Yes, Imagine That

Biggest Weight Stories of 2010

Since I linked yesterday to Jezebel's Photoshop Hall of Shame gallery, I thought I'd also share this link to their "The Biggest Weight Stories" of 2010. Jezebel does a great job of covering both the social injustices committed against fat folks and a balancing of health-related articles or health-trend pieces. They are very balanced on this--they have a strict anti-body-snarking policy, but they aren't HAES fundamentalists. Most of these articles, we at FFFB linked to or discussed ourselves during 2010, but they all bear re-hashing.

Reading Recommendation: How the Skinny Bitch Discourse Isolates Women

Check out this very thoughtful post a Jezebel: "How the Skinny Bitch Discourse Isolates Women."

Some salient points of interest:

The key change in the past decade around skinniness is the explicit recognition of thinness as a marker not only of status, but of proud isolation from other women.
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It seems likely that this "discourse of female cruelty" works in tandem with the narrative of compulsory individuality to suggest to young women that theirs is a hyper-competitive world where success is a solitary and sexualized pursuit. Whether it's chasing grades or getting guys, even your sisters are nothing more than "frenemies" at best.
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What's new is that rather than seeking to strengthen young women's bonds with each other, the dominant cultural message seems determined to fray them further. The relentless reminder that other girls are mean and manipulative combines with the suggestion that success (good colleges, good boyfriends, good jobs, good praise) is scarcer than ever and requires ever more competitive effort.
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I have a friend, "J" and she is a size 2. When she went to study abroad, her host mother was so offended by how thin she was, she insisted that she take second and third helpings of lunch and dinner. She was able to gain 8lbs after a full semester of rich, plentiful French food. She went home for Christmas, her mother was THRILLED to see that she had gained 8lbs! She lost the weight--over the freakin' holidays! Her metabolism was just too fast to maintain that 8lb weight gain without eating past her level of comfort/satiety on a regular basis. She has had to endure "skinny bitch" joking or not comments most of her life. She is not "a mean girl"--she is lovely and a delight. Perfectionism, extreme self-control, A-type personality, "bitchiness"--these are the stereotypes that characterize the very thin. Lazy, out-of-control, "jolly," ignorant--these are the stereotypes that characterize the fat. No one body type has market-control over laziness or bitchiness. People in all shapes and sizes exhibit personality disorders, as well as kindness, diligence and compassion. The article referenced above does an excellent job of looking at isolation and the alienation of women/girls from one another through body-type ideation. In order for fat-activists and body-acceptance activists to succeed in making the content of our character our markers rather than our body-types, we need to help our very-thin sisters feel included in these discussions. This means avoiding making those "eat a sandwich" jokes and supporting eating disorder victims (even when their own disorders makes them cringe when they see average/fat people). Vive la différence!

Clothing Store Owner Can't Fit Into Her Own Stock!

The Times of London Online has an article up with Belle Robinson, the owner of the boutique clothing store, Jigsaw in London. Its subtitle suggests a message of uplift and support for "normal" sized women: "The chic Jigsaw owner, Belle Robinson, explains why not being sample size is less important than loving your life."

That's great, sample sizes (0's or 2's) are unrealistic and unhealthy for more women (not all, I'm not being a skinny-bitch hater here). Here's the crux of the issue, Jezebel uncovered that Jigsaw only offers sizes up to a UK 14 (US 12) and that Ms. Robinson is a size UK 16 (US 14). Her own boutique doesn't carry clothing that would fit her and yet she's trying to impress upon Times of London readers a message of body self-acceptance? Cognitive dissonance much?

The difficulty finding stylish clothing that respond to many body-types is just the kind of experience that helps to reinforce to women who wear 10's, 12's, 14's, 16's, 18's and gasp beyond the sense of comfort in our own bodies. I am not suggesting that Jigsaw change its business model and become a plus-sized boutique, but about about integrating a few more sizes (say, up to 24?) into your stock. Most certainly, integrate a size 16-18! Seriously, self-hatred sucks--get over it! And please, don't give me your body acceptance speech without first, oh, I don't know--accepting your body and the bodies of women like you into your shop.