Archive For January, 2011

[SATIRE] The USA in crisis: Unmasking the true threat to our national health.

By | January 28, 2011

Sadly, the United States is losing the international race to produce an immortal population. A new report from the US National Research Council has revealed that life expectancy in the US is rising more slowly than anticipated, and more slowly than other nations of similar circumstance around the world. Rising more slowly is basically the […]

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Short Cuts: Miss Piggy, more fat on TV, and a new study on HAES

By | January 25, 2011

Item the first: This is old news in most corners of the internet by now, but I hadn’t mentioned it yet: in the new Muppet movie, due out in 2012, Miss Piggy will be employed as a plus size fashion editor for French Vogue. You know it’s a comedy, because French Vogue would never have need of […]

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Friday Fluff: The Outsider (1951)

By | January 21, 2011

Today’s distraction comes to us from the Prelinger Collection at the Internet Archive, one of my favorite places on the web. I present a short 1951 discussion film entitled “The Outsider”. Susan Jane has what could be delicately referred to as social problems. Mainly she is convinced that all the kids at school hate her. […]

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Real Quick: Jennifer Aniston looks wicked creepy in Allure

By | January 19, 2011

I have poked fun at Jennifer Aniston around here before, for apparently not knowing what a Cobb Salad is, though I am not as a rule anti-Aniston. I honestly don’t have a horse in that race. I’m pretty sure the only film I’ve ever seen her in was Office Space, which probably says something about […]

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Oh, freedom is mine: Weight Watchers and “Feeling Good”

By | January 18, 2011

The past few years have seen the rise of a new sort of celebrity. I blame Kirstie Alley for this, given her particularly memorable turn as Jenny Craig spokesperson, but she is only one of the many — Valerie Bertinelli, Sara Rue, Carnie Wilson, Jason Alexander — who have been famous in recent years primarily […]

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Friday Fluff: Vintage Fashion Advice for the Stout.

By | January 14, 2011

“Following the Fashion”, a December 1794 caricature by James Gillray, which satirizes incipient neo-Classical trends in women’s clothing styles, particularly the trend towards what were known at the time as “short-bodied gowns” (i.e. short-bodiced or high-waisted dresses). This caricature satirizes the figure-type which is most flattered by high-waisted dresses, contrasting it with a body-type which […]

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On social justice activism and The Overview Effect.

By | January 11, 2011

Hey kids! Today is my birthday. Because it’s my birthday, I’m going to ask that you indulge me in a small mental experiment. Go to a window. It can be any window. It doesn’t have to be open; we will not be shouting today. Look outside. Do you see people? If you don’t see people, […]

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Real Quick: El Tux

By | January 7, 2011

Since it’s been a bit depress-o-rama around here this week, I thought I’d give us a little Friday fluff. The above short film was written and directed by Paco Farias, and stars Harvey Guillen, whom many of you will remember for his portrayal of the inimitable Alistair on the late lamented TV series Huge (which […]

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The Winners are Dead: Contextualizing Eating Disorders

By | January 5, 2011

NB: Y’all know I never do trigger warnings, but since I know recovery can be a bitch, I am laying one out this time: this post discusses eating disorders and pro-ana/thinspiration. The above paragraph from my post on Monday has been making the rounds on Tumblr. I could have predicted it. Sometimes I think 90% […]

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On “Vomit Stix!” and being offended.

By | January 3, 2011

Back in the early aughts, when I was still entertaining my aspirations to academia, I used to do campus talks and lectures on fat politics.* At least I’d try. Before I  learned classroom-management skills, things would get sidetracked, rapidly and dramatically. The usual culprit? A skinny girl either suffering from or in recovery for an […]

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