Archive For The “Memoir” Category
Hello loves! I am extraordinarily pleased to announce that I have an article up on Newsweek.com today. For serious! It’s a heavily-edited version of the childhood obesity post of a few weeks ago, which elicited such a powerful response from so many of you. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Kate Dailey, articles […]
Everything in this story is true. Well, except for the end. There I had to embellish, as it was written before the story was truly over. The real end was very different from the one I imagined, but then life has a way of surprising you. And except for the fate of the girl I […]
Yesterday, on my way home from work, I stopped by Target to look at this dress and this dress, both of which I’d seen on the website, but honestly, trying to gauge the potential ugliness factor of floral prints using web images is a total drag. So off I went. D was with me, but […]
A long-delayed missive on “childhood obesityâ€, from a onetime obese child.
By Lesley | March 24, 2010
Hello. My name is Lesley, and I was an obese child.* I was first made aware of my size during a routine checkup by my pediatrician. I estimate I was around eight years old at the time. The doctor showed me a chart; the chart was arranged by height on one axis and weight on […]
“You don’t get to say that to me anymore”: Some thoughts on dealing with parents
By Lesley | February 11, 2010
NB: I am not a therapist. The closest thing I have to a credential in this area is my first Master’s degree, which was an interdisciplinary deal combining developmental psychology, family studies, and media literacy. That said, most of what I offer below is just old-fashioned personal advice, which is based on my own experiences […]
On being in The Boston Globe, getting photographed, and self-perception.
By Lesley | January 12, 2010
Look kids, I’m in the venerable Boston Globe! I was interviewed for the article in question over a couple of weeks back in November and December, though at the time I had no idea it was going to be printed by such a conspicuous institution. I first read the above (and wrote 99% of this […]
On a new year, Amanda Palmer, school uniforms, and being ferociously ourselves.
By Lesley | January 5, 2010
I spent the eve of 2010 at Symphony Hall in dear Boston, watching Amanda Palmer play (in every sense of the word) with the Boston Pops. That night gave me many things to think about, the most immediate at the time being a vivid reminder of the complications of wearing a dress, and a crinoline, […]
EDIT: The podcast is up! You can listen to it on the web here (click the “Listen to this show” button at the top of the page), or get it via iTunes here. While I’m waiting for the podcast of my radio debut (warning: some of those comments will cost you mightily in Sanity Watchers […]
As I’ve gotten older (and here I use “older” cautiously since I’m only in my thirties), one of the more unexpectedly pleasant aspects has been my growing invisibility to younger people. I’ve been fat my entire life, and as a result there hasn’t been a time when seeing a cluster of young men (or, for […]
Me (and my old hair), in an Old Navy dressing room in 2004. On the recent piece about size acceptance on Good Morning America (I originally wrote about it here), there was a tiny soundbite from a doctor, wearing a white coat and standing in what looks like an examination room, saying that she believes […]
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