Quality & Equality

[Administrative note: I have been getting a ton of porn spam in the comments which I can't really deal with from my desk at work, and have disabled anonymous commenting for now. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, and I hope you'll all still comment away.]

I was flipping through the radio yesterday on the drive home and I caught a couple of minutes of this guy's show. He was telling a girl that only fat and ugly women like the show "Ugly Betty," so she must fat. She is 5'6" and weighs 135, and he said she had "junk in the trunk" and "should" weigh 125. (I love how guys like this think they have the first clue what 5'6" and 135 looks like--or that the same height and weight looks the same on all women.)

The caller said that she didn't think she was fat, and that also he was sending a terrible message to young girls because "we have more to offer than how we look." (Which is, of course, the message of "Ugly Betty.") His response was that "men don't care" and that "high-quality men who are rich, successful, and wealthy" (yes, he said both rich and wealthy) "we" (yes, he said "we") "don't care what else you have to offer." After a few more minutes where he patted himself on the back for "telling it like it is" I switched it off in disgust.

Sure, this chick is fat like Tyra Banks is fat. Obviously this guy's schtick is to be a sexist blowhard asshole, he's not the first and he certainly won't be the last. But the interesting thing to me was that he was really emphasizing "high-quality" men as being successful men with money. I had this sudden realization that perhaps the pressure that women have to be thin might be equivalent to the pressure men have to be successful and rich. I always think men have it easy, but maybe they don't; it's just a different kind of pressure in a different area of their lives.

Of course, I know that these type of "high-quality" men exist, and they don't want women to weigh more than 125 pounds or whatever. And I am sure there are plenty of "high-quality" women who are into that sort of thing. But there are also rich and successful career women, men who don't define themselves by job title or bank account balance, and men and women of all shapes and sizes who find each other and love each other for what they are, not for their adherence to some totally imaginary ideal. Thank god we've got Match.com and America Ferrera to help us figure it all out.

'Cause silicone parts are made for toys

I had no idea that Kelly Osbourne was interested in appearing in Playboy, but damn, I sort of wish Hugh Hefner wasn't being an ass about it. I choose to believe that he's commenting on the fact that she has a unique brand of attractiveness that might not be appreciated by the average Playboy reader, unlike than the vanilla plasticized Playmates that he normally uses. And I also choose to believe that this is not a comment her size, because damn, she's totally hot, in a Sophie Dahl pre-Trim Spa (NSFW) kind of way.

Dear Hefner,

I would totally buy a Kelly Osbourne issue. I might actually read the articles too.

Sincerely, Weetabix

PS. Aren't you 80? How much airbrushing do you need?

The billboard orders you to drop the Krispy Kreme

If there's one thing I can count on, there's going to be something in the news about saving the fat kids. If it's not the fault of the schools, then the parents are to blame. A $250,000 public awareness campaign will be launched in Boston tomorrow and check it out:

One billboard shows an overweight child's lower legs and feet on a scale next to the words, "Fat Chance," along with a list of the health risks of obesity. A second billboard shows the back of an overweight child and asks, "If that's your kid, what are you waiting for?"

Because if there's one thing this world needed, it was more media images telling overweight kids that they are doomed. Wait, there's more.

...the images may be jarring and even insulting to some parents. "People are concerned that parents may become upset by it," said Green. "There is the risk of turning some people off, but I'm hoping it won't, and will be the first step toward developing awareness if their child is obese."

This entire argument seems to be "You clearly didn't understand the first 24854 messages that it's not good to be fat, so we'll just say it again in a different way." And maybe shaming parents will work. Maybe kids are like puppies to be swatted on the nose with a newspaper. Maybe BF Skinner was wrong and avoidance learning is better than positive reinforcment of desired behaviors. Maybe I just haven't been told that I'm fat enough times for it to really sink in.

America's Next Top Blog Post

Sometimes I go looking for stories; sometimes people send me stories; sometimes I stumble across stories as I go about my life. And last night I spotted a story in my referral logs: this site was getting a spike in traffic from people searching for "Tyra" and "fat" and finding this post. What happened, I wondered? Had Tyra put on another fat suit?

Here's what I've been able to piece together. Tabloids published pictures of Tyra Banks in a swimsuit. Gossip websites posted the pictures. Tyra Banks fought back.

"'I don't want to sit in front of you and be soap-boxy and fake and say, "I love myself, I'm beautiful, it's great,"' says Banks, who is 5 feet 10 inches tall. 'I still feel hot, but every day is different. It's when I put on the jeans that used to fit a year ago and don't fit now and give me the muffin top, that's when I say, "Damn!'" In other words, yes, she has put on weight, though not nearly as much as recent tabloid stories have suggested. 'I've made millions of dollars with the body I have, so where's the pain in that?' she says. 'If I was in pain, I would have dieted. The pain is not there - the pain is someone printing a picture of me and saying those (horrible) things.'"

So did her spokespeople.

"She's saying yeah, she's put on a little weight but she's at a healthy body weight and a healthy size and her big concern is young girls who look up to her, saying, "We think you are so beautiful and love that you are not a size 2"... What are they going to think if they see [her] picture being called these horrible things? Espinoza said that Banks knows she contributed to this image of perfection during her years modeling. Now she wants to be honest about all the work that goes into looking that good and what she really looks like. On "America's Top Model," Banks doesn't pick excessively thin women and deliberately chooses models of all body sizes... [she] acknowledges that she is not a model anymore and doesn't have to adhere to those standards."

She's also going to be on the cover of People Magazine (this fabulous blogger has posted a photo of the cover). And next week, Tyra will be talking about it on her show. And there you have it, my friends! If the people come here seeking answers, I will find them.

Sad But True

We all think of McDonald's as bad-for-you fast food, but how many of us put Starbucks into that category? It's interesting to think about the fact that Starbucks's "cool cache" keeps us from thinking of it as fast food. This article peeks behind the green curtain, as it were:

"I said no thanks to the virtuous sounding no-sugar-added banana walnut coffee cake after learning that it has 480 calories and 30 grams of fat... And to put this in prospective, the much-maligned McDonald's Quarter Pounder weighs in at 410 calories and 19 grams of fat."

I know from years of cruising DWLZ that basically every pastry there, even the ones that sound healthy, are terrible for you. (I had no idea that no-sugar-added thing was so bad, though; I have had the no-sugar-added carrot loaf on numerous occasions. No more, though. I might as well have that 10-point blueberry scone I really want.) And I drink nonfat sugar free hazelnut lattes these days. And they are delightful.

Via Starbucks Gossip.

Bodacious

BODacious™ Magazine (link probably NSFW) – it’s everything you ever wanted to know about the larger, curvier lifestyle, from the women who live it, to the guys that love it. It’s a high gloss adult print magazine for men and women. It's the first magazine of its kind depicting BBW (Big Beautiful Women) in a light so similar to the mainstream magazines that it would be hard to tell the difference, except for the fact that in our magazine we feature Full-Figured Women. It has a flavor and style never before met, or seen in the magazine market for publications featuring larger women....each issue is packed with thought-provoking articles, evocative fiction, straightforward editorials and up-scale erotic photography. Sprinkle in a sense of humor, a touch of madness and just a pinch of naughty is nice, and you’ll have one of the most talked about magazines in the mainstream market today.

So, talk to me about it. It says something about my own scarred psyche that the first thing I thought (or worried about) was that it was a magazine mocking fat chicks or the people who think they're sexy, or that it was a creepy fetish magazine. But it seems legit, and maybe even celebratory. What do you think?

Somehow Seems Like A Bad Idea

An obesity drug for dogs!

"The Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug of its kind to combat canines' fatness. The liquid drug, Slentrol, by Pfizer Inc., manages obesity in dogs by reducing appetite and fat absorption to trigger weight loss.... Adverse reactions associated with Slentrol include vomiting, loose stools, diarrhea, lethargy and loss of appetite. No serious drug reactions or fatalities occurred during Hickman's study, but seven of the treated dogs experienced vomiting, four had soft stool and three showed signs of anorexia during the first two weeks."

Can't you just walk your dog more and feed him diet food or something? Seriously?

In other dog news, Katharine McPhee got a creepy bald Chihuahua that she's posing with in the new Entertainment Weekly, and now I kind of hate her.

Golden Girls

Two of our favorite fabulous people won Golden Globes last night: Jennifer Hudson and America Ferrera. First of all, they both looked fabulous and are not in any way fat. (Jennifer Hudson has lost weight since Dreamgirls, and America Ferrera is curvy and petite. Did you see how wee she is? And look how gorgeous. I was so happy to see these girls (and Ugly Betty) win awards last night. I think Ferrera's speech said it all:

"It is such an honor to play a role that I hear from young girls on a daily basis how it makes them feel worthy and lovable and that they have more to offer the world than they thought."

God bless that girl. First the pants movie, and now this! (ETA: Exactly.)

Hot Shopping Tip

For those of you who, like me, got paid today, Torrid is having a 50% off clearance sale. Did I get Demeter "Laundromat" perfume for $6? Yes I did. Did I get olive green tights for $2? No I did not, because they sold out as I was checking out. Did I get a glittery teal tube top for $9? Yes I did, because I went into a sort of fugue state; I don't know what I was thinking. So act now.

An E for Effort

When I first saw the headline "In Obesity Fight, Many Fear a Note From School" and skimmed the article, I thought they were suggesting that they were receiving grades based on how fat they were or weren't. It's not, but still. I'm not sure if I'm glad that I grew up before this practice of listing a kid's BMI on their report cards or now when there are supposedly so many fat kids that administrators report that only the extremes are getting teased. As Mary said in the comments on the Too Fat To Adopt post, "I think it must be harder now to be the fat kid than ever before, and frankly, it was bad enough."

Honestly, this shouldn't be a shock to anyone. That was always my reaction when someone would look at me and say "You're fat." Nice news flash. And the sky is blue. The kid knows that they're overweight. The parents know the kid is overweight. The article opens with an anecdote of a six-year-old traumatized by the school's verdict and refusing to eat and while it was undoubtedly mentioned to make everyone worried about giving six-year-olds an eating disorder, it just reminds me of so many well-meaning adults who seemed to feel that if you just make someone feel bad enough about themselves, they'll choose to stop being fat. You know, I was only slightly overweight until I decided that since I was considered a fatso already, I might as well eat some junk food and at least enjoy myself.

I'm certainly not suggesting that we all stick our heads in the collective sand(wich) but man, is it appropriate for a school to make these kinds of distinctions? Especially when the same school is handing them a burger and french fries with a milk shake for lunch? Do you guys think this is going to help or harm those burgeoning relationships with food?

Kelly Clarkson Sued

The makers of four weight loss pills were sued by the FTC today for making false claims. I shudder to think of the spam I will get if I actually put the names of the companies in here. I will disguise them! They are: Zenadrine EFX, Fourteen-A-Day Weight Smart, CortiNeverheardofit and Anna Nicole Smith.

"[T]he FTC investigation found that the marketers of [one of them] had a study that said those who took a placebo actually lost more weight than those taking the pill. 'They not only didn't have studies to support the claim, they actually had a study that went the other way.'"

I also heard that one of these products markets the ingredient known as Kelly Clarkson, but the article didn't mention it.

Fainting Dieters Delay NYC Subway

Thanks to CoryGlen for alerting us to this article about the New York City subway. Apparently it's being delayed because of dieters overdoing their new year's resolutions:

"Sick subway passengers, most of them dieters who faint from dizziness, are among the top causes of train delays, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority."

Should I not laugh? That's pretty funny. Especially since I just spent five minutes trying to figure out how I can consume fewer than 1,300 calories today. Just a reminder that extreme diets are never a good idea: permanent lifestyle changes are. Maybe I'll go for a walk instead.