The Independent on Sunday yesterday carried a story in their news section on the new size acceptance, citing Adele, Marina Rinaldi, the size 16 winner of the Surrey heat of the Miss England competition, and the monthly online magazine Just As Beautiful.
(Is it sour grapes to harumph about poor journalism by saying they totally should have mentioned Too Fat For Fashion...?)
Have a read, and, as ever, let us know what you think.
Monday, March 31, 2008
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20 comments:
I assume you're being facetious when you say that they should have mentioned TFFF. Otherwise, you are pretty drastically overstating the significance of what is, let's be honest, just another blog. No offense.
As for the article, I think it's WAY too optimistic. Every few years, you hear so-called "breakthroughs" hailed, but they always fade. Sophie Dahl was supposed to be a breakthrough. The year when My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Real Women Have Curves came out was supposed to be a breakthrough. But nothing ever changes. The major magazines are still nothing but waifs. Actresses are still nothing but waifs. The idea that there has been a sea change in aesthetics is self-delusion. You'd have to replace the people at the top for that to happen
I wasn't even aware of the band Plus or Adele until I read this. The article also mentions Katie Price--cynics would say that she used models of different sizes to make herself look better, but I think she's more likely a shrewd businesswoman who recognizes a valuable market in plus-sized women.
And not sour grapes at all, this is a terrific, informative blog.
U know you've made it when people go out of their way to point out how unimportant you are in the scheme of things.
They should have mentioned U girl. Tru fax.
The whole problem with the size acceptance movement is that it only goes up to a certain size - usually stopping around 16. Anybody above that size is still a monster.
A quotation by the International Size Acceptance Association representative, from the article:
"We're not calling for people to be obese or couch potatoes. We just want people to recognise that you can be sexy or beautiful at any size. Our goal is health, not obesity."
But doesn't ANY size include people who hit the "obesity" mark? A woman of my stature (five feet, four inches) is considered "obese" at 170 pounds.
Why should "health" play into being accepted as a human being? It's ridiculous. And you'll note it's only fat people who have to declare how healthy they are all the time in order to be accepted by society. Thin people can get away with sitting on the couch.
it seems that there are more and more bbw related news are referring to plus size fashion or celebrity. I noticed this from BBW news at largeplace.com. Those news are positive in a way.
I agree with Sarah that there is a preference for people in the inbetweenie category when it comes to fat being portrayed positively in the media. The couch potato comment bugs.
And on another note I love when people say something completely rude and then are like "no offense" as though that makes their statements any less rude. I'm with you Harriet, its not sour grapes at all. The mainstream media has been lagging behind bloggers in this respect for a long time.
Thanks for a great link. The Independent article really made my day!
I was mostly being facetious, yes. (However since I work for the Indie on a regular basis, it wouldn't have been too difficult for them to give me a bell and have Janelle, Jane and I offer up a quote or two for the article...)
Sarah and edith julianne, I totally agree: it seems that whenever plus-sizes are being 'defended' (and it always is something of a defence, rather than being lauded), the comments are quickly amended to add a, "but only if it's healthy!".
It's as if people are afraid to say "big is beautiful" unless they also add a mention of the obesity crisis, and define some sort of upper limit for what is acceptably big.
It's a trying to please all people, all of the time type of thing. I'd love for someone, for once, to just stop at the positive statement, without segueing into health/obesity/justifying their remarks.
to googleaccount4: you new round here? We all think very highly of ourselves and the hard work we pro-duce. This isn't easy.
Well, if it were necessary for the writer to cite the blogs they sourced they definitely should have listed Shapely Prose at kateharding.net considering they pretty much spelled out exactly what the purpose of that blog is..."...Their mantra boils down to four words: health at every size. They point to research suggesting that the body mass index, which is based on height and weight, is flawed, or studies showing that fatter cardiac patients are more likely to survive hospitalisation and invasive treatments than thinner ones." Yes, they do that and a helluva lot more, actually so it's a great shame they weren't linked.
Given the offline relationship to TFFF then yes, it wouldn’t have hurt The Independent to give y’all a mention. I don't see why they gave JAB such a big write-up though; it’s a turgid read with too many 1/2 page ads for reality shows and model searches through it. There's not any fashion content at all in it either. Size acceptance must go hand in hand with relevant visuals or what is the point exactly? Otherwise it's all just talk. And it’s distributed for free, of course there will be high readership in a market with no alternatives!!
Certainly we know there is life beyond a size 16 but darned if anyone’s going to be seen in magazines living it!
For an outraged & disparaging response to the idea of a plus-size beauty queen, see the article A role model for ordinary women? No, she's fat, lazy and a poster girl for ill health, published in today's Daily Mail, 3rd April 2008.
BTW my fav bit of the article is the idea that if she's "fat" now as a teen, she'll just get fatter & fatter... just like Sophie Dahl did, eh?
Oh, the Daily Fail. suffolk fella, why must you taint this blog with that newspaper?! They've been obsessed with the story since it broke. Worth reading for the equally hilarious/tragic comments (condensed marvellously at http://dailyhatemyself.blogspot.com).
Thank you for a great blog! I surf the web everyday trying to fin new fashion blogs and yours has really cought my eye and interest!
I've always been naturally thin, yet, I went through a long period of my life when I wasn't looking like I was meant to look. I was looking sick. Looking back at the pictures from those days, I am still shocked I could be that thin. Yet, the funny thing is, nobody except my mum ever told me I should try to gain weight.
That truly was an eye opener for me. Even in a country like Peru, which is supposed to have a tendency to preffer curvy women rather than waify child looking models, I was getting great and even jealous comments about my weight.
The pressure women are under is something that needs to change, and I'm glad to see some people are making a difference in that area. It is not only about weight. Its about age, style, sexual orientation, nationality... life keeps surprising me and showing me every single day, that beauty comes in as many shapes as there is people in this world. Thank your for contributing with that.
xx
Harriet Olivia, you're absolutely correct, I fell slap-bang into the usual tabloid trap:
1. The Daily Wail publishes a deliberately provocative & contentious article
2. Outraged readers rush to their keyboards to respond
3. The Daily Wail sits back smugly and laps up the increased publicity & readership
I hope Chloe Marshall does win the Miss England contest, or else she gets so much publicity that she's hired as a regular on TV, perhaps as Gok Wan's lovely assistant.
(See this week's Daily Mail article: When TV's gay fashion advisor Gok Wan praises his plus-size models backstage, he employs swearwords and innuendo so shocking that This Family Newspaper can only hint at them salaciously -- therefore Gok Wan should be banned from his current role of helping insecure female viewers to feel better about their naked bodies.)
I think TFFF deserves a mention in every plus-size article etc- I absolutely love this blog!
Suffolk Fella - all that kerfuffle happened in late 2006...I was there...and why the Mkail is running that story is beyond me. Maybe they hate Gok, or maybe they dislike anyone doing us "fatties" a favour??
er, that should be Mail - you know what I mean...
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