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1. links for 2007-04-08 « No Snow Here on 08 Apr 2007 at 1:22 am

   […] Making the fashion industry think beyond a size 6 at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop… Click the link to watch a great video created by two plus size models in support of their campaign to reduce the gap between “skinny” fashion and “plus-size” fashion. (tags: bodyimage fashion fat) […]

Comments

1. Francis Jacquerye wrote:

   Good initiative. I could’nt agree more.

   Posted 06 Apr 2007 at 9:54 am ¶

2. Sinhartha wrote:

   Interesting in light of 3 Apr 07 “The Tyra Banks Show” devoted to a Thick and Sexy Top Model competition. Ruben Studdard, Josh Morrow and Mia Tyler were the judges. Recap here:

   http://tyrashow.warnerbros.com/show_recaps/show_recap_tue82.html

   Show bothered me for some reason, almost as much as the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign. Not sure whether it’s hypocrisy or a double standard, but I think I don’t want to have separate categories, simply more appreciation that beauty comes in all (healthy) shapes and sizes.

   Posted 06 Apr 2007 at 12:23 pm ¶

3. Jennifer wrote:

   I don’t know if this is really positive. It’s good not to convince girls to be aneroxic, but how long can we keep telling ourselves that it’s okay to be obese - it really isn’t.

   Having obese role models is akin to having poorly-educated role models. It’s bad for your healthy to be obese, it’s bad for our economy, it’s bad for our health care system.

   Posted 06 Apr 2007 at 2:05 pm ¶

4. CScarlet wrote:

   Jennifer, none of those women were obese or unhealthy. A size 12 and a size 14 are not obese, doesn’t automatically infer an unhealthy lifestyle or existance. That’s a damn ridiculous statement. I am between a size 12 and a size 14 and I am in the normal weight range for my height and age, as well as, according to my physician, perfectly healthy. And actually, finally okay with myself, after years of struggling with my body image. I am normal, I am healthy. So why am I not represented in womens’ publications, why weren’t girls like me represented in girls’ publications? Healthy, normal girls, as I was? What’s more dangerous, affirming women who aren’t shaped as the current ideal (ie: the majority), or leading them down a road that starts with dissatisfaction and could end in an eating disorder?

   All women should be affirmed and represented. Skinny to fat, flat to curvy. Banning big people from the public eye isn’t going to stop them from existing. Everyone should be encourage to take care of themselves, to be healthy at all sizes, because it’s possible at all sizes.

   Posted 06 Apr 2007 at 6:06 pm ¶

5. eliaday wrote:

   i couldn’t agree more that positive body image is an issue that needs more coverage. however, this isn’t just an issue that white women face!! (i know there was ONE picture of three african american women.)

   especially within the asian american community, this issue is so overlooked. asian american women have body issues too!!

   Posted 06 Apr 2007 at 9:42 pm ¶

6. mr guy wrote:

   About the tyra banks link, thick and beautiful that was posted in the second comment.Well, to be honest, they’re not just “thick” (most overused and abused term in the black community)they’re overweight.And I don’t mean having a few extra pounds.They really ARE overweight.And while I understand what trya was trying to do, still, that’s not something I would want to push into acceptance.Especially to children/young girls.

   Posted 07 Apr 2007 at 2:14 pm ¶

7. s wrote:

   It is sad that the negative effects of the almost UNIVERSAL Standard of Beauty reaches all the way down to the itty bitty innocent girls of our elementary schools. The lady was right, it’s too big of a burden on our children. People really need to chill out with their lust for skeleton models and the offensiveness of their fat-phobias because it is absolutlety ridiculous, and very powerful and damaging.

   I began to be harrassed by white men calling me fat and tubby at a very stressed out, unhealthy size 5/6!!! Ridiculous.

   Posted 07 Apr 2007 at 5:26 pm ¶

8. Colin wrote:

   Maybe I’m heartless, but this just made me think…(tangentially related - watch out people)

   How rich is the US when we have an EPIDEMIC of obesity, when we eat TOO MUCH? Makes me a little more sad to think about…

   Posted 07 Apr 2007 at 7:06 pm ¶

9. kim wrote:

   “How rich is the US when we have an EPIDEMIC of obesity, when we eat TOO MUCH? Makes me a little more sad to think about…”

   Colin, I am listening to Richard Cohen’s ‘Sweet and Low’ on audio, and on disk 3, tracks 9-14, is an INCREDIBLE chronology of the history of the introduction of sugar into the Western diet, replete with correlations to displays of wealth and the inescapable travels around the globe to set up colonies to produce the stuff.

   Seriously, just get this, and listen. I am riveted.

   Posted 08 Apr 2007 at 12:21 am ¶

10. mr guy wrote:

    Colin:

    Hey, I actually thought of that myself lol.

    Posted 08 Apr 2007 at 12:59 am ¶

11. Lyonside wrote:

    Colin: make a note of something, however…

    1A. the most fattening foods are the cheapest (because high fructose corn syrup, bleached wheat flour, and artificial preservatives are cheap).

    1B. there are more obese and overweight people in the poorer sections of US society.

    2A. the fastest growing regions of the country are the suburbs and exurbs, where public transportation tends to be minimal (if even present), and distances are too great for casual biking (unless your name begins with “L”, ends with an “A”), meaning that people live in their cars to get to school, work, businesses, etc. And in some impoverished urban environments, there are no safe playgrounds, greenspaces, and recreational areas for exercise. Hell, people in my town are getting shot on the sidewalk or in their own living rooms by stray bullets. Saying “join a gym” just isn’t possible in a lot of areas, both for logistical and economic reasons.

    2B. the nation as a whole refuses to commit long term funding to public transportation (which even in the best areas involves some form of walking from point A to point B), even when the public wants it. And don’t get me started about public greenspaces and recreational areas.

    To say that obesity is caused by people simply eating too much (on a national scale) is a little short sighted. There are other factors at work.

    On thread topic: A size “12-14″ is not obese, and has been the US standard, or at least a popular size, since before suburban sprawl and the drug/gun epidemic. And it’s sick that a friend of mine, who is v. petite and naturally skinny (a “stick figure”), has found size 2 clothes that are too SMALL for her. To expect size 2 clothes to fit a woman over 5′10 (i.e. most models, it seems) is not only unrealistic, but really… not a common sight in human physiology. If you want to know what humans in a natural state would look like, look at indigenous people living a traditional lifestyle. You won’t find obesity, but neither will you find runway proportions.

    My grandmother walked everywhere and used public transit all her life before moving to the burbs in her 60s. She is an insanely healthy eater and grew up during the Depression. She’s had the same dress size since her 20s, and she got her figure back after each of her 3 kids. She’s been 5′6 most of her life (although now at 79 she’s the incredible shrinking woman).

    Her dress size? Yup, 12-14.

    Posted 08 Apr 2007 at 2:12 am ¶

12. Angel H. wrote:

    Carmen, sorry about the triple post, but for some reason, my comments haven’t even been showing as “awaiting moderation” lately. They haven’t been showing been showing at all.

    Why is it that whenever someone tries to put out something positive for larger men and women to let them know “Hey! You’re beautiful and sexy too!” people always have to belittle the effort by saying “Well, they’re not healthy role models”?

    The weight of person is not the only determining factor of health. How many years has Kate Moss been snorting that mess up her nose, and yet she’s been idolized by millions? I guess it’s okay to have a freakin’ pharmacy running through your veins just as long as you can fit into those teeny-weeny size twos!

    Look, everyone knows that eating right and being acting is the way to go. But what is not cool is being obsessive over three little digits on a bathroom scale. Oh and- hold onto your celery sticks, folks - you can be heavy and healthy at the same time!

    For more on the subject, check out “Junkfood Science”.

    There are also excellent books on the subject, such as Fat?So!, by Marilynn Wann and Just the Weight You Are: How to Be Fit and Healthy, Whatever Your Size, by Linda Konner and Steven Jonas.

    Posted 08 Apr 2007 at 9:49 am ¶

13. merq wrote:

    “2A. the fastest growing regions of the country are the suburbs and exurbs, where public transportation tends to be minimal (if even present), and distances are too great for casual biking (unless your name begins with “L”, ends with an “A”),”

    Umm.. Lance Armstronga, maybe?

    Posted 08 Apr 2007 at 4:14 pm ¶

14. mr guy wrote:

    I really think in the end the obesity problem, and it really is a problem not a matter of discrimination, comes down to us.Forget society, what foods are cheaper etc.It comes down to what we eat, how we treat our bodies, how willing we are to work out/stay active and how much we educate ourselves about heath in general.Not everyone can go to a gym, or go for a walk in their neighborhood due to safety and or distance (but hey, it’s not impossible either) but there is still the home.you don’t even have to go outside to get a good workout.And while some crappy foods can be cheaper, you can still work out a way to buy and make healthier food, without it costing you an arm and a leg.

    Posted 08 Apr 2007 at 5:21 pm ¶

15. Colin wrote:

    Lyonside: That’s a very smart point, and though it may sound hokey, I really was thinking that same thing (though not for such thought-out reasons) right after posting my comment. The thing I thought, though, was how impoverished people in other nations, in the most unsafe and economically depressed sections of society SEEMED to be malnourished, as with America it seemed that we have a large over-nutrition problem. (I’ve seen some things that challenge that assumption, however…)

    Posted 08 Apr 2007 at 10:38 pm ¶

16. Colin wrote:

    kim: Right on it, m’lady.

    Posted 08 Apr 2007 at 10:39 pm ¶

17. kim wrote:

    mr. guy:

    how boring your approach to eating. much of what you said holds true as far as the discriminating factors that go into our eating habits, but then you would dismiss, or at least underplay, the emotional reasons for wanting fat, and sugar, and reaching for foods laden with them.

    I am not going to widely excuse an entire generation, or nation, of people for epidemic largesse, but I would make associations between the desire to have the gooey with the desire to be sated on every level, with the $2.59 fat burger being the easiest of the gluttonies to attain.

    Merq: had to read that twice to understand why you went to old europe, there, but then I got it. picky, picky, heh?

    Posted 08 Apr 2007 at 11:22 pm ¶

18. mr guy wrote:

    kim:

    What? how is it boring?And how am I dismissing emotional needs?

    Posted 09 Apr 2007 at 12:58 pm ¶

19. kim wrote:

    mr. guy:

    In seeking to express a share in the consumerist market which is our lives, where those who cannot buy the McMansion find a place in the market is by purchasing the BigMac.

    For all of the ways in which eating more healthy foods doesn’t have to be done at the over-priced organic co-op, but can be done by limiting consumption of fats and sugars, infusing a lifestyle with physical activity, and limiting portions, there is a call to making a conscious choice to ‘limit,’ rather than to indulge in ‘excess’, or ‘leisure,’ which the appropriation and consumption of foods have become.

    NO ONE opts out of the convenience life as lived in this country, and EVERYONE is bombarded with the message that ‘you can have it all,’ and that if you don’t, you don’t matter, ‘you are nothing.’

    The emotional call to eating, beyond being a call to excessively indulge, is one which says partake of the yummy offerings, be a part of the crowd, show you have the money/capital/stature/access.

    The ‘boring’ to which I refer was not to you, mr. guy, but to the absence of consideration of these strong appeals to the American psyche, and the giving in to them in order to ‘have what they have’, and ‘do what they do.’

    Posted 09 Apr 2007 at 6:57 pm ¶

20. Kimberly Major wrote:

    Don’t forget that also some people are overweight and/or obese not from overeating but from actual disease-related issues that have nothing to do with food.

    Also, I notice most of the posts seemed women-related when it came to food/fat and I find that a bias as well.

    Posted 12 Apr 2007 at 7:47 am ¶

21. Colin wrote:

    K. Major,

    I think that may have been coming from the fact that the original topic was related to a serious women’s issue - fashion and shape.

    Posted 12 Apr 2007 at 1:03 pm ¶

22. bdsista wrote:

    I have been a 14-20, now around a 16 and dance and perform and teach dance 3-4 days a week. I have done plus size modeling and I am not obese. Marilyn Monroe was a 14! I have never been anything under a 14 as an adult and am very physicallly fit! Its a shame that the fashion industry is making our girls sick and ashamed of their bodies by glorifying a body type that genetically is possessed by perhaps 1% of the worlds population, oh, but then hollywood says you have to have big boobs too! So then they starve themselves and go get implants!
    How sick is that? I teach and perform bellydance and believe me there are some seriously curvy women who could hold their own with any athlete! Its time that we allow women to appreciate curves and the way God made us!

    Posted 12 Apr 2007 at 1:05 pm ¶

23. Aje` wrote:

    Within many of the posts I see an assumption that a larger size = an unhealthy lifestyle, vis-à-vis a thin body = a happier, sexier person. This is one the most dangerous effect the “skinny” obsessed fashion industry is doing to our culture – using what we see to judge a person’s lifestyle and worth. It is possible to be happy and healthy at a size 16, and unhappy and unhealthy at a size 2.
    My goal is not limited to promoting the plus size woman as beautiful, but to dissolve the paradigm that size is a measure of worth – period.

    Posted 13 Jul 2008 at 8:54 am ¶

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