The Fat Positive Lounge

[Chancie]

I won an award and

I almost didn't have my picture taken for the press release because

I was afraid of looking fat in the picture.

I do not know how to convey how stressed I was.

I did end up posing in front of a whiteboard full of algebra.

[Ginger]

Originally Posted by nycfembbw

Hi, I am a cortisone success story. It was a miracle for me. Years ago I developed a progressively more excruciating pain in my left hip such that I began to use a cane! This went on for a year! Of course, family and "friends" told me I'd better lose weight or expect to live this way forever. I went to my doctor, and he told me I had bursitis in my hip and gave me a single quick shot of cortisone before I could even think twice about it. The pain went away what felt like over night, and it NEVER came back, EVER (Everyone still told me that this was only temporary, that I really needed to "lose the weight" or it would come back. Guess what, it's been almost ten years and not a moment of pain!). It was a reminder to me not to avoid a doctor because everyone around us ascribes our health problems to our weight. And, for those who don't yet have one, finding a doctor who doesn't only see through the "fat is the problem" lens is worth all the frustration so that we can be healthiest as possible at whatever weight we are!

I just wanted to chime in and say I'm a cortisone success story too! I had an impingement in my left shoulder that was severe from August of last year through the winter. It was awkward and painful to put on my coat or get dressed in the morning, I couldn't reach up or back with my left arm without severe pain.

Finally I saw a doctor and he gave me a shot of cortisone that provided instant and dramatic pain relief. I know multiple cortisone shots can cause deterioration but that one shot gave me the relief I needed to go into physical therapy and really allow my shoulder to be stretched. I did the exercises at home—still do—and returned to the doctor triumphant.

He admitted I had made great progress but still thought I should have surgery; what he often sees, he said, was progress at first, then the shoulder re-freezes. I said No thanks, that I'd be back if it froze up again but till then I was going to continue my exercises, ice, and stretching.

They are so full of shit sometimes.

[Gemme]

I'm a pear shape; definitely bottom heavy.

[nycfem]

I listened to this again (Thanks LWF) and appreciate the scientific pov so much. We do much needless damage to our minds, bodies, and souls by focusing on dieting and weight loss instead of focusing on being healthy if we want to be healthy. Furthermore, fat is a feminist issue, and women spend so much time together critiquing ourselves and sharing exactly what we are eating to further our weight loss all day. I was reading this great article

http://www.oprah.com/spirit/How-One-...ve-Being-Fat/1

and thinking about how much time is lost to dieting, especially for women. This is supposed to be a feminist site and yet women are congratulated for losing weight, whether that method is healthy or not. Women, for instance, go long periods eating 800 calories a day or even eat 500 calories a day while injecting themselves with a pregnancy hormone. We "thank" them, as long as they are losing weight. One reason that I started this thread is because of how I see "weight loss" being substituted for "health," which may or may not have weight loss as a side effect. I find it easy myself to fall into the "thinspiration" perspective and all the petting that one receives confessing to being "bad" with eating and all the accolades one receives losing any amount of weight. I'm really trying not to these days. As a feminist, this is something I feel strongly about. I know this is not the prevailing view on this site and that this thread is not a popular one, but I deeply appreciate those who have read and contributed. It doesn't matter to me whether people who come here are thin or fat or whether they are on a diet or not on a diet. I just like that there is any interest at all in a perspective that even considers that in our patriarchal culture we perpetuate an anti-woman, anti-fat bias by focusing so much time and energy and celebration of weight loss which we all too easily equate with "health."

Originally Posted by LeftWriteFemme

[LeftWriteFemme]

[aishah]

i'm extremely grateful for nycfembbw & leftwritefemme's posts

nycfembbw, your post reminded me of this article...
http://healthateverysizeblog.wordpre...o-lose-weight/

it made me take a really hard look at myself and what i mean when i say i love my body.

[1QuirkyKiwi]

I saw this article about BMI and the increasing belief within the Medical profession, who are calling it the Baloney Mass Index, and think it’s out dated…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...t-results.html

I posted this in the Body-Positive: We Are ALL Worthy (no diet or weight-loss talk) thread in October last year… http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/foru...&postcount=105

One of my best friends is only slightly over weight and is Diabetic and has high Blood Pressure and has had for many years. She’s younger than me by 4 years and yet is very active. When I told her my blood results and BP she jokingly told me I was terrible….. She also told me not to let those results go to my head in the belief I could eat junk foods and get away with it, lol!

I wonder, how much of this is me being vegan for nearly 30 years and how much is my Genetics…?!

[LeftWriteFemme]

Originally Posted by aishah

i'm extremely grateful for nycfembbw & leftwritefemme's posts

nycfembbw, your post reminded me of this article...
http://healthateverysizeblog.wordpre...o-lose-weight/

it made me take a really hard look at myself and what i mean when i say i love my body.

Great article!

It makes me think of my mom who lost 130 pounds a number of years ago and spends her life fighting the pounds that creep back. She reduces her food intake and increases her exercise and still those pounds will not go away and they consume her thoughts, her days and eliminate any possible happiness she might have over being thin because of just what the article says, that thin privilege is slipping away from her......it's so sad.

[LeftWriteFemme]

just saw this on facebook and though I'd post it here...I know, preaching to the choir

[LeftWriteFemme]

A culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty. It is an obsession about female obedience.

~ Naomi Wolf

[nycfem]

This is so very true.

Originally Posted by LeftWriteFemme

A culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty. It is an obsession about female obedience.

~ Naomi Wolf

[Breezy]

Hi, I'm Breezy. I am BBW and have no intention of ever being thin. I'm new here so I hope jumping in like this is ok.Thank you.

[Soft*Silver]

jen sent me a lovely card, with a photo of a naked BBW on it. Its so tastefully done and I adore the photo, so I hung it on the wall next to my desk as art.

It is also the area I spend time with consigners. Some are notably uncomfortable and do all they can to avert their eyes. Some smile as they notice it. Others dont make any facial gestures and thankfully, none have gone screaming from the room. (do any of you remember the article on "what not to do when you meet a lesbian? That last phrase was taken from there..lol)

I plan on getting more art. Clothes and naked. I am discovering that there is a puzzle of responses I get from this photo and I want to offer my customers and visitors ample opportunity to respond to all kinds of shapes. I think we are so bombarded with thinness, we cant see fat as just another shape. We see it in judgemental terms. Bad. Ugly. Distorted. Lazy. And we of size, know these arent true.

Do you have postcards, posters, greeting cards, etc of Positive Women? (the plus sign + means positive, right?) Can you send me some more? PM me for my address if you can...

[1QuirkyKiwi]

Originally Posted by Breezy

Hi, I'm Breezy. I am BBW and have no intention of ever being thin. I'm new here so I hope jumping in like this is ok.Thank you.

Hello Breezy and welcome!

Feel free to jump right in, we all did! Our Sofa's are comfy and the company is great..... Oh! And there's Chocolate, too!

[1QuirkyKiwi]

Originally Posted by Miss_Tia

jen sent me a lovely card, with a photo of a naked BBW on it. Its so tastefully done and I adore the photo, so I hung it on the wall next to my desk as art.

It is also the area I spend time with consigners. Some are notably uncomfortable and do all they can to avert their eyes. Some smile as they notice it. Others dont make any facial gestures and thankfully, none have gone screaming from the room. (do any of you remember the article on "what not to do when you meet a lesbian? That last phrase was taken from there..lol)

I plan on getting more art. Clothes and naked. I am discovering that there is a puzzle of responses I get from this photo and I want to offer my customers and visitors ample opportunity to respond to all kinds of shapes. I think we are so bombarded with thinness, we cant see fat as just another shape. We see it in judgemental terms. Bad. Ugly. Distorted. Lazy. And we of size, know these arent true.

Do you have postcards, posters, greeting cards, etc of Positive Women? (the plus sign + means positive, right?) Can you send me some more? PM me for my address if you can...

Having BBW Art on display sounds like a fantastic Idea! You saying this reminded me of a woman I worked with a few years ago, who wanted some BBW Art for her bedroom. I hand embroidered two naked BBW's on Cushion covers for her.

A work in progress for myself is hand embroidered naked BBW Art in various poses with bullion Roses on the Bellies, Thighs, Bum and Breasts. In storage I have pencil drawings of Naked and semi-naked BBW Art.

I'll keep a look out for the various cards.

[Breezy]

Originally Posted by 1QuirkyKiwi

Hello Breezy and welcome!

Feel free to jump right in, we all did! Our Sofa's are comfy and the company is great..... Oh! And there's Chocolate, too!

Thank you 1QuirkyKiwi! I look forward to knowing you all.

[LeftWriteFemme]

I want to preface this post by saying I have not read this article. If it says something horrible and obnoxious I apologize , but I don't have the time to read it and didn't want to risk forgetting about it and not giving all of you the opportunity to read it if you have the time and desire.....it's a 3 pager

The Politics of Fat: We Have to Keep Struggling to Liberate Ourselves from Self-Hatred



http://www.alternet.org/story/154850...om_self-hatred

[1QuirkyKiwi]

Originally Posted by LeftWriteFemme

I want to preface this post by saying I have not read this article. If it says something horrible and obnoxious I apologize , but I don't have the time to read it and didn't want to risk forgetting about it and not giving all of you the opportunity to read it if you have the time and desire.....it's a 3 pager

The Politics of Fat: We Have to Keep Struggling to Liberate Ourselves from Self-Hatred



http://www.alternet.org/story/154850...om_self-hatred

Interesting article! We're still a long way off Fat Acceptance; we have celebrities of size who then diet and lose weight after stating that they are happy with their bodies and size. Fair enough if their weight is causing health issues, then all bets are off! But, woman and teenage girls are getting mixed signals from celebrities and with the media constantly bombarding us with images of very slim models and celebrities, how can women feel secure enought to accept themselves when plus size?

Marilyn Wann's FAT!SO? is a good book to read for inspiration and as a general starting point to Fat Acceptance. Why is western culture so fat phobic? And why are other cultures starting to follow these thought processes?

Just my wonderings. Thank you for posting this LWF!

[LeftWriteFemme]

[LeftWriteFemme]

Okay, so I'm not sure if this has been posted before, so if it has I apologize.....but here it is!


http://adipositivity.my-expressions.com/