Perception Check: Dumbest thing ever?

Okay, so I just spent some time watching YouTube videos and ended up going from the Dove evolution video to some parodies of it (most of which were dumb) to this video, which features someone using photoshop to give a makeover to Jessica Alba. Ummmm….it has made me lose faith in our world.

The maker of the video says:

Btw, i know that shes beautiful, but i tried to make her more beautiful…

What I’d like to say to the poster pretty much boils down to, “I have a problem with you.” I just…don’t understand it. Why is this person looking at Jessica Alba and thinking “hey, there’s still something I could fix in that photo?” What the hell is their problem? It has just proven to me how completely off base our perceptions of beauty are. Just getting mad at the video’s creator isn’t enough. I’m mad at the world for making this such a norm. We look at someone. We judge them. We say, “let’s make you prettier!” It seriously makes me sick. I want to just run to the edge of a cliff and throw myself off. Some days I look at things like this and think, “what has happened to our world?!” I mean, I think I’m being pretty reasonable in asking someone to look at Jessica Alba and think, “Look at how smokin’ hot that woman is. I can’t imagine needing to do anything to make her look more beautiful.” But apparently, even that is too much to ask!

I dunno. I’ve just lost faith. Completely lost faith.

Am I crazy? Please, world, validate my feelings…

Like, Seriously?

I have no words.

Seriously. How are these two things even fucking COMPARABLE??

I hate the world. I really, really do.

Note to self: stop taking quizzes online.

Dr. Horrible

I know I haven’t posted in an age, and there’s no excuse. But, I want to post this to share the joy it brings! Jamie alerted me to it’s presence, and all fans of Joss Whedon should watch it, and anyone looking for something fun to do had better see it NOW!

It’s only up online until Sunday, so the sooner you go, the better!

GO HERE!

The Re-boob-olution: Fatshion and Feeling Good

I’m not sure I’ve ever written about how I discovered the FA movement. I’ve come to call it (mostly in my head) the Re-boob-olution. Just after I’d returned from Ecuador, I went to visit my college, and all my friends, who were still in classes for winter quarter. I stayed with my friend, E., who has been a very influential woman in my life. We’re both fat, and throughout our friendship, E. has taught me a lot about confidence, believing in oneself, and living life large. She may not have known it, but I always saw her as an extremely self-confident, beautiful woman. I wanted to be like her because of that confidence, but I never quite got there.

If you were to ask her, she’d say that she’s never been very confident. In fact, she’s always considered herself as having low self confidence, and low self-esteem. Anyway, that weekend that I stayed with her, she and I took a trip to Lane Bryant. I hadn’t been to Lane Bryant since I was in high school, mostly because I had a bit of a hatred of “those stores” (i.e. Plus Size stores) because they sold “old lady clothes” (i.e. Fatshion). But E. loved Lane Bryant. She swore by their jeans. Plus, neither one of us had ever been shopping with another plus size woman before. We’d gone in groups with our thinner friends, but never just us together. It was a thrilling prospect.

First thing we did as soon as we walked through the door was find about FIFTY THOUSAND things we wanted to buy. It happened to be a sale day (the only way we could buy anything), and we just pounced. It was really busy, so we ended up having to wait for a dressing room. We were chatting amicably, standing by the underwear, when I remembered that E. had told me she wanted to do a bra fitting. I found someone to measure us and get us going, and thus the Re-boob-olution began.

As soon as we had those bras on, and had seen the difference they made in our bodies’ shape, we were hooked. It turns out my bra was only slightly wrong in size. E., however, was one of the 80% of women wearing the wrong size bra, and her size was greatly different than what she thought it had been. While trying on our clothes and bras, we almost died of excitement. The right bra made everything look beautiful. It made my boobs fill out the clothes I never had been able to fill out before. It made me feel like my proportions were better, it made me feel more confident.

I spent a fortune at LB that day, and so did E., but it was ALL worth it. My LB jeans made my butt look fantastic. My bras made my boobs look fantastic, and in comparison to all that flabulousness, the parts of myself I hated (arms, stomach, etc.) didn’t seem ugly. The difference wasn’t just the clothes, it was the confidence the clothes inspired.

We went back to E.’s apartment and showed off for all our friends. That same day we watched Joy Nash’s Fat Rant, and the rest was history. Now, I’m not saying that the clothes changed my life. I’m not even going to give the credit to Joy and her incredible film. What changed me was the positivity surrounding that whole experience. Suddenly, my body felt beautiful to me. The clothes fit, the bras fit, the jeans fit, my friends thought I was beautiful, and I began to believe it too. It was the positivity focused on my body, coming from myself and others. It was the beauty I could finally see in my curves. It was the happiness I felt, the success, and it was the acceptance of myself.

Now, when I need a pick me up, I put on my prettiest bra, and my beautiful jeans, and think back to that incredible day. I’m working, this summer, in The Avenue, a plus size store, and I only hope that I can make someone else feel as positive about their body as I do about mine. I try to look nice at work, I smile at everyone, I compliment people’s choices (genuinely), and I tell the truth about what looks good on everyone. A positive shopping experience can boost someone’s day. And believe me, I know how much.

So now I want to open this thread: tell me about your Fatshion positivity, your re-boob-olution, or anything that just makes you feel good about yourself! Ready, GO!

Pre-Fourth Fat Fun!

I have a lot I want to write about (since I just got back from a weird day of work at the Avenue), but I’m too tired, and I need to cook with my dad for the big 4th of July party we’re having tomorrow (in honor of my sister’s engagement). So instead, I’ll leave you with a bit of fun stuff that I found posted over at The Rotund.

This video made me almost pee myself laughing, it’s so good.

Fat Documentary on Fat Experience

Quick post just to say that my Fat Documentary is up on the Fat Experience Project. For those of you who haven’t read about the project elsewhere, it’s a collection of personal stories and experiences from people of size. I quote their mission:

The Fat Experience Project® is an oral, visual and written history project which seeks to be a humanizing force in body image activism.

By collecting and sharing the many and varied stories of individuals of size, the Fat Experience Project® seeks to engage with, educate, empower and enrich the lives of people of size, our allies and the world at large.

The goal of the Fat Experience Project® is to map the experience of fat in a way that is human, has a face, a heart, a mind, a body and a voice. The goal is to listen and repeat – the good and the bad, the hard and the joyful and everything in between – in a way that may ultimately bring compassion to folks who don’t understand. More importantly, however, we hope The Fat Experience Project® will allow the folks who are hearing/reading their own words echoed back to them across the pages, fall in love with themselves and each other just a little more.

Please go check out the site. This project should help us all and provide a good resource of stories to help change the image of “fat as bad.” If you are willing, you should MOST DEFINITELY share your stories!

More on the Fat Experience Project later. Right now, I have to get read and go to work!