The Fat Positive Lounge

[Canela]

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelou

[Canela]

One of my friends shared this with me & I LOVE it:

When you’re a plus size woman, people like to say “yeah, she’s cute in the face”, as if being full figured is such a disgrace.


Honey, I’m cute in the face, and I’m thick in the waist.
I look good whether I’m in cotton, leather, or lace.
I’m beautiful, vibrant and above all, smart!
And there’s more to me than my weight, I also have a heart.
Yes my clothes maybe a bigger size,
That just means you have access to a bigger prize.
We are not self-conscious about our weight,
And we never have a problem getting a date.
So don’t think your small frame gives you more pull,
I’m a hot, sexy, curvy woman with a figure that’s full!

***

All women can't be a size zero
Not even on a high profile Fashion Show.
Ladies can be a small or big size
& Still look pleasing to the eyes
Can I hear an "Amen" Guys, you should know.

[Canela]

SELF-PORTRAIT II

Questing, a woman dares to reinvent herself.

—Dana Heller, The Feminization of Quest Romance

No more teacher clothes.
I want chamois shirts
and shorts with pockets I’ll need
for a trek in the Himalayas.
I want a tutu and overalls for my
new career as a ballerina electrician,
a carpenter’s apron and power tools
so I can work on Habitat for Humanity
and build my writing studio.

No more timidity, no cringing.
I can say “no” with grace
and my opinion about anything.
I don’t need your approval
and I won’t shrivel when you yell
or weep. I have limits, you know.
I will learn to climb sheer rocks,
fly a helicopter, handle bees
and embrace every dragon I meet.

[Canela]

WHAT SHE WANTS

Inside
is the little girl
from not that long ago.



What does she want?
She wants what she always wanted:
to be taken seriously.



Outside there’s a woman round
as an over-ripe plum. People point,
their voices cruel, jesting.



What does she want?
What she’s always wanted:
to be taken seriously.



CB FOLLETT

[Kätzchen]

re: the proposition that possibly individuals who present fat are percieved as being less than they are and thus, seen as having less than desireable self esteem, etc.

I think the better way to address things of this nature is to call out that particular thinking process and let the owner of that particular perception bear the full weight of their own biases. Why do I advocate that position? I think it is necessary to challenge biases of this nature and let the owner who dares to propel that kind of ideology do the work it takes to dial back their own biases, so that particular social narrative is called to a halt.

It's important to not cave into false construction of ideas that places the burden on the person being victimized for their own beauty and, who no doubt, deserves positive strokes about who they are and not what people think they look like or thought of as having less than desireable self esteem, etc.

I say call it out. Put a stop to it. Don't cave into social processes that do nothing positive for the person who is beautiful in their own right.

[Spirit Dancer]

[Spirit Dancer]

[Spirit Dancer]

She is right on target with her opinion.

[Leigh]

Originally Posted by Canela

Somebody done messed up and let me get to know these big beautiful women from the Queens of Comedy years ago...and in that came another huge confidence boost.

Now I like that "kshuh kshuh" from the hoola hoop...I saw this a long time ago...and I took it in and honey I ain't never been the same since....

Mo'nique has the right idea when she said, "honey, I am big beautiful and loving it".

That's me...I don't need to be a size 4 to feel sexy and beautiful...trust me, at this size 18 I can still rock that...and him. I choose to be who I am because it suits me....I like that I am not embarrassed anymore because I am still beautiful and smart and sexy as heck...does my weight really make me less than? Uh, no...that just doesn't compute.

Come on now...plus size doesn't mean less honey, it means more. More of everything...more love, more woman, more confidence, more heart, more mind, more compassion, more kindness, more caring, more, more, more...we've learned the hard lessons of reality and turned them inside out to grow ourselves in the strength and overcomer's department.

Life hasn't been easy, but we have learned from it, especially the discrimination of being a BBW. Not one of the exes I have ever had after I gained my weight ever, ever, ever had a problem with my size...once when I asked one former lover I was almost yelled at (he was offended as if I did something wrong)...he said", babygirl, have I ever made you feel anything less than beautiful, sexy and loved?" I had to admit that no, he had not.

So ladies, take it like you like it, but I took my ex's words and never looked back.
He thought I was hot and sexy...
I thought I was hot and sexy....
I know I am a good woman and there is a good butch/TG/Ftm man out there that will love us just as we are.
If not--it's their loss.

I had a very sweet man tell me just recently, "I see you. You're beauty goes much deeper than what's on the surface. You're pretty from the inside out. This is unique. I can't help but notice."

I love being me. I am a B.B.T.W. (Big Beautiful Texican Woman) and I don't make excuses for it. Love me or don't. I'm not the one missing out!

Receive that for yourselves my sisters and never let anyone tell you who or what you are. You're beautiful.

WOW, now THIS is exactly what I needed to hear today ~ thank you thank you thank you for posting this

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by Kätzchen

re: the proposition that possibly individuals who present fat are percieved as being less than they are and thus, seen as having less than desireable self esteem, etc.

I think the better way to address things of this nature is to call out that particular thinking process and let the owner of that particular perception bear the full weight of their own biases. Why do I advocate that position? I think it is necessary to challenge biases of this nature and let the owner who dares to propel that kind of ideology do the work it takes to dial back their own biases, so that particular social narrative is called to a halt.

It's important to not cave into false construction of ideas that places the burden on the person being victimized for their own beauty and, who no doubt, deserves positive strokes about who they are and not what people think they look like or thought of as having less than desireable self esteem, etc.

I say call it out. Put a stop to it. Don't cave into social processes that do nothing positive for the person who is beautiful in their own right.

I want to expand my rationale on personal accountability where it concerns calling out biases that carefully walk the line between being just a bias then as it spirals into prejudicial actions which are used to build credibility into a claim based in the opposite, counter-claim, that hopes to justify a bias - no matter where it resides on the scale of behaviors used to make the claim appear credible and/or legitimate.

I will use Spirit Dancer's latest post to illustrate the underlying logic I see in the premise set by the author of the quote: Dawn French.

French's quote provides a common context known to most people in that Renaissance art has been a place where we find female bodied models who are beautiful in thier own right and 'revered as a fabulous model' of beauty. Then, French goes on to justify her claim based on a counter-cultural issue of not being Fat (Skinny Culture) by suggesting that a reknown model in our own present culture (Kate Moss) would be 'used as a paintbrush' to make another wrong right.

I appreciate how it is that one might feel drawn to make comparisons like that. But I can't get fully behind it. Why? I have to call it out for what I see transpiring within the framed context of logic that is utilized. For, it's not okay that an opposite culture is used to oppress or suppress the real claim at stake in this particular meme. People who are skinny or their body size and range of weight is staged more toward a normed latitude are just as valuable in our society as people whose range of size or weight is found on another spectrum of the latitude - those of us who are bigger or larger or whatever descriptor that one wants to adopt as their own personal descriptor.

Let's take me (for example): I think of myself as a tank. My own identity is charged positively in that while it's not necessarily a true marker of my physical shape, what is truer is the proverbial connotation of what the term "Tank" means: I adopt Tank as an armor that aids me in repelling social stereotypes (isms) which carry a negatively charged connotation. I'm not as big as I was six months ago, but I am still a fairly big woman - because my bone density and physical makeup will only allow me to look as lean as only my body will allow. I don't think I will ever weigh less than 200, but if I ever weigh 190, will have a big party!

What I am trying to say is that to me, it's not okay to use a counter-proposition that oppresses another type of culture or identity to justify the negatively charged messages about ourselves in the world of using language as thoughtfully and carefully as one can. Sometimes I surface process, but mostly I process at a level in cognition that requires time to process and take in all the items present that I see in the environment. Those items might look like: physical cues, non-physical cues, tangible textual cues (re: the quote by French), and if we're in a face-to-face situation then no doubt other signifiers come into play. For example, speech processes, cultural cues found present in the way a person dresses or proximity (distance) between members who are sharing a channel of communication with each other.

It takes a deeper commitment in the process of calling out social stereotypes pertaining to size culture (Fat) than using a surface process to justify the hurtful messages we are bombarded with on a daily basis. I want to say that in developing this post, my intention is to not make my friend SD feel badly for the comparison she felt led to make in support of those who are larger in size as opposed to those who are less our size. I only do this with a loving heart and remaining true to my own level of social and personal accountability in illustrating a principle that I feel is important in providing a feasible remedy for combating biased, prejudicial aspects we face on a daily basis.

Maybe one way to reframe the message conveyed in French's quote could go something like this:

I'm glad Reuben Art mirrors my beauty and that Kate Moss can enjoy my beauty too: We paint a beautiful world together!

So, hopefully what I submit today is met with a willingness to carefully inspect flagged messages in our daily lives and make a commitment to counter biased and prejudicial acts of communication by reframing what we let ourselves hear, read or what we allow ourselves to think. I think the remedy begins with ourselves and my own challenge on a daily basis is to treat myself with loving kindness and dwell only upon thoughts which uplift me and those around me.

[SingularNYCFemme]

Originally Posted by Kätzchen

So, hopefully what I submit today is met with a willingness to carefully inspect flagged messages in our daily lives and make a commitment to counter biased and prejudicial acts of communication by reframing what we let ourselves hear, read or what we allow ourselves to think. I think the remedy begins with ourselves and my own challenge on a daily basis is to treat myself with loving kindness and dwell only upon thoughts which uplift me and those around me.

I appreciate your entire carefully written and thought through post, Kätzchen; thank you very much for everything you wrote there. Actually, I've cut out my favorite part, which had to do with Rubenesque women and sharing our enjoyment of them with Ms. Moss! But it is your final, succinct, deeply caring paragraph I am quoting because it really sums up everything you have written so well. It really is best for us, having known and felt (oh bother with past tense, I deal with this on the bus every day) our fellow humans' responses to our being outside their imposed norm, not to engage in the same negative and derisive treatment of any fellow human. My largesse is only one way in which I am outside of today's social norms; and I need to learn how to live the best life I can live with the various ways in which I veer off. I will do so better, perhaps best, if I do so with as much acceptance of other ways people are than, certainly, if I turn around and exclude others as I have found myself excluded, or deride others as I have found myself derided.

Now I've prattled on long enough, all basically to say thank you for such rich food ... for thought!

[Soft*Silver]

I hear women telling me what they cant wear...

I cant expose my arms, they are too big

I cant wear belts, my stumach is too large

I cant wear pants, my ass is too big

I cant wear sexy nighties because I am round

I cant wear shorts my legs are too fat

I cant wear heels because people will laugh

I cant wear sexy because no one will believe it

I cant wear dress-up because I will be a joke instead of sensual

I cant wear ....

its amazing some of us leave the house with anything on at all. No stripes, loud colors, prints, nor white. However, glitter, sequins, animal prints and satin stripe around our necklines (the supposed smallest part of our upper body) are ok.

So I go to work wearing....extremely thin strapped tank tops...and shorts. And stripes and loud prints...REALLY LOUD prints. LOL. And I dyed my hair blue black and wear rich deep colors on my face. I cant wear heels but I paint my toes and I put on hats that dont match anything I wear. LOL. And they love me. Actually, they actually love themselves. And that...is what its all about...

[Ginger]

Originally Posted by Miss_Tia

I hear women telling me what they cant wear...

I cant expose my arms, they are too big

I cant wear belts, my stumach is too large

I cant wear pants, my ass is too big

I cant wear sexy nighties because I am round

I cant wear shorts my legs are too fat

I cant wear heels because people will laugh

I cant wear sexy because no one will believe it

I cant wear dress-up because I will be a joke instead of sensual

I cant wear ....

its amazing some of us leave the house with anything on at all. No stripes, loud colors, prints, nor white. However, glitter, sequins, animal prints and satin stripe around our necklines (the supposed smallest part of our upper body) are ok.

So I go to work wearing....extremely thin strapped tank tops...and shorts. And stripes and loud prints...REALLY LOUD prints. LOL. And I dyed my hair blue black and wear rich deep colors on my face. I cant wear heels but I paint my toes and I put on hats that dont match anything I wear. LOL. And they love me. Actually, they actually love themselves. And that...is what its all about...

What a truly beautiful post.

[nycfem]

Reading what Tia wrote made me think about how a few years ago, when I was at the indoor pool at the gym, after swimming a mile, I got out of the pool and was wearing a black swimsuit with a bright pink design on it. It was pretty generic. But a lean, athletic dude had to yell across the pool, "Wow, that's a really LOUD color you're wearing!" A lot of people looked at me and I just gave a little forced giggle. I was caught off-guard but I got the message. Sorry, 200lb short women shouldn't wear bright, fun colors, especially not in a dripping wet swimsuit and not at a gym. The shame stays with us and also makes it understandable why some fat people avoid the gym.

[SugarFemme]

About ten years ago when I still bought into the, "Wear black, it makes you slimmer" BS my mom was feeding me, I always wore black to work. ALL black. I still felt fat. Didn't have that miraculous, suddenly looking 50 pounds lighter look. Everyone used to tease me at work that I was, "Always ready for a funeral" because I was always in all black. I figured, fuck it. I was so over it. Now, I wear whatever makes ME feel good. Besides, I finally figured out that it was NOT what I wore on the outside, but how I felt on the INSIDE about myself that made the difference.

Originally Posted by Miss_Tia

I hear women telling me what they cant wear...

I cant expose my arms, they are too big

I cant wear belts, my stumach is too large

I cant wear pants, my ass is too big

I cant wear sexy nighties because I am round

I cant wear shorts my legs are too fat

I cant wear heels because people will laugh

I cant wear sexy because no one will believe it

I cant wear dress-up because I will be a joke instead of sensual

I cant wear ....

its amazing some of us leave the house with anything on at all. No stripes, loud colors, prints, nor white. However, glitter, sequins, animal prints and satin stripe around our necklines (the supposed smallest part of our upper body) are ok.

So I go to work wearing....extremely thin strapped tank tops...and shorts. And stripes and loud prints...REALLY LOUD prints. LOL. And I dyed my hair blue black and wear rich deep colors on my face. I cant wear heels but I paint my toes and I put on hats that dont match anything I wear. LOL. And they love me. Actually, they actually love themselves. And that...is what its all about...

[ruby_woo]

Originally Posted by Miss_Tia

I hear women telling me what they cant wear...

I cant expose my arms, they are too big

I cant wear belts, my stumach is too large

I cant wear pants, my ass is too big

I cant wear sexy nighties because I am round

I cant wear shorts my legs are too fat

I cant wear heels because people will laugh

I cant wear sexy because no one will believe it

I cant wear dress-up because I will be a joke instead of sensual

I cant wear ....

I've never had any problem wearing colours, stripes, showing my arms, etc., but until recently I never EVER wore pants. I hated my ass and thighs so much I thought I had to hide them in skirts all the time. I love pretty dresses and skirts, but it's nice to branch out every now and then.

I guess I've been able to throw that out the window because I wore skinny jeans to work today, and they were freakin' cute.

[Canela]

I came to a point in my heart and my spirit where it was more important what I thought and felt about myself than what anyone else thinks, says or does. Not because I have no feelings or respect for anyone else, but because what I think matters just as much. It's equality...

Why? Because I am worthy of being important as are all of you, my sisters.

Just as important as anyone else thinks they are, that's how important I am, too. My feelings, my opinions, my heart, my desires, my mode of dress, my hair, my nails...(incidentally, I have short little fingers so I wear long nails ALL THE TIME with lots of bling too!)all have everything to do with me and no one else.

My weight?

Well, one day my youngest daughter was going into her school as I'd dropped her off that morning, and a smart ass boy said to her, "you're mom is fat". My daughter was 6 years old. She turns around and looks at me getting ready to drive away and she says to him, "my mommy's body is big because it has to carry around her big heart". 6 years old. (Is that what you meant, Katzchen? lol)

Now you know how tall I am. I am 10 feet tall.

[Soft*Silver]

I have had so many Drs tell me to lose weight so my medical problems would decrease. I actually had 3/4 of my stumach removed to repair a massive hiatal hernia. I assumed, as did many others, that this was going to act like bypass surgery. It did somewhat, but not completely. I lost about 30 lbs that have stayed off. I actually lost 50 but put 20 back on. And this is where I feel comfortable. If I worked at it, i could drop those 20 lbs but frankly, I dont want to. My Drs are telling me I need to. But i am stronger now than I have been ever since my accident. I feel so much better. Losing those 20 lbs isnt going to miraculously make me not disabled! I am always going to still walk with a limp, be stiff, be in pain. But I can run a store, ride a horse and walk my dogs! And be damn hot in a pair of shorts...and tank tops! LOL

[SingularNYCFemme]

Originally Posted by Canela

Well, one day my youngest daughter was going into her school as I'd dropped her off that morning, and a smart ass boy said to her, "you're mom is fat". My daughter was 6 years old. She turns around and looks at me getting ready to drive away and she says to him, "my mommy's body is big because it has to carry around her big heart".

Thanks to you and your daughter for a beautiful start to my day.

[SugarFemme]

I read this to my daughter last night, (She is now 19) and we both cried. How true and honest. To your daughter you are not her fat mom. You are just her wonderful mom. Good or bad, children see the world through such different eyes than adults. It's a shame that many don't carry "that" through to their adult years. Canela, give your daughter a hug for myself and my daughter please.

Originally Posted by Canela

Well, one day my youngest daughter was going into her school as I'd dropped her off that morning, and a smart ass boy said to her, "you're mom is fat". My daughter was 6 years old. She turns around and looks at me getting ready to drive away and she says to him, "my mommy's body is big because it has to carry around her big heart". 6 years old. (Is that what you meant, Katzchen? lol)

Now you know how tall I am. I am 10 feet tall.