>Diabetic</a> (. . . The taring out of hair). It's really strange to me how people can acknowledge or accept that being differently abled can empower or impel some people to advancement. How being blond, smart, charismatic, shorter than average, or even not beautiful by societies standards, in some people, can impart advantage. But fat? No. Not ever. Yeah, now tell me about how 'that doesn't mean you don't like fat people. After all, some of your best friends are fat (Which, of course, means that every 5Lb. loss on their part is celebrated with trumpets and flights of dayglo-white doves. 'Cause it's so inspiring. Non-weight loss 'centric achievements? Yeah, that's nice, wev). </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Huffpo fronts an article on binge eating disorder and the lack of respect it gets as, yah know, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sunny-gold/binge-eating-disorder-the_b_523754.html">an <i>actual </i> eating disorder</a>. TimeMag grudgingly hints at the possibility <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_48678666">that calories in - </a><i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_48678666">might not</a></i><a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1972947_1973044_1973049,00.html"> equal calories out </a>for some because, *gobsmacked-amazement*, people are different and, *stunned-incredulity*, digestion is a, strangely complex, process. Alert the. . . Press. . . Wait. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Meanwhile, at the NYTimes, we get a fascinating pictorial [VERY SFW and NON-triggering, but still weird] on what people will do to themselves in the name of <a href="http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/showcase-145/">'Beauty'. Or was that acceptability? Maybe improvement. . . Competition</a>? Anyway, the Author / Photographer says that he conceived the project when he noticed that <i>people</i> around the world where starting to appear homogenized. That 'Beautiful people' in various countries are starting to look the same as those anywhere else. In other words 'Beauty' is becoming 'Common'. Makes you wonder what the next 'beauty' trend will be and how much surgical intervention will be required to achieve it. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What strange creatures these humans be. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:<span style="font: 15.0px Helvetica;"> </span></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">NIN / The Good Soldier</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-7743172948003651182010-03-31T02:33:00.000-04:002010-03-31T02:33:08.517-04:00Standing Politics? Or Moral Standing?<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There's been a lot of discussion, both in and out of the Fatosphere, about the politics of food. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Although any fat-neutral (as opposed to the usual fat-hating) discussion of America's most contentious topic might be viewed as a good thing and I find myself, generally, in a agreement with that sentiment. However, (and you <i>knew</i> there was gonna be one of those), it's still got problems. For, damn fine, analyses on why, I'd enthusiastically recommend the recent post by Marianne Kirby at <a href="http://www.therotund.com/?p=734">The Rotund</a> and a nuanced discussion hosted by Michelle at <a href="http://www.fatnutritionist.com/index.php/mini-editorials-on-obesityhaes/">The Fat Nutritionist</a> that revolves around a recent NYTimes editorial on obesity.</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Here's why I find all this talk about HFCS, healthy eating, whole/slow/local foods, and the Food Industrial Complex so frustrating; It all seems to be predicated on this countries self-abusive obsession with obesity and the crisis that <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">doesn't exist</span> <i>will</i> (might, probably) destroy The Future (tm). Everywhere I look the language has been muted, there's a lot less hostility or abasement, and there seems to be much more civil discussion. Encouraging in and of itself. But there's still the disconnect that only seems to occur when discussing <i>why</i> people are fat and <i>what </i>needs to be done <i>about </i>it. Less shame & blame but still not enough <a href="http://obesitytimebomb.blogspot.com/2009/06/nothing-about-us-without-us.html">inclusion</a>. Not enough inclusion and not enough comprehension. In all fairness, I don't expect comprehension to be complete and instantaneous. There is FAR too much dis/mis/mal-information floating around out there for that to even be a wild dream. It's going to take a lot of discussion to ward off the foolishness fronted by very interested, and <i>Money</i> Obese, parties (Big Medicine, Big Pharma, Commercial Diet Industrial Complex, I'm <a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b148/poisondose/ignignot.jpg">looking</a> at you). This is all before we get to the folk lore, the scienterrific pseudo-fact spouted in the name of health ('Health' being the dog whistle code for fat since all fat people are unhealthy and thin people, of course, aren't), and the ever present passive-aggressiveness of concern trolls or the active-aggressiveness of outright haters. Nobody said this would be easy. Unfortunately, what it is, is subtle. That's right; fat is subtle. It's complex and deep. It never was and probably never will be so simple as calories in / calories out. Yet, even as evidence that this 'simplicity' is anything but, moves from overwhelming into the realms of patently obvious, there is complete and utter denial.</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: 15.0px Helvetica;">So how much of being fat is about HFCS, whole foods, or healthy eating? Well, who are you talking too? No, really -who are you talking to? Because the answers you get in ref to the first answer, absolutely depend upon the answer for the second. Depending on 'who' those answers could run from 'a lot', to 'not much', right on through to 'none at all' and </span>I'm not talking opinion here. I'm talking about practice and experience. If we are <i>allowed</i> to be part of the conversation (As opposed to being dismissed as part of the <i>problem</i>. See; <a href="http://obesitytimebomb.blogspot.com/2009/06/nothing-about-us-without-us.html">inclusion</a>, above) people might soon discover that there are fat people out there who have <i>already</i> maximized their consumption of whole foods while decreasing their intake of processed foods. And yet, they remain fat. There are fat people out there who prepare their own foods and consume copious amounts of fruits and vegetables. And yet, they remain fat. There are fat people out there who have, to whatever extent possible, eliminated HFCS from their diet. And yet, they remain fat. Very odd. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Now if we could just avoid having these new 'quick fixes' turn into the new code under which the state of ones body is judged or moralized, it would be interesting if fat people became indirectly responsible for improving the quality of food in this country. It would also be just peachy if we could knock the national disconnect between 'Fat' and 'Health' one slot over to the space under 'Weight loss' and 'Health' . I'll believe either, if / when, it happens. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This optimism stuff is kinda cuddly, fuzzy, pufflesmoosh. But I could get used to it. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muse / Hysteria</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-11692605989340409772010-03-27T20:14:00.004-04:002010-03-27T20:44:44.769-04:00Fuck Jamie Oliver and the Shiny White Horse Horse He Rode in on<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I should have <i>known</i> that nancy git wouldn't just leave it alone. NO! When rebuffed, self-righteousness <i>requires</i> that one sputter in outrage, simmer in ego-wounded<i> denial</i>, and depending on ones motivations, come back with a simpering, teary-eyed, whiney, they-done-me-wrong, demeanor to declare <a href="http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2010/03/save-me-from-myself-skinny-jesus-chef.html">'But-but-but. . . How could they DO this too me?! I mean, I'M RIGHT, after all!'</a> *Climb-up onto your pre-fab Cross and hang your head at the appropriate angle for maximized martyrdom* </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Melissa at <a href="http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2010/03/illustrating-privilege.html">Shakesville</a> hit's all three nails on the head for Jamie's little Media Self-Crucifixion Extravaganza. Why it's so pathetic, so plastic, and so lovingly fortified with plenty of fat-hate baked right in. The one thing she missed though- the one thing that's pretty easily missed as that EVERYBODY seems to miss it, is the fact that Jamie Oliver is a <i>Chef</i><span style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica;">. NOT a nutritionist. NOT a Doctor. NOT, in anyway, qualified to dispense medical advise to ANYBODY! </span>It's the 600Lbs Gorilla eating cupcakes in Jamie's room. The 3 ton Mastodon in Jamie's <i>head</i> would be his belief that HE knows what's good for <i>everyone</i> and what everyone <i>needs. </i>Not all that uncommon <i>anywhere</i> these days. You might even call it an epidemic if you where so inclined. As far as that warm and buttery feeling of well known Food-Rock Star Personalities who, just, don't like fat people? Well, Little Jamie, ain't the only one. There's whole servings of <a href="http://www.ecorazzi.com/2008/09/10/food-star-alton-brown-talks-sustainability/">formerly-fat-now-just-hating-ON-fat</a> and plain old, [*WARNING* Possibly triggering link ahead->] <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5OkcRVs5ik">outright, fat-hate</a> going on in the FoodTV world. And to think I used to think Anthony Bourdain was interesting. Now he's just a classist prima dona, with an overinflated sense of self-importance. I refuse to have anything he's ever done leave slime trails on my website, including that YouTube clip. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As for little Jamie? Here's what I had to say about THAT Bobby Flay, never-could-be-but-still-wanna, two months ago in a private forum- </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="color: black; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia;"><em></em></span></div><em></em><br />
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<em><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">You know what? Screw Jamie Oliver. He of the '</span><a href="http://www.bigfatblog.com/jamie-olivers-scare-tactics-updated"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">Scared Straight</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">' camp. TELEVISING the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">autopsy</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> of a man who he feels "ate himself to death"? Asinine zipperhead. Oh, but Jamie knows what it's like to be fat too. How? Well, he wore a </span><a href="http://www.bigfatblog.com/node/1276"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">fat suit once</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">. But let it not be said that he doesn't have a sense of humor about the whole thing.-</span><br />
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: #fcfcfc; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">He clutched a brace of burgers in his sausage-like fingers before climbing aboard a motor scooter which duly buckled under his weight.</span></i></div><div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font: 12.0px Verdana; line-height: 20.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">-So, did wittle Jamie feel like an outcast? Was he ignored and vilified? Told to get out of town? And did it make him feel like shit? Good. Welcome to the world of 'Other'. Lots of the 'waddling lard-tub(s)', as your promotion machine (The Daily Fail) puts it, already live here and, being fat, we don't like to share. So when you get to the city limits, do us a favor and keep going. Cry your way to a nice airport and get on a plane. Bu-bye</span><span style="color: black; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia;"></span></div></blockquote></em><br />
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</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jamie. . . . Bubbie. . . . You. Are. Not. All. That. Important. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Now wipe your nose and get back on the plane before one of us big, brutish, Yanks bumps into you and bruises your tender little ego some more. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
<br />
***UPDATE***<br />
<br />
As a relief from all the pretentiousness, I present the Charlie Brooker's thoroughly brilliant analysis of Jamie's pushy, nose-in, priggishness in UK.-<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; white-space: pre;"><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZpBYNzP5qQc&hl=en_US&fs=1&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZpBYNzP5qQc&hl=en_US&fs=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="405"></embed></object></span> <br />
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</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Chaka Khan/ Any Love</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-23218213170286932922010-03-19T00:58:00.000-04:002010-03-19T00:58:19.572-04:00Brain Quake<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Ran across two recent posts that have the potential to rock a lot of small minded peoples tiny little worlds. <i>If </i>they've got the stones to think outside their boundaries, the civility to ask outside their experience, and the ability to listen without preverication-</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2010/03/proposed.html">Proposed</a> <i>via Shakesville</i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://mylipstickonhercollar.com/2010/03/18/fat-is-love/">Fat is Love</a> <i>via Fashionista Stiletto Siren</i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">They speak to perceptions and misconceptions that have been around for years but seems to have been enflamed over the past few with all this talk about what's <i>wrong</i> with fat people. World views that presume to ignore or forget that we are people. People who, in past, where simply living one possible aspect of human existence. Now, in a world that appears to have finally gotten a glimpse of the bill for all of it's past excesses, we sit in accusation of wanting too much, taking too much, being too much. Because we're easier to pick out of the crowd of free spending, free using, throw-it-out-and-buy-another people, we are the ones upon which rage can be re-focused, guilt can be assuaged , and responsibility can be displaced. In an age of 'It-wasn't-us!' we are the Easy Scapegoats. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Scapegoats with minds. With thoughts, feelings, and voices. Scapegoats that will not sit still. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Invariably not Scapegoats for long. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Smashing Pumpkins / Eye</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-69972487499980927172010-03-16T01:13:00.000-04:002010-03-16T01:13:34.812-04:00Nanny, May I; Permission to Be Precious.<div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">It occurs to me that the recent rise in the media profile of Fat Acceptance and the Fatosphere might be a good thing as far as raising awareness to the fact that fat people are, yah know, <i>people. </i>However there is another aspect of all this attention that also has me a little concerned. Well, not just a little actually. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Realizing that the 'War on Obesity' is wracking up actual casualties is an excellent thing when you consider that, so far, it's been all about 'doing something' about the <i>'problem'</i>. Mainstream society is finally coming around to the fact that human beings are not only inextricably involved with this but are central to the very issue. And we're starting to hear it in the small changes. A lessening of the dismissiveness in news articles and TV reports, an apparent decrees in the, at one time almost prerequisite, inclusion of blatant fat 'humor' in journalistic pieces. Written news that was supposed to be covering serious topics but always managed to get in that one fat joke. I'm even seeing a certain amount of push-back from people who don't consider themselves fat. People who are, apparently, now familiar the <i>concept</i> of F/A, and are in growing realization that you can't hate someone thin. And they are showing up in the hotbeds of fat hate; the comments sections of internet articles. Perhaps only a handful in any given article but, when compared against comments past, this is progress. Previously, all you could expect to find was derision, disgust, savage denial, blatantly backhanded concern trolling, and ample cheering sections for more of the same so this may be more than progress. It could very well be <i>improvement</i>. Still, there's a problem and that problem would be the continued perception that fat people are <i>things</i> or, as recent media noise seems to indicate, children in need of discipline.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaceOff/weight-debate-fat/story?id=9911743&page=1"><i>'Is It Ok to Be Fat?'</i></a> That's a joke, right? Really? Is it ok to be an inept journalist? How about six feet tall? Is <i>that</i> ok? Is it ok to be Jewish? It seems that while the idea that Fat People should be allowed to exist might be gaining some traction, we'll probably have to continue going to <a href="http://www.bigfatblog.com/it-okay-be-fat">strenuous</a> <a href="http://www.bigfatblog.com/fat-discrimination-costs-us-mmmmkay">lengths</a> trying to <a href="http://fatinnyc.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-debated-meme-roth-today-on-tv-sort-of.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fatchat+%28%22Fat+Chat%22+%29&utm_content=Google+Reader">justify<i> </i>that <i>continued</i> existence</a> with some people. Don't thinks so? Well then, what about this; '<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE60503A20100308"><i>Do the Obese Really Deserve Contempt?</i></a>' Now, it's entirely possible that the article, written by Mary Mitchell, a published etiquette author, was meant to point out a disservice being done to people because of their size. The title/question <i>may</i> be rhetorical and the article itself might be an attempt at some kind of satire but, 'The Obese'? I don't think that name means what you want us to <i>think </i> it means. You sure your not talking about '<i>The Unterklasse'</i>?<i> </i>Actually, I couldn't give less of a frak what the authors intentions <i>were</i>.<i> </i>The tone of the article is condescending, patronizing, 'others' faster than a visit to a mountain village with one dirt road, and reeks of 'won't you pity those, poor, 'fflicted folk?'</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I mean, really lady. Just. Don't.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As far as etiquette is concerned- </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times New Roman; line-height: 20.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Merriem Webster has the definition as- </div><div style="font: 16.0px Arial; line-height: 20.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>et·i·quette</b></div><div style="font: 16.0px Times New Roman; line-height: 20.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Pronunciation: \<span style="font: 14.0px Helvetica;">ˈ</span>e-ti-kət, -<span style="font: 14.0px Helvetica;">ˌ</span>ket\</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times New Roman; line-height: 20.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Function: <i>noun</i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Times New Roman; line-height: 20.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Etymology: French <i>étiquette,</i> literally, ticket </div><div style="font: 16.0px Times New Roman; line-height: 20.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Date: 1750</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times New Roman; line-height: 20.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: 14.0px Arial;"><b>:</b></span> the conduct or procedure required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be observed in social or official life</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times New Roman; line-height: 20.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Times New Roman; line-height: 20.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Cambridge Online has-</div><div style="font: 16.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b>etiquette</b> <span style="font: 12.0px Verdana;"><i>noun</i></span></div><div style="font: 13.0px Microsoft Sans Serif; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">/ˈet.ɪ.ket/<span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;"><img alt="ussymbol.png" src="webkit-fake-url://0EB61C03-AFDE-48CA-85CF-2FA6EED22A99/ussymbol.png" /></span>/ˈet ̬.ɪ.kət/<span style="font: 12.0px Verdana;"> [U]</span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Verdana; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">the set of rules or customs which control accepted behaviour in particular social groups or social situations</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As *I* understand the word, etiquette is born of the forbearance and respect one <i>should</i> give to another regardless of perception or assumption. It's one of the pillars of civilized behavior which, eroded as it may be, is necessary for continued social interaction. Don't learn how to act right & your gonna end up beefin' with 'erybody. Which is why I'll be sticking with <a href="http://kateharding.net/2009/07/20/miss-conducts-mind-over-manners-a-very-belated-review/">Miss Conduct</a> and, if I should ever find myself in need of advise, there's always <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/24/LI2005032402809.html">Carolyn Hax at The Washington Post</a>. Such is the beef I've got with Mary Mitchell and <a href="http://fatheffalump.wordpress.com/2010/03/13/fat-folk-and-food/">anyone else</a> who couldn't be bothered to treat fat people with the kind of deference they willingly afford almost anyone else. This would, most definitely, include <a href="http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2010/03/10/gabourey-sidibe-howard-stern-the-c-word/">Howard 'I-hate-myself-so-much-everyone-must-suffer' Stern</a>.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Gabourey Sidibe missed getting her golden statue on Oscar Nite (Mo'Nique DID'NT! and ROCKED her acceptance speech, thank you!!) but, you know what? It didn't even, fucking, matter. She scorched the Red Carpet, she mixed mingled, hobnobbed, and out-did quite a few of the 'beautiful people' Hollywierd holds in such high regard. She flashed & sparkled so, damn, hard they didn't get the <i>chance</i> to sputter 'Yeah, but she's Fa-fa-fa-fa. . . .' By now I'm sure it sounds cliche, but the truth bares repeating; Her self-confidence was inspiring and her raw personality dominated every interview she did. This woman <i>knows </i>who she is and had no intention of ALLOWING anyone else the opportunity to define her. Muthafucka, THAT is Sexy. Watch it, learn it, know it. There <i>will</i> be a test. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">And yet the jackals do circle. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">They wait, watch, and listen. Sniffing for <i>any</i> sign of weakness because she represents the antihisis of their most <a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2010/01/happiness-is-not-option.html">strongly held beliefs about what it is to be fat</a>. Therefore, she <i>must</i> be brought down. Something a long tradition of celebrity society etiquette has insured they can do very well and that makes me worry for her. However, <a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html">Ms. Gabourey Sidibe is, <i>obviously,</i> an extremely strong woman</a>. Hopefully she'll be able to maintain her sense of self in a town where being anyone <i>but</i> yourself is a valued trait. I pray that the price of fame or, more likely the hammering <a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2009/12/fat-man-on-field.html">pressure</a> of <a href="http://thebackporch.sportspagenetwork.com/2010/03/Rex-Ryan-has-surgery-for-fatness-Andre-and-Pete-make-tennis-interesting-and-Jake-Delhomme-becomes-a-Brown.aspx">disapproval</a>, won't turn her against herself and cause her to lose the Center she seems to have forged. And <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/03/08/2010-03-08_fatties_its_time_to_fight_back.html">'forged'</a> would be the operative word here since we now seem to have graduated from a 'problem' that needs to be solved, to people who's existence must be throughly examined and questioned. Gabourey or, basically anyone living fat in todays society, will need the strength and integrity of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damascus_steel">Damascus steel</a> to hold onto any sense of self they can maintain in the face of this societies questioning lack of decorum. And yet they will tell us that <i>we</i> have no self control. Nice.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Akira - Original Soundtrack / Dolls Polyphony</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
</span></div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-30479652854848409212010-03-07T20:54:00.001-05:002010-03-07T20:56:25.821-05:00No Pain, No gain. . . Wait, Why Again Exactly?<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">There has been a current of excellent discussion running through the 'sphere of late concerning exercise and I figured I'd chime. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">OK, well, Transparency here?: I <i>know</i> why I'm fat. I get <span style="text-decoration: underline;">very</span> little exercise. Thing is, I don't eat all that much either and<i> that</i> is where the main disconnect most mainstream people have comes down. Not to mention the outright denial of the Obesity Panic Advocates. See, according to them (and their thermodynamically absolute scale), to eat as little as I generally do and maintain my current weight, I'd either have to be strapped to a bed expending practically no energy at all, or <a href="http://kateharding.net/2008/01/01/if-your-pants-are-above-a-size-14-youd-better-hope-theyre-flame-retardant/">I'm lying about how much I eat</a>. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Concern Trolls and PC Psych people would have me believe that I'm either somehow unaware of what I <i>actually</i> eat or what <i>normal eating</i> is (aka: It's not your fault. Your just stupid). While hard core Obesity Hysterics and Physics Wonks will except no other answer but the latter. Mainly because no other possibility might even be discussed lest the very fabric of the universe unravel (aka: we know everything there is to know about physics AND biology. Can't happen. Full stop). Ergo, as such, in as much, and thusly, I <i>must</i> be lying. 'Cause, yah know, I care so much about their judgments of how much I eat. Obviously. (Funny thing is, they'll tell you the mind-body interface of intuitive eating is a crock of shite then, in the same breath, spin around and tell you your an unconscious overeater. Or in conscious denial of how much you eat) </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In any case, with the flurry of posts on exercise flitting around the 'sphere over the past week, it brought back one of the weirder aspects of Americas' attitudes towards physical fitness. Well, at least for me it's weird. And that would be the 'No Pain, No Gain' philosophy. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">You see it everywhere. From the warm and fuzzy group hugz of Richard Simmons to the sadomasochistic stylings of The Biggest Loser. Beyond the conventional wisdom that dictates <a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2010/02/kids-are-all-right.html">exercise, for fat people, should have no valid purposes other than weight loss</a>, in America and most other countries on this planet, if it doesn't hurt. If your not suffering or, at least, sweating profusely. Then <i>your not doing it right.</i> And this attitude pervades across the gender spectrum. I've made the comparison before but, sometimes, it almost seems like we're reliving 14th Century <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagellant">Flagellantism</a>. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Now this might work for some people. Different strokes for different folks and all that (no pun intended. Or not much of one, anyway), but why would anybody expect it to work for everybody? We accept that there are a million different ways to do just about anything, but this? Well, talk about Yoga or Tai Chi. Tango, ballroom, jazz, belly or any other kind of dance that ISN'T considered aerobically taxing in under five minutes or less. Talk about the walking one <i>must</i> do to get to work while using mass transit or the walking one <i>might</i> have to do to shop locally and that, patently, <i>isn't</i> exercise. It must be scheduled, done daily or semi-daily and, with a few grudging exceptions, it must hurt. With this attitude we wonder why some people refuse to have anything to do with exercise at all. Now add the moral implication of being told 'you just need to stop eating so much' when you <i>know</i> that's not the case. And being called a liar when trying to explain that you don't need to put down the Big Mac because you eat less of that crap than most of the people you know (then you must be eating too much of something else!), that you eat an average of 2 meals a day OR LESS (then you must be eating <a href="http://www.fatshionista.com/cms/index.php?option=com_mojo&Itemid=69&p=193">two whole cakes</a> for that one meal. Fatty!), or that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/07/30/magazine/803BODIES_4.html">you</a> might even eat less than your <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/07/30/magazine/803BODIES_2.html">skinny friends</a> ('Liar, lair, Fatties pants are on fire!' So much maturity for, supposed, adults). Why even bother? </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Well, because your not doing it for them. Your doing it for <i>you. </i>Screw anybody who has a problem with what your doing, how your doing it, how frequently or infrequently, or how much it DOESN'T hurt. If you've never done it before, try it. Give it enough of a chance to really determine whether or not you actually like it, and if you don't then there's no law that says you HAVE to (not <i>yet</i> anyway). But if you do, then don't let anyone stand in the way of doing it as much or as little as makes you comfortable. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Again; Exercise (or 'Movement', if even the <i>word</i> tends to stroke a nerve) has NOTHING to do with them and everything to do with YOU. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Crystal Method / Bad Stone</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-63926454183258551482010-03-03T02:50:00.002-05:002010-03-03T03:00:11.186-05:00Back of the Bus: The Fat Menace<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-kimmel/flying-fat_b_479800.html">In an airport not that far away</a>. . . </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The <span style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica;">Rebellion struggles </span><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;">against</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font: normal normal normal 11px/normal Helvetica;">an</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font: normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;">unjust</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font: normal normal normal 9px/normal Helvetica;">Empire. </span></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Here we are again. it seems that the Kevin Smith vs. Southwest Airlines situation may have brought quite a bit more attention to the bile and sanctimonious hate that's been spawned by the less than warm and fuzzy 'Obesity Epipanic'. Perhaps all it takes is an incidence of, fully public, out-right stupidity for people to start thinking about what their being sold. And, yes, 'sold' is exactly the word I was looking for. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In a post from <a href="http://mylipstickonhercollar.com/2010/02/24/biggest-loser-im-not-missing-you/">Confessions of a Fat Femme</a> Stiletto Siren comments on the noticeable change in her self awareness after two weeks without the decidedly non-passive aggressive subtext that runs throughout the tormentainment extravaganza that is The Biggest Loser. It became obvious to her that the guilt, shame, ridicule, and degradation, so eagerly doled out by the 'trainers' and host of this game show (Bottom line? That's all <i>most</i> pseudo-reality TV is; Re-packaged game shows) in the name of 'motivation' was actually impacting<i> her</i> negatively. Despite her ability to maintain a subjective distance from the show, it was causing her to question herself and her state of being. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">THIS</span></a> is what's being sold and, by any standard you care to name, it's a hard sell. We are ALL getting these messages 24 - 7 - 365 and it's effecting us ALL because that's what it's been designed to do. Why else would advertisers spend whole truck loads of money to find out <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1966467,00.html?xid=rss-topstories">what sounds are most likely to grab peoples attention</a>? But like most slight-of-hand illusions, if you know there's a trick behind the gag, it tends to lose a lot of it's effectiveness. Especially when the gag is on the par of a, less than brilliant, moose pulling a rabbit out of his hat. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Scream and holler about how fat people are going to drop dead any second now and you will get a reaction. That is, unless it <i>doesn't</i> start happening, like, soon. You can keep pushing the Doom Date back or use all kinds of nebulously vague 'time of reckoning' language but ultimately, if the Mothership carrying comet doesn't show up to start beaming the faithful up to safety, people are going to start asking questions. And this is not something any <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">cult hierarch</span> <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">self righteous crusader</span> <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">diet industry grifter</span>. . . . . Umm, Obesity Crisis Advocate?. . . Wants. When people start looking around them and observing, 'Kate from my office is <a href="http://www.salon.com/life/excerpt/2009/01/24/kate_harding/index.html">actually fat </a>and she's not like what their saying.' 'My neighbor who's fixing up that classic chevy is a pretty big guy. He gets around fine.' 'My friend from High School is large and he/she is a pretty fun person to hang with.' They may even start asking themselves that singularly most critical question- </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"> 'Why am *I* so worried about how fat or thin they, </div><div style="font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Helvetica; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"> or anyone else for that matter, is?' </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Moby / God Moving Over the Face of the Waters</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-24241141571628569952010-02-15T22:48:00.001-05:002010-02-15T23:24:25.261-05:00Back of the Bus III<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yeah, I'm back on this again! Guess what? I'm gonna BE on this until people start realizing that they are not talking about some nebulously abstract, obesity epipanic problem, they can hammer at until it's fixed. My job here is to remind you that WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, IS PEOPLE. <i>Fat</i> People who are, quite possibly enjoying their flight experience EVEN LESS THAN YOU ARE. Yes it is possible. It's even possible to realize this on your own if you have more empathy than your average sociopath. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In any case this has turned into something fairly big [Yeah, ok haters. Get your LULz in now...] but it needs to go bigger [...'Cause you might not be laughing for long]. In that vain- </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><ul style="list-style-type: circle;"><li style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">First Responders:</li>
</ul><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.bfdblog.com/2010/02/13/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight-for-being-fat/">Kevin Smith Kicked Off Southwest Flight For Being Fat</a> <i>via Big Fat Deal</i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.therotund.com/?p=707">So, a fat guy gets on an airplane; Kevin Smith vs. Southwest Airlines</a> <i>via The Rotund</i></div><ul style="list-style-type: circle;"><li style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">For a pretty concise transcript of what went down: </li>
</ul><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://biglibertyblog.com/2010/02/15/on-kevin-smith-and-flying-fat/">On Kevin Smith and Flying Fat</a> and <a href="http://biglibertyblog.com/2010/02/15/more-kevin-smith-flying-fat-fallout/">More Kevin Smith Flying Fat Fallout</a> <i>via Big Liberty</i></div><ul style="list-style-type: circle;"><li style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Kevin Smith's own words on what Fly while Fat can be like:</li>
</ul><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.smodcast.com/smods/smodcast106.html">SMODCAST #106: Go Fuck Yourself, Southwest Airlines</a> <i>via SMODCAST</i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"> </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">The articles under the above links need to be read. The COMMENTS after all of those articles need to be read. Read, thought through, and understood. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">However if your not really interested, or too frightened to go <i>that</i> far, then feel free to go back to your regularly scheduled fat hate. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We weren't going to convince you anyway. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Poppa Chubby / Hey Joe</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-66228017750924551352010-02-14T23:50:00.000-05:002010-02-14T23:50:37.191-05:00Back of the Bus II<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/02/14/2010-02-14_director_kevin_smith_too_fat_to_fly_southwest_clerks_writerdirector_tweets_rage_.html">This</a> wasn't, quite, as inevitable as the <a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2009/12/back-of-bus.html">last</a>. After all one would expect a major transportation concern to realize that publicly embarrassing a media personality with a major fan base and internet access might not be a good idea. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">I'm a fan of Kevin Smith's comic book writings. Of the innumerable cross-title match ups of Spider-Man and Daredevil his featured some of the best writing and story arcs I've ever read. Haven't been one much for his directorial work but I respect the Slacker / Stoner / SciFi Nerd / Fanboy in him. Unfortunately, from what I've heard & read about him recently, it sounds like he's on the same Hate Yourself Treadmill most of the people who have anything to DO with Hollywierd end up on. Little advice Kev, riding that dieting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-yo_dieting">Yo-Yo</a> just 'cause somebody <i>else</i> has a problem with <span style="text-decoration: underline;">your</span> weight will only end up dumping your health down the crapper faster than staying fat and stable. Dude, it's far better to feel good about yourself while throwing a <a href="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b148/poisondose/ignignot.jpg">Big fat Bird</a> to the Haters than let them mind-frak you into screwing yourself up just to look like them.</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">As for Southwest? This little demonstration makes it patently obvious that they have no respect or even <a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-27745-SF-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m11d23-Is-this-San-Jose-man-too-fat-to-fly--video">sympathy</a> for fat people in general. At least as little as their passengers who, are more than willing to jump all over people they consider different because they've been made uncomfortable. Like we WANT to pack ourselves into seats that are too, damn, small. Like we LIKE having them touch US in any way. Like we ENJOY the muscle cramps from balling ourselves up into the smallest space possible. LIKE WE WOULD BE DOING ANY OF THIS IF WE DIDN'T <span style="text-decoration: underline;">HAVE TO</span> BECAUSE, LIKE THEM, WE <span style="text-decoration: underline;">NEED</span> TO GET WHERE WE ARE GOING.</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">News Flash folks; except for the very well off, traveling sucks for everybody. <a href="http://bilt4hugin.livejournal.com/11108.html">Get over it</a> or get ON the <a href="http://www.southwest.com/help/luvbook.html?int=GFOOTER-CUSTOMER-CONTACT-US">people who are <i>supposed</i> to make it better</a>. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"> </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Keith Richards / You Don't Move Me</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-36503024788662038322010-02-12T15:12:00.001-05:002010-02-12T15:14:18.701-05:00The Myth of History<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Ah, the power of <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100211121832.htm">propaganda</a>. Recently there's been this <a href="http://erylin.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/obesity-tipping-point-as-low-as-3-months-diet-formula-for-you-baby/">increased</a> <a href="http://fatandnotafraid.viviti.com/entries/general/angry-with-rage">focus</a> on <a href="http://red3.blogspot.com/2010/02/wont-someone-think-of-fat-children.html">children</a> within the rabid, hyper-stimulated, world of the Obesity Epipanic. <a href="http://bilt4hugin.livejournal.com/1225.html">It's been building for some time now</a>. And, with the <a href="http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/feature/2010/02/10/michelle_obama_weight/index.html">First Ladies apparent inability to separate <i>health</i> from <i>fatness</i></a><i>,</i> It would seem that now is the perfect time to ramp-up the intensity. <i> </i> </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What I, and many others, find so unusual about these theories of postnatal calorie restriction [Certainly, more fanatic elements of the Anti-fat Brigade <a href="http://www.bigfatblog.com/node/1112">see no reason to stop at merely <i>postnatal</i> dieting</a>] is the obvious disconnect regarding, yah know; Growth and what one needs to accomplish said Growth. Well, one would <i>THINK</i> this disconnect to be obvious but. . . . </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Humans are mammals, I think most biologist and medical people would agree to that. Now, one of the fundamental processes of mammalian reproduction, one might call it <span style="text-decoration: underline;">essential</span> amongst offspring baring creatures is. . . Wait for it, wait for it. . . Ready?. . . Calorie Stockpiling. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Animals (those without the intellect to make them believe and do stupid things) instinctively calorie load during pregnancy for several reasons including:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><li style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Normal / increased development of fetal offspring before birth. </li>
<li style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Increased energy reserves enabling mother / host to carry offspring to term.</li>
<li style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Energy reserves for mother AND offspring for the birthing process itself.</li>
<li style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Better <i>survival</i> prospects of postnatal young.</li>
<li style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Normal / increased development of vulnerable preadolescent offspring. </li>
</ul><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">In species that exhibit pair bonding or mate-for-life tendencies, males will often starve themselves in order to make sure, offspring carrying, mates get as much nutrition as can be made available. But, of course, one could argue that we're not animals and therefore don't need to concern ourselves with matters as dire as survival. Well, in deference to my non-meat-eating friends, this argument would be very similar to those who argue against the need for human meat consumption. My views on the subject? As long as humans continue to produce flesh taring canine teeth and meat processing intestinal gut flora, humans will <i>need</i> to eat meat. As long as human offspring are being carried to term by their mothers, as long as normal preadolescent growth is handled outside of a some kind of pod or child growing factory, calorie overloading will ALWAYS be safer than calorie depravation. Even IF there IS an increased possibility of obesity. Even if <span style="text-decoration: underline;">ALL</span> the TERRIFYING things they are trying so desperately to convince us WILL HAPPEN (for sure... Mostly) in that far-flung future <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">fantasy</span> of the Fat Apocalypse. Who knows what pandora's box of new physio/psychological deficiencies and illnesses restricting the calorie intake of <span style="text-decoration: underline;">3 MONTH OLD CHILDREN</span> will open. Or maybe they do know. I mean, those, whatchamacallum, 3rd world children survive, <a href="http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/83/8/1130">right</a>? Well, most of them do anyway. . . And their pretty healthy. . . <a href="http://motherchildnutrition.org/healthy-nutrition/index.html">Kinda</a>. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">This is Your Obesity Panic. It tells us that 2000 years of child rearing experience is wrong and that fat babies <span style="font: normal normal normal 16px/normal 'Arial Narrow';"><b>≠</b></span> healthy babies. It drives people to unreasoned heights of fear and makes outrageous ideas like depriving your children of the basic materials they need to<i> </i>be <i>actually</i> healthy, prosperous, and whole, sound logical.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">But then that's what good propaganda does. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Jane's Addiction / Been Caught Stealing</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-9869669433123691382010-02-04T21:26:00.000-05:002010-02-04T21:26:57.754-05:00Stepping Forward Looking Back<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Over the past year the Fatospohere and F/A has seen some movement (I think mostly constructive) in regards to intersectionallity and gender issues. There is, however, one contentious issue that seems to have been passed right over and has kind of faded into the background. That would be socially acceptable, social causes. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Out in the wilds of the interwebs the suggestion that it <i>might</i> possible to be both <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/phys-ed-can-you-be-overweight-and-still-be-healthy/?apage=8#comments">fit and fat</a> or <a href="http://fatcomedyrelief.blogspot.com/2010/01/happiness-is-not-option.html">fat and happy</a> will either get you out-of-hand rejection or the kind of disregard one usually reserves for annoying children. But, unbelievable as it may seem, there are two other suggestions that can often generate flaming vitriol on contact. The suggestion that fat discrimination might bare some similarity to racial discrimination. Or the suggestion that societal disdain that fat people experience might, in some ways, be comparable to that with which the LGBT community has long been subjected. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Suggesting that there are ANY similarities between F/A and either of these social justice movements will often get you a lot of combustible dissent regarding the 'changeability' of body size or observations that there is a lack of physical violence in the history of fat hate. I usually end up thinking three things whenever I hear these arguments 1) it might be changeable for some (and this is <i>far</i> from PROVEN) but what about those for whom it isn't? 2) As for the physical violence issue? Let me fix that statement for you; '. . -SO FAR- there is a lack of physical violence in the history of fat hate'. Don't think this is, at all, possible? I think someone needs to brush up on their <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1221405/Overweight-people-campaign-make-Britain-fat-friendly.html">human history</a>. Invariably the last thing that comes to my mind when confronted with a denial of the similarities between fat hate, race hate, and sexual orientation hate is; 3) Why are you fighting this analogy so hard? Hate is hate. Is ANY of it better than the others. Is ANY of it more worthy of attention? Or do you, the denier, think that perhaps some kinds of hate might be Ok? </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Often we'll hear that the comparison of fat discrimination to other struggles for social justice and equality diminishes those struggles. Somehow diluting the importance of groups who are fighting for equality and for the right to be seen as <a href="http://www.charlottecooper.net/docs/fat/headless_fatties.htm">human beings</a>. People struggling for the right to live there lives without <a href="http://news.softpedia.com/news/Americans-Hate-Fat-People-Anti-Fat-Rhetoric-Is-Out-of-Line-120605.shtml">abuse</a>, <a href="http://www.medcitynews.com/index.php/2010/02/the-obesity-backlash-begins-medcity-morning-read-feb-3-2010/">harassment</a>, or discriminatory <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2008/08/alabama-places.html">regulation</a>. But is fat discrimination really <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/213646/page/1">trivial</a>? Or is it just young. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">After all this is a brand new phenomena and, if history is any guide, as the general economic situation gets worse, it's not likely that the prevalence and kinds of fat hate / discrimination are going to get any better. Unless the people who are subject <i>to</i> it or the people involved with them do something to blunt or halt it <span style="text-decoration: underline;">now</span>. One of the most effective tools against any kind of hate, is to gain an understanding OF it. Well, if we want to understand New Hate, make it easier for others to comprehend what it is or even that it <i>exists</i>, one of the best ways to do that, is to look back at the Hate that Came Before. </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Obviously, those of us struggling against New Hate should treat the struggles of the past with respect and the acknowledgment that they deserve, but all such struggles deserve the same. Including new ones. Respect is a two way street. To get some, you gotta give some. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Smashing Pumpkins / Siva</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-64750258313633240102010-02-01T22:15:00.000-05:002010-02-01T22:15:44.275-05:00The Kids are All Right?<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Last week, President Obama announced during the State of the Union Address that his wife would be taking up an initiative to address childhood obesity in the U.S. We now have, what we might assume, is a rough outline of where the <a href="http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/01/michelle_obama_obesity_is_also.html">First Lady will be taking this initiative</a>. Like most things there is good and there is bad. First the good- </div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>"Many parents tell me that they want </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>to prepare healthy food for their kids, </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>but there aren't any supermarkets </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>where they live that sell fresh produce. </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>Or they're tight on money, and healthy </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>foods seem too expensive. Or they're </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>tight on time - working longer hours, working </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>two jobs - so they can't pull off those </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>homecooked meals around the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>dinner table." </i> </span></i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-As good as it is to see that the First Lady is aware of the fact that most people don't have the time, money, or energy to pursue the acceptable body size / shape that the fashion industry, Hollywierd, media, and puritanical fatophobes <i>insist</i> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">everyone</span> should have, I'm going to have to hold my applause. Why? This-</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>"Obesity is also one of the biggest threats </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>to the American economy. If we continue </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>on our current path, in ten years, nearly </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>50 percent of all Americans will be </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>obese - not just overweight, but obese. </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>So think about how much we'll be spending </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>on health care to treat obesity-related </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>conditions like heart disease, cancer, and </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>diabetes. Think about all the missed days </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>of work and decreased productivity </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>we may see <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>as a result."</i> </span></i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Never mind that the very same, media driven, circus of terror that has fanned and stoked the flames of this obesity panic are now telling us that <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2010/01/obesity_rates_h.html">it <i>might not</i> be so bad</a>. In fact, there are those who would suggest that all this fear-mongering and hysteria are being generated over an <a href="http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11146&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CatoRecentOpeds+%28Cato+Recent+Op-eds%29&utm_content=Google+Reader">'epidemic' that never even existed in the first place</a>. We have been saturation bombed for so long by doom-saying messages from the media and a medical community so befuddled they can't even agree on what the problem <i>might </i>be, that we may well have begun to believe in what really isn't there. <a href="http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/a/warofworlds.htm">It's happened before in far less time and with far less effort</a>. The problem is in trying to keep people from grabbing their torches, pick-axes, and rope, then running out to join the mob and do the same old things, the same old way. Ways that have <span style="text-decoration: underline;">never</span> worked before, won't work now, and will ultimately end up doing more harm than good. Mrs. Obama does seem to get this- </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>" And there are some people who might </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>ask you: How can you go and spend money </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>on something like healthy school lunches when </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>we've got overcrowded classrooms and </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>outdated textbooks to worry about? Or, </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>how can you build parks, or sidewalks, or </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>bike paths when we can barely afford </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>to keep the community health center open?</i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><i></i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>These are fair questions. But when you</i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i> step back and think about it, you realize </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>that in the end, they're really false choices. </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>We've all heard from teachers and principals </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>that if kids don't have the nutrition they need </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>to stay alert and focused in class, even the </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>best textbooks in the world aren't going to </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>help them learn. And we've heard from doctors </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>and public health officials that if they don't </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>have safe places to play right now, then a </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>few years from now, that community health </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>center will be even more crowded and even </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>more of a strain on your <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>budget."</i><span style="font: 16.0px Georgia;"> </span></span></i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-America likes progress it can see. Complex status markers like, Blood pressure, cholesterol counts, heart and respiration rates, don't hold much interest for us. But weight loss you can <i>see</i>. It's something you can hold up to show yourself and others while saying 'I did this'. And the BMI is a simple number made even simpler by the medical industry. If your under X it's 'good'. If your over it's 'bad'. Yet we are actively discouraged from asking how <i>healthy</i> either one of these simple markers, body weight and BMI, really are. Which is why the diet industry is so fond of both. Until recently 'Before and After' pictures and testimonials have long been a staple of the industry for this reason. From the <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/reports/weightloss.pdf">2002 Federal Trade Commissions Analysis of Trends in the Weight Loss Industry</a>- </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>" Consumer Testimonials; Before/After </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>Photos. The headline proclaimed: </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>“I lost 46 lbs in 30 days.” Another blared, </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>“How I lost 54 pounds without dieting or </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>medication in less than 6 weeks!” The use </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>of consumer testimonials is pervasive in </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>weight-loss advertising. One hundred and </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>ninety-five (65%) of the advertisements in the </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>sample used consumer testimonials and </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>42% contained before-and-after pictures. </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>These testimonials and photos rarely </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>portrayed realistic weight loss. The average </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>for the largest amount of weight loss reported </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>in each of the 195 advertisements was </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>71 pounds. Fifty-seven ads reported weight </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>loss exceeding 70 pounds, and 38 ads reported </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>weight loss exceeding 100 pounds. The </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>advertised weight loss ranges are, in all </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>likelihood, simply not achievable for the </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>products being promoted. Thirty-six ads used 71 </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>different testimonials claiming weight loss of </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>nearly a pound a day for time periods of 13 </i></div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>days or more."</i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">-It even became necessary for the Federal Trade Commission to revise the use of the safe harbor disclaimer <a href="http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a01488f7-20c6-47b6-bc93-e52ec944007d">'Results not typical'</a>. Specifically to reign in the Diet industries rampant and deceptive use of the phrase to make false claims and generate business. So powerful is America's need to '<b>see </b>the results'<b> </b>that we have allowed ourselves to be convinced that getting healthy is, not only directly proportional to losing weight, but that losing weight is <i>equal</i> to being healthy. Just as we allowed Diet companies to make money from us even while telling us that the results we are seeing, aren't real. This goes deep. Deep enough so that even the First Lady of the United States is susceptible to the conventional wisdom- </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>"Mayor Mick Cornett challenged the </i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>people of Oklahoma City to lose a </i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>million pounds, and he created a </i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>website - thiscityisgoingonadiet.com - </i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>where people can learn how to lose </i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>weight and track their weight loss, and </i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>can share personal stories and tips with </i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>others. So far, 40,000 people have </i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>signed up - and together, they've </i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 72.0px;"><i>lost more <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>than half a million pounds. "</i> </span></i></div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">- But can they maintain that loss? What does it mean if they end up weighing even <i>more </i>down the line? And <i>are they any healthier</i>? Rarely do these questions ever get asked. </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Mrs. Obama, if by some random chance the stars align and you happen to be reading this, the one thing I would hope that you take from it is this; improved health is a valid, worthwhile, and feasible goal for everyone. Especially Children. However a continued, obsessive, focus on weight loss will, most likely only end up making our kids less healthy and / or fatter.</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: right;">“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: right;">over and over again and expecting different results”</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: right;">-Albert Einstein </div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Depeche Mode / Stripped</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-72634950780906939472010-01-25T13:10:00.000-05:002010-01-25T13:10:34.907-05:00Well, THAT Didn't Work.<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">ATTENTION, <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2008/08/alabama-places.html">Alabama Legislature</a>! The Obesity Epidemic information you've based your discriminatory 'health initiatives' on, is false / faulty. No I'm not talking about the BMI. Although that, too, is pretty useless. I'm talking about the shining example of success you based your 'Fat <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">people</span> Fighting' healthcare 'Fat Tax' on. The ONE incidence where financially punishing people for the size of their bodies <i>seemed</i> to work, <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010874880_safeway24.html">is based on a lie</a>. A pretty, [perhaps for you] statistically pleasing, conventionally logical, lie but a lie none the less.<br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Perhaps you should have consulted with <a href="http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=69279&catid=164">Gov. Joseph Manchin</a> of W. Virginia before rushing ahead with an iffy program that's had ONE example of 'success' [Well, <i>used</i> to have one anyway].<br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">We know, it's scary. With all the big, bold, headlines in the non-biased media. All those 'experts', scientific sounding people, and infallible Doctors that are out there screaming about the End of <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">Days</span> Health. Good Folk who must have <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/21/obesity.discrimination/"><i>some</i> reason for not liking fat people</a>. And all those terrifying <a href="http://topnews.us/content/29875-data-reveals-obesity-rate-has-remained-same-us">prophesies</a> of the impending <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100113-708754.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines">Fat Apocalypse</a>? Something <i>had</i> to be <b>done</b>. Right?<br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Yeah, No. It's never a good idea to persecute or punish people for their own good. Doesn't work, isn't helpful, and makes you look, something of a, self-righteous, prig. Or was that more of a 'make them pay because their costing us money' kind of thing? Despite the fact that fat people are already paying their own way just like everybody <i>else</i> paying into healthcare at work? Oh. Right. <i>They</i> say Fat Offenders actually cost <i>more </i>than they pay in. And by 'they', you would mean those same 'experts' and statistically pleasing reports again. They sure do say a lot, them and those infallible medical people. <br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Wonder what ELSE they might have <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">glossed over</span> missed?<br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 19.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i>via; </i><a href="http://living400lbs.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/things-worth-reading-2/"><i>Living400</i></a><i> </i><a href="http://biglibertyblog.com/"><i>Big Liberty</i></a><i> & </i><a href="http://unapologeticallyfat.blogspot.com/"><i>Unapologetically Fat</i></a><br />
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</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Muzak Therapy:<br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">B-52's / Private Idaho<br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
</span></div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91021782592629222.post-18929634585806002162010-01-22T12:43:00.001-05:002010-01-22T12:47:35.367-05:00Spin, Spin Doctor<div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">Ah, so now that <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/21/obesity.discrimination/">CNN</a> has discovered [<a href="http://fathealth.wordpress.com/">uncovered / decided to get around to</a>] weight discrimination in medicine, we should get a bold, slant free, investigation of The Truth [<--Note Caps], right? Actually, no. What we get is yet another spin job from the press.<br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What 'spin job' you ask? Well, we get details on studies that have shown overweight patients are more likely to be misdiagnosed, under dosed when being prescribed meds, and have a harder time even GETTING healthcare coverage [Hmmm, this wouldn't have any effect on all those 'Fat People Die Sooner/More Frequently' studies would it? Naah]. It tells us how fat people are ignored, dismissed and even <span style="text-decoration: underline;">refused</span> <i>necessary</i> medical treatment because that treatment might be more difficult or more risky and Dr's don't want to take the <i>chance</i> to treat us or just couldn't be bothered with the extra work [Wonder how many employers would be happy with this attitude in their office/plant/business? Oh, wait! Different context. We're only talking about peoples lives. <i>Fat </i>peoples lives. Nevermind].<br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">What's the underlying message we're getting here? Where is this article going as far as pointing in the direction of a possible solution to this mess? 'Lets work toward <i>ending</i> discriminatory practices'? Ummm, not quite. What we get is More of the Same; Lose the weight Fatty.<br />
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</div><blockquote><span style="font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"</span></span></span>There's an even bigger problem, though: when heavy women are ignored, the obesity epidemic is ignored, too -- and that has to stop, experts say. "Being mistreated or dismissed by your doctor because of your weight is unacceptable. <b><i>But what's just as important is that doctors are missing an opportunity to help their patients </i><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><i>lose weight</i></span><i> and improve their health,</i></b>" says Huizinga of Johns Hopkins.<br />
</blockquote><blockquote>"Doctors and patients need to be able to speak openly about weight-related issues, whether it's the diseases caused by excess weight or the reasons why a patient overeats. That level of conversation requires a certain degree of comfort, and the basis for that is mutual respect, plain and simple," she says. "<b><i>That's how we can help all women get healthier.</i></b>"<br />
</blockquote><div style="font: 14.0px Arial; line-height: 19.0px; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">[emphasis mine]<br />
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</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There's that Spin again. The classic </span><a href="http://www.bfdblog.com/2010/01/22/fat-22/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Obesity Catch-22</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> -You can Win but only if you lose weight. If you can't lose weight [Read; Don't want to lose weight. Because it's impossible to NOT lose if you just </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">try</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;">] then, guess what? No Cookie for you. 'But why? Why is this SO important?' you might ask. Because Health </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">is</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Weight. Losing weight is The Answer to being healthy. It's the ONLY answer. If your not trying to lose weight then your not trying to be Healthy and that isn't, morally, ok. This would be The Morality of Being Fat. One more turn on the Obesity [Panic] Epidemic Merry Go-round. </span><br />
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</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But what if you ARE trying to lose weight? </span><a href="http://kateharding.net/2007/11/27/the-fantasy-of-being-thin/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What if you've been trying </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">your entire life</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">? </span></i><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, if your not thin by now then your not doing it right. Or your lying to us & yourself, a LOT! </span><br />
</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Either way, your fat and that's not, morally, ok. What's more, it's also </span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">your fault.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
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</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All of it. </span><br />
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</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Even how the Dr's treat you.</span><br />
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</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Because, if you would just stop being fat, people would treat you better. </span><br />
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</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course, if one is foolish enough to ask how that might be done [stop being fat], the Answers one tends to get range from flat out folk lore [I have a friend, who has a cousin, who has a dog that lost weight by...], to 'science' as interpreted by cargo-cultists [Calories in = Calories out, full stop. Metabolism doesn't exist. Genetic inheritance doesn't count. Physics trumps Microbiology because we know everything there is to know about both. . . . And that's that, Fatty!], with a little political conspiracy thrown in for good measure [Can you say 'High Fructose Corn Syrup'? I knew you could]. It's enough to make one start thinking that NOBODY has any idea what, the fuck, their talking about. Except, of course, that it's all our fault. </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">That</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> they </span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">know</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span><br />
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</div><div style="font: 15.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whoop! Here comes that brass ring again. Do I try for it One More Time or just decide to get off this stupid, pointless, ridiculous ride and go see what the unpopular kids are up to? Hmmmm. . . . </span><br />
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</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Muzak Therapy:</span><br />
</div><div style="font: 16.0px Georgia; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Vangelis / Other Side of Antarctica</span><br />
</div>Bilt4cmfrthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174369460254133331noreply@blogger.com0