Showing posts with label fat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fat. Show all posts
The F Word
I think it’s hard to find an environment where self-love, security, and acceptance exist. In our world obsessed with the attaining "perfection" when it comes to looks, it’s completely normal to trash talk your own body and find something “hideous” and “wrong” with it to point out—not only to your own self—but to others as well. This type of body bashing is insane, degrading, and I ABHOR it. I hate it with passion.
Unfortunately, our office is one of those environments where it always happens. Every day there’s a colleague (male or female, it doesn’t matter) who would express disgust/shame/hatred/dislike for a certain body part (if not the complete body itself) for being fat. It’s either a part is getting too big, or they’re getting too heavy. I see some of my officemates weighing themselves early in the morning, and again during mid-afternoon, and fret at the slightest change of the digits they see on the scale (I guess they don’t know the fact that a human’s weight fluctuates with an increase or decrease of 2-4 pounds in a day). Their obsession about weight—NOTE: WEIGHT, NOT HEALTH—saddens me, and I would always find a way to compliment them to make them feel pretty despite them feeling otherwise about their own bodies. And I do mean what I say. I really think I have good-looking colleagues, and I ain’t bullshitting on that. ;)
Aside from the girls constantly expressing their disapproval of their bodies, there’s also a colleague who would always throw the word fat around. It was obvious that his intention was to tease, if not insult. If he notices you packing on extra pounds, he would always come up with different ways of “warning” you. He’d tell you to not get a second serving of lunch, which he did to me, (we have free buffet breakfast and lunch in the office—YAHOO! indeed), or he’d scare you with the thought of you looking like “a rolling ball”.
Yesterday, he jokingly called my officemate “Miss B” because she obviously gained weight—significantly in the tummy area. And B stood for—you’ve guessed it!—Miss Buntis (Pregnant). And that’s exactly what my male officemate was hinting with the regular-word-turned-acronym-turned-insult. Although it is very noticeable that she got chunkier, she’s not someone you’d call fat. She just got a bit curvy, but she still looks regular-sized to me.
The name-calling offended my officemate, which resulted to dramatic sobs delivered jokingly--although I knew she got hurt. I immediately tried to alleviate the situation by saying, “Bakit ka ba nagpapa-apekto jan? Huwag ka nga makinig jan! (Why are you letting him affect you? Don’t even listen to him!)” But my officemate won’t stop with the vocal expression of her dented self-esteem, that at one point, she even kidded that “Miss B” would soon stand for “Miss Bulimic”.
It is true, though. She did gain weight.
It’s disturbing. It’s disturbing to me how in this whole situation, it’s so apparent that so much negativity has been associated with the word FAT that it seems like it's everyone's worst nightmare to be described as that. Once a woman is called fat, the typical reaction would be insulted, hurt, or offended, even if it’s an obvious fact that she is fat. I don’t get it. How is being called what you actually are offensive? Imagine someone telling me “OH MY GOSH, YOU’RE A REDHEAD!!!” and I’d just bawl for being called that.
There’s another interesting incident that happened. It’s our church’s prayer and fasting week, and some of my male officemates joined the fast. Just a few days ago, one of my officemates tells another that he lost weight. “Pumayat ka ah. (You lost weight.)” This statement immediately plasters a huge grin on his face, with a reply of “Thank you ah!”
If I must point out, my officemate was merely being descriptive when she said he lost some weight. She didn’t actually compliment him, but he assumed she did, that’s why he responded like he was given one.
For the longest time, when body bashing and shaming occurs inside the work place, I would just defend the one being mocked and try to steer the conversation to a different direction. That’s it. That’s all I did. I was a bit scared to speak up because I was the only one who believed that body shaming is utterly wrong and should be put to an end. It also didn’t help that I was the youngest employee in Yahoo! Philippines at 21 years old. I had fear that they'd think I was pikon, and would talk about me behind my back for being overreacting when they’re just “joking” or “teasing”. But truth is, it bothered me. I’m bothered that there’s always a time for this type of body negativity inside the workplace which is my space too. I get annoyed, exasperated. I get pissed mostly at myself for not trying hard enough.
But today, I decided to stand my ground and do what I can to at least lessen (if not totally eradicate) the existing fat stigma.
Part of it is probably me PMS-ing, but mostly it’s because of what a male officemate said yesterday to the offender, after my female colleague calmed down after being called “Miss B”.
“Oy bakit mo sinabi yon? Alam mo bang yun yung worst na pwede mo sabihin sa babae? (Why did you say that? Don’t you know that’s the worst thing you can call a woman?)"
He was trying to defend her, trying to make her feel better.
This statement was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Or in my case, the statement that unleashed the activist/feminist/body revolutionist in me BIG TIME (pun intended). It really got to my nerves. I immediately IM’ed (through Yahoo! Messenger, of course) my best friend, and told her how pissed I am for what has just been said. I typed heavily at my keyboard being fueled by anger (I also didn't find it funny what my officemate said about developing bulimia, because after having gone through it, I know for a fact that enforcing an eating disorder on one's self is not something hilarious to be joked about). Then, I realized I was madder at myself for not doing anything about it, despite the fact that it consumed me emotionally.
I told my best friend that that was it, and tomorrow (which is today) I would put up posters all over the office to make people think twice about the words they say and how they react to things.
She made me calm down by telling me that some of my officemates were exactly the reason why I’m a body image warrior. And she was absolutely right.
So this morning, I made this and posted 3 copies in different areas of our office.
I know all the body love/fat acceptance revolutionists like myself would see it as great feat if women of all shapes and sizes would be secure in themselves and not take offense when the word fat is thrown at them. I myself know for a fact that once we’ve reclaimed “fat” and removed all its stigma, I’d be giving myself a pat on the back and feel extremely happy and content, knowing that finally more women are getting it, and I am part of making a change in their self-esteems.
-S
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the work environment of the office mentioned above.
Unfortunately, our office is one of those environments where it always happens. Every day there’s a colleague (male or female, it doesn’t matter) who would express disgust/shame/hatred/dislike for a certain body part (if not the complete body itself) for being fat. It’s either a part is getting too big, or they’re getting too heavy. I see some of my officemates weighing themselves early in the morning, and again during mid-afternoon, and fret at the slightest change of the digits they see on the scale (I guess they don’t know the fact that a human’s weight fluctuates with an increase or decrease of 2-4 pounds in a day). Their obsession about weight—NOTE: WEIGHT, NOT HEALTH—saddens me, and I would always find a way to compliment them to make them feel pretty despite them feeling otherwise about their own bodies. And I do mean what I say. I really think I have good-looking colleagues, and I ain’t bullshitting on that. ;)
Aside from the girls constantly expressing their disapproval of their bodies, there’s also a colleague who would always throw the word fat around. It was obvious that his intention was to tease, if not insult. If he notices you packing on extra pounds, he would always come up with different ways of “warning” you. He’d tell you to not get a second serving of lunch, which he did to me, (we have free buffet breakfast and lunch in the office—YAHOO! indeed), or he’d scare you with the thought of you looking like “a rolling ball”.
Yesterday, he jokingly called my officemate “Miss B” because she obviously gained weight—significantly in the tummy area. And B stood for—you’ve guessed it!—Miss Buntis (Pregnant). And that’s exactly what my male officemate was hinting with the regular-word-turned-acronym-turned-insult. Although it is very noticeable that she got chunkier, she’s not someone you’d call fat. She just got a bit curvy, but she still looks regular-sized to me.
The name-calling offended my officemate, which resulted to dramatic sobs delivered jokingly--although I knew she got hurt. I immediately tried to alleviate the situation by saying, “Bakit ka ba nagpapa-apekto jan? Huwag ka nga makinig jan! (Why are you letting him affect you? Don’t even listen to him!)” But my officemate won’t stop with the vocal expression of her dented self-esteem, that at one point, she even kidded that “Miss B” would soon stand for “Miss Bulimic”.
It is true, though. She did gain weight.
It’s disturbing. It’s disturbing to me how in this whole situation, it’s so apparent that so much negativity has been associated with the word FAT that it seems like it's everyone's worst nightmare to be described as that. Once a woman is called fat, the typical reaction would be insulted, hurt, or offended, even if it’s an obvious fact that she is fat. I don’t get it. How is being called what you actually are offensive? Imagine someone telling me “OH MY GOSH, YOU’RE A REDHEAD!!!” and I’d just bawl for being called that.
There’s another interesting incident that happened. It’s our church’s prayer and fasting week, and some of my male officemates joined the fast. Just a few days ago, one of my officemates tells another that he lost weight. “Pumayat ka ah. (You lost weight.)” This statement immediately plasters a huge grin on his face, with a reply of “Thank you ah!”
If I must point out, my officemate was merely being descriptive when she said he lost some weight. She didn’t actually compliment him, but he assumed she did, that’s why he responded like he was given one.
For the longest time, when body bashing and shaming occurs inside the work place, I would just defend the one being mocked and try to steer the conversation to a different direction. That’s it. That’s all I did. I was a bit scared to speak up because I was the only one who believed that body shaming is utterly wrong and should be put to an end. It also didn’t help that I was the youngest employee in Yahoo! Philippines at 21 years old. I had fear that they'd think I was pikon, and would talk about me behind my back for being overreacting when they’re just “joking” or “teasing”. But truth is, it bothered me. I’m bothered that there’s always a time for this type of body negativity inside the workplace which is my space too. I get annoyed, exasperated. I get pissed mostly at myself for not trying hard enough.
But today, I decided to stand my ground and do what I can to at least lessen (if not totally eradicate) the existing fat stigma.
Part of it is probably me PMS-ing, but mostly it’s because of what a male officemate said yesterday to the offender, after my female colleague calmed down after being called “Miss B”.
“Oy bakit mo sinabi yon? Alam mo bang yun yung worst na pwede mo sabihin sa babae? (Why did you say that? Don’t you know that’s the worst thing you can call a woman?)"
He was trying to defend her, trying to make her feel better.
This statement was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Or in my case, the statement that unleashed the activist/feminist/body revolutionist in me BIG TIME (pun intended). It really got to my nerves. I immediately IM’ed (through Yahoo! Messenger, of course) my best friend, and told her how pissed I am for what has just been said. I typed heavily at my keyboard being fueled by anger (I also didn't find it funny what my officemate said about developing bulimia, because after having gone through it, I know for a fact that enforcing an eating disorder on one's self is not something hilarious to be joked about). Then, I realized I was madder at myself for not doing anything about it, despite the fact that it consumed me emotionally.
I told my best friend that that was it, and tomorrow (which is today) I would put up posters all over the office to make people think twice about the words they say and how they react to things.
She made me calm down by telling me that some of my officemates were exactly the reason why I’m a body image warrior. And she was absolutely right.
So this morning, I made this and posted 3 copies in different areas of our office.
Feel free to download the poster!
One of the 3 bulletin boards where I pinned the FAT poster
I also did this to our weighing scale, just to remind the lovely ladies in the office not to fret so much about their weight, because they’re more than just a number.
I know all the body love/fat acceptance revolutionists like myself would see it as great feat if women of all shapes and sizes would be secure in themselves and not take offense when the word fat is thrown at them. I myself know for a fact that once we’ve reclaimed “fat” and removed all its stigma, I’d be giving myself a pat on the back and feel extremely happy and content, knowing that finally more women are getting it, and I am part of making a change in their self-esteems.
-S
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the work environment of the office mentioned above.
Carlos Solis = BENCHMARK OF FUTURE HUSBAND
I really like the show Desperate Housewives despite its cheesy opening and closing narration by the ghost of Angela Young.
My ultimate hubby crush in this show is Carlos Solis (next is Tom Scavo), because: (1) obviously he's really sexy and (2) I love how he treats Gabi with so much patience and love (and CASH! $$$). His character is just so endearing, and he's such a loving dad to their kids.
In the seventeenth episode in season six (entitled The Story of Lucy and Jessie), there was a scene that made my love for Carlos Solis intensify all the more.
Here's a little background on the clip for all of you who don't watch Desperate Housewives: Carlos hired his ex-girlfriend Lucy and tells Gabi that she's coming over to their place to talk about business over dinner.
WATCH! (I am so thankful and happy that youtube has this scene from the episode!!!)
"Look, Lucy is brilliant, and witty, and has more confidence than anybody that I've ever met. And that type of personality can be very seductive."
Carlos Solis
ISN'T HE THE BEST? :) HE OFFICIALLY SETS THE BENCHMARK OF WHOEVER MY FUTURE HUSBAND WILL BE!
Gabi on the other hand, just cracks me up every time. She's shallow, she knows it, and she's not afraid to admit it. She's the stereotypical pretty girl whose hobby is to insult people who she thinks are inferior to her just because of their looks. It's funny how their marriage works in this show because their personalities are quite opposite from each other. :) I guess they're a complementing couple?
Whatever. All I know is I'll keep watching the show to get more of Carlos!
♥,
Stacy
My belly roll's a show off.
Here are some shots of me hosting the party (with my lovely twin, of course!) "Drive-Thru" that we organized for the freshmen students of our university.
...and my belly roll shared the spotlight with me. :)
GASP! BULGING FAT! EEEEEEEW. (Me mocking people who are contemptuous of fat people or anything fat-related.)
Seriously, I don't care. I saw this photo uploaded by my friend in his Facebook account, and if it were the insecure old me who saw this, I would probably be texting and begging my friend to delete the damn unflattering photo. But, I've learned (AND
definitely still learning) to accept my flaws bit by bit and not be ashamed of them. Besides, most women have hidden flaws, I just prefer not to keep on fussing over mine to conceal it. :)
Okay, let me explain this picture. :)) As an ice breaker, we played games, and the game masters picked me to judge who among them boyz has the "pinaka-matigas na bicep (hardest bicep)."
This is me judging one of the contestants and not being able to withhold the overwhelming emotion I felt after having a feel of his chiseled arm. HAHA! I am such a dork. Couldn't even control my fez. OH WELL, WHAT'S NEW.
Here's the last photo taken of me and my bulging stomach. This was when I was talking to some freshmen students, trying with all my best to make them feel comfortable in the most un-awkward way I could. :D
I know some people might find this so shameless of me, to post photos of myself starring my flaws. But the truth of the matter is, I've stopped worrying about what other people will think of me. I've stopped being overly conscious of how people see me-- if they find me attractive enough, if they think I'm "hot" enough, if they think I'm good enough.
As I've matured, I realized that my body and my looks are just the tip of the huge iceberg of the totality of who I am (no pun intended). It saddens me when people stereotype and put me in a box. OH PLEASE DON'T PUT ME IN A BOX. I AM TOO BIG TO FIT IN SMALL BOXES. There is definitely much more to who I am than my body.
Personally speaking, I feel much more freer not conforming to the fascism standards of beauty dictated by whoever-the-hell group of people imposed it. I like the way the I look, and I've started (and currently continuing) living a healthy lifestyle. If people think my protruding belly is such a disgrace, it's their problem, and it's their choice to stop looking at me, and my body.
Stacy
SHOUT OUT TO ALL THE HATERS!
So news got to us that a lot of gossipmongers have been ridiculing and condemning this blog.
Well, I can't say I'm really upset about them hating our blog, but what really gets to me is the LACK OF MATURITY of such readers. Obviously, this blog IS ALL ABOUT BODY ACCEPTANCE. Yes, we do post things that digress a bit from the topic like FOOD and whatnots, but it's to urge all body-conscious women that IT IS DEFINITELY OK TO EAT. There is nothing disgusting with eating and reveling in it.
I know that whatever we (my sister and me) do, there will ALWAYS be people who will mock and strongly dislike our undertaking, but we will PRESS ON. :) We know that our cause TO MAKE WOMEN FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEIR BODY NO MATTER WHAT SHAPE AND SIZE THEY ARE IS REFRESHING and NEW, AND THERE IS CERTAINLY NOTHING WRONG WITH IT.
It just really saddens me that people like to twist this and claim that we're promoting things that are UNHEALTHY.
Again, I won't get tired repeating this: WE ARE ALL ABOUT BODY ACCEPTANCE. Is that too hard to imbibe? MATURITY, READERS, MATURITY.
What deeply saddens me is that some people CONSTANTLY FIND THE NEED to PULL OTHER PEOPLE DOWN in order to feel good about themselves. They care and look so much at what other people do and find something to hate about it no matter how innocuous, great, and sincere the act is (besides, why do they even bother at all???). They want to give themselves a sense of being better than others, while building their self-esteem on a terrible foundation of minimizing, hating, and derogating others.
And I think THAT is what's UNHEALTHY.
I don't mind having haters read our blog from time to time though, it generates more clicks on our site! :)
But let me repeat what I've said, READING THIS BLOG REQUIRES MATURITY, and I highly doubt a lot of people have it.
Now to all our supporters, continue following this blog and spreading the love. Repost our link/s in order for us to reach more plumpinays! :) We do what we do because of you guys. We love hearing from you so don't hesitate leaving comments. :*
Before I go, let me share one of my favorite quotes for them haterz.
Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.
--Eleanor Roosevelt
♥,
Stacy
Jenny Saville: Fat Art
Her paintings (in general) are grotesque, fleshy, and unusual, but they're beautiful.
Since her debut in 1992, Saville's focus has remained on the female body, slightly deviating into subjects with "floating or indeterminant gender," painting large scale paintings of transsexuals and transvestites. Her published sketches and documents include surgical photographs of liposuction, trauma victims, deformity correction, disease states and transgender patients (Wikipedia).
I love how she chooses to paint women in unflattering angles and poses. I love her audacity in distorting flesh and showing it in a way that is definitely not ordinary and unoriginal. It compels the viewers of her paintings to push through the images and appreciate the big, fat, bulges as to what she had created them for in the first place: ART.
Here are some of her original works. I only included some because most are NSFW (Not Safe For Work). If you want to see more images of her paintings, just Google "Jenny Saville" and a myriad of it would appear.
(Click on the photos for larger view)
Larger than life: One of her actual works (entitled Juncture) displayed in an auction house in London
[I saw] lots of big women. Big white flesh in shorts and T-shirt. It was good to see because they had the physicality I was interested in. --Jenny Saville
Zaftig Lovin',
Stacy
Philippines, WHEN WILL YOU START LOVING THE FAT?
How come I only see plump models in the big women's clothing section of department stores?
FAT FILIPINA MODELS ARE COVER GIRL MATERIAL TOO.
I wonder why teen/fashion magazines keep on trying to sound encouraging to young Filipinas, giving insincere advice and tips on how to love one's body, and how it's cool to be just yourself. If that's the message they want to resonate, then why don't they start including images of women of different shapes and sizes in their magazines? Why don't they take visible action in showing their readers that their wanting for them to feel good about themselves isn't just lip service? Why don't they let beautiful curvy, fat, or plump models grace the cover of their magazines?
I know, I know, you might be thinking, well we all know that fat models will always be outcasts in the fashion industry (or high fashion for that matter). The farthest they could go in being popular is the showbiz industry where they can be comediennes who can be mocked and laughed at.
Well, if that's what you're thinking, I would like to slap your face with the March issue of Elle France of which the sexy and sultry Tara Lynn is the cover. Obviously, big models are making their mark in the fashion industry in other countries, if not here in the Philippines. Vogue Italy has launched Vogue Curvy, a concept that is represented by the slogan “Beauty Comes in All Shapes and Sizes”. Marie Claire France will be featuring women size 12 and up in their coming issue this June (besides, Marie Claire has vowed to include a variety of shapes and sizes of women in their pages before already). V Magazine did an amazing editorial featuring top model Crystal Renn entitled One Size Fits All as well as many other photo shoots with sexy plus size models as the subject. Now, why won't Philippine magazines do the same? We all know for a fact that the Philippines is really good in being unoriginal (DON'T DENY IT), so why can't we follow this new fabulous direction to which the fashion industry is going with bigger and bolder models?
You need to understand that I have nothing against skinny models. I'm not here to bash them and say that all of them are anorexic, emaciated women who must be replaced with healthier and curvier women. No. I know thin models are here to stay. But what I'm saying is, why not let plus size models join the fun and be given the chance to show this country that they are JUST AS WORTHY to be on the cover of high fashion, glossy magazines?
I've been wondering too as to why there's a great lack of plus size models here in the Philippines, until I realized that the root cause is there is NO demand for it. Once magazines and clothing lines start realizing that "real-looking" women also do appeal (I'd even go as far as saying that they APPEAL MORE) to their (target) market, then I think big beauties will emerge and start feeling confident to flaunt their bodies. If the media will start acknowledging the fact that women come in different shapes and sizes and start using them as subjects for ads, photo shoots, commercials, etc., then that's when modeling agencies will start a frantic search for curvier and bigger models. I really do hope that SOON the magazines and the media in general will start showcasing chunky girls as something that are attractive and pleasing to the eyes, other than being used in movies as gluttonous, hungry, food monsters, or any other stereotype that comes with being fat.
What do you think? Do you think the Philippines will start recognizing bigger models any time soon? How?
Zaftig Lovin',
Stacy
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