Monthly Archives: August 2011

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Giuliana Rancic talks about Rimes being too THIN – Who’s the Pot- Who’s the Kettle?

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There are times when the irony of a thing just stupefies you! The fact that Giuliana Rancic would dare to talk about someone looking better “curvier” is just plain madness. This from a woman who was nervous about gaining weight in order to aid her chances at getting pregnant, who’s husband on vacation had to make a deal with her that she would eat everything, this from a woman (forgive me but I am a bit peeved- and it’s no secret that she annoys me) who looks skeletal, has the audacity to say that someone (who actually looks to be heavier than her) looks better with curves. But I can see something like that coming out of her mouth as she is one of the members of E’s Fashion Police where all they do is sit and rag on people, what they wear and how they look with little to no authority- if one can even have the authority to do that. Madness! What’s even crazier is that these grown women go back and forth about the topic like it’s a “real” thing, like someone talked about their Mama or baby or something. Either grow up and act your ages or I’ll have to give you a snack of cookies and whole milk! (that’s enough to scare them in to keeping quiet for a while)

hosted by TooFab

When talking about her new restaurant, Rancic recently told The Huffington Post she’d love to feed Rimes there, saying “She lost a lot of weight from all the stress in her life. She seems a little thin right now and I think she looks great when she’s a bit curvier.”

She seems a little thin right now and I think she looks great when she’s a bit curvier.”

0830_rimes_launch
Last night, LeAnn heard about Rancic’s weight talk and went straight to her favorite place to respond: Twitter.

“@GiulianaRancic hey, we should go to dinner sometime,” she wrote. “You get criticized all the time for how small you are. You can see just HOW much I eat and maybe put a stop to this crazy “shrinking” once and for all … Then we should workout together! Good luck with your restaurant!!!!”

After one of LeAnn’s followers said Rimes was being rude, she responded “How is that rude?! It’s the truth … I just don’t appreciate her comments, so I really would love for her to hang with me, see who I am. I am a person you know.”

Rancic has yet to respond … but it’s interesting that Giuliana, who can’t weigh too much more than Rimes, would single out the country singer in the first place.

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Wate-On: “True Beauty Includes a Full Figure”

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Today when the female ideal body form is that of less then nothing – meaning a size 0, that there was a time when women were encouraged to put weight on. We are well aware that era to era, sometimes decade to decade the popular image morphs. Think about the curvy nipped waist and pointed breasted silhouettes of the 50’s to the stick figure bra-less hippie of the sixties. The “ideal” female body type is subject to change as quickly as her hemline season to season. I was forwarded this article about a product for weight gain- that’s right weight GAIN from our own Taylor Owen Ramsey. Check out the marketing strategy…
by Lisa Wade, 

A couple of years ago we posted a series of weight gain ads from the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s.  Yes, weight gain ads.  Say it a few times, see how it rolls unfamiliarly around your tongue.  If you consume popular culture, it’s rare to come across anyone suggesting that there’s such a thing as women who are too skinny. Quite the opposite. Yet, during the middle decades of the 1900s, being too skinny was a problem that women worried about.  And Wate-On was there to help them achieve the “glamorous curves” of “popular” girls.

Jeremiah gave us a great excuse to re-post this already-posted material.  He sent in an ad for Wate-On featuring Raquel Welch:

There are interesting conversations to be had here.  Is pressure to be full-figured any different than pressure to be thin? It’s just another kind of pressure to conform to a particular kind of body.  Is the mid-century ideal different than the contemporary ideal of “curvy” women? In other words, are these women any less thin, or any less hourglass-figured, than the supposedly curvy icons of today: Beyonce, JLo, etc?  Are there any products for women who think they are too skinny today?  Can we make an interesting comparison between the capitalist and the medical solution to “too skinny”?  Other thoughts?

*Check it if you want to be popular!!–you can’t afford to be Skinny!”

I

They didn’t miss the African American Market. Thick Chicks!

There are more ads here

*       *       *       *       *      *      *

What I find so interesting is how susceptible woman are to being told how to look, and then heeding it. I can sort of understand the pressure to comply in other eras when a woman’s survival, and stability hinged on marrying and being taken care of, but today? Women have won the right to vote, held up the economy in war times, burned bras in the name of equality, they have become power players in business, media, science, technology and government, some while being wives and mothers. I think that the female gender has proven that it is more than capable, it is almost overqualified, and yet tell a woman that she is ugly, fat, or too thin and it is a instantaneous  reduction of her being. It’s fascinating really. And we like to think that women do it for the approval of  men, which for a large part is true, but not entirely. We also do it to be accepted and validated by other women as well. I recall in 1988 when Oprah Winfrey (who now has risen to have her OWN bloody network HELLO!) was told by Editor in Chief of American Vogue Anna Wintour that she would have to lose weight to be on the cover of the magazine. Winfrey was promoting her heart project the film Beloved, AND SHE DID! it still kinda pisses me off to this day, the fact that Anna Wintour made that “suggestion” and that Oprah didn’t just to a Tyra and tell her to kiss her Fat Ass! but here is an example of two independent, juggernaut women reducing others, and themselves to pounds and measurements. The question is when do we start to dictate for ourselves what WE want to look like? When do we say “screw you, I look fabulous” whether we are curvy, stickly, small breasted, dark, light, lumpy, bumpy , rumpy. When do we begin to own our bodies and our images? People can try to tell and sell you anything, only you have the power to believe or buy it. Ladies, this one is on us! we have to do our work….

Just saying….

 

via Hollywood Scoop

 

 Image by wenn.com

 

What happens when the queen of fashion meets the queen of television? In the case of Anna Wintour and Oprah, the discussion was about weight loss.

During an interview with 60 Minutes, Anna Wintour, who was the inspiration for the Miranda Priestly character in The Devil Wears Prada, talks candidly about being a “bitch,” a “perfectionist” and talks about the time she asked Oprah to lose weight before appearing in Vogue magazine.

“It was a very gentle suggestion,” Anna said when asked about the weight loss stories.

“I went to Chicago to visit Oprah, and I suggested that it might be an idea that she lose a little bit of weight before she appeared in the magazine,” said Wintour.

When asked how Oprah reacted to the “gentle suggestion,” Anna said, “She was a trooper. She totally welcomed the idea. She went on a very stringent diet. It was one of our most successful covers ever.”

 

Dance Studio, Donnish Delights

A Little Death- When “Dance Identified” what happens when it’s time to Retire?

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By Courtnay Veazey

It’s been seven years since I’ve consistently taken ballet classes, yet I still identify myself as a dancer, a bunhead, a ballerina, a terpsichorean, a lover of movement. However, this identification has lost its influence as other aspects of my post-performing identity have matured and blossomed. Identifying yourself as a dancer has its pros and cons. Pros include an intimate connection with your body, an automatic link to a tight-knit community, a spirit of intense dedication, and the joys of performing. Cons usually occur during times of transition, such as injury, realizing that you will not become a professional dancer, or retirement. All of those transitions deal with a loss, and as with any other loss in your life, you will grieve and feel heartbroken. To illustrate these powerful emotions of loss and grief felt by transitioning dancers, Kevin McKenzie, the artistic director for the American Ballet Theatre, said, “The retiring dancer and heartbroken lover are never more alike than when their relationships end” (Jeffri, 2005, p. 341).

 

I felt lost, confused, and grieved my senior year of high school when I realized that I would no longer be spending at least 15 hours a week in the ballet studio – my haven. I cried throughout my entire warm-up class before my final performance with the Ballet Memphis Junior Company. I knew that part of my identity was dying, but I chose to recognize that this loss would leave room for growth and new opportunities in my life. Ironically, the work ethic and dedication I learned from ballet would help me overcome the loss of ballet as my predominant self-identifier.

 

One of the most difficult times of transition a professional dancer will face is retirement – especially since it usually occurs at a young age. Most dancers end their careers before the age of 40. According to Pickman (1987), dancers “face retirement from dance with little knowledge or formal preparation for other careers” (p. 200). Along with lack of preparation regarding their transition, retiring dancers experience strong emotions, such as anger, frustration, depression, fear, and grief (Doerr, 1995; Jeffri, 2005; Pickman, 1987; van Staden, Myburgh, & Poggenpoel, 2009). An international survey conducted in 2000 by Columbia University’s Research Center for Arts and Culture confirmed “the common notion that the end of a career in dance is ‘one of life’s little deaths’ that dancers often say they must mourn the loss of before they can continue in another career” (Jeffri, 2005, p. 346). This same survey also confirmed that dancers feel more satisfied in their post-retirement careers if they fully prepare themselves for retirement compared to those dancers who do not prepare themselves (Jeffri, 2005).

 

South African researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with professional ballet dancers and discovered that retiring dancers usually do not view retirement as a growth opportunity (van Staden et al., 2009). They become intimately connected with the grief aspect of this transition and the fear that normally comes with a change and forget about the growth aspect and the talents and skills they have to offer. Also, upon retirement, dancers experience exclusion and self-doubt as a result of finding “themselves in competition with other ‘normal’ people, who are usually in the middle of their careers or even picking up the results of an already established career” (Roncaglia, 2006, p. 184; Drahota & Eitzen, 1995).

 

Feelings of being unprepared and feelings of anger, frustration, depression, fear, grief, loneliness, and self-doubt can be overcome by processing those emotions with a mentor and/or a counselor. Thankfully, the dance community recognizes this need for support and encouragement, and a wonderful organization exists specifically for dancers facing career transitions. This organization is Career Transition for Dancers. http://www.careertransition.org/Programs/

 

Dancers experience intense emotions when processing retirement because they tend to sacrifice personal development (Roncaglia, 2006), which leads to weakened self-identities (van Staden et al., 2009). In other words, dancers forfeit time with friends, family, and educational institutions (i.e. high school and/or college) to solely focus on dance, which in reality is only a small part of their identities. Yes, dance is an important aspect of their lives, but due to intense training, rehearsing, touring, and performance schedules, dancers sometimes forget to develop other aspects of their identities. This intense focus on only one aspect of their lives leads to much more intense loss when retirement occurs.

 

So, pre-professional and professional dancers, take time to focus on the other parts of who you are. Take a night class at a local or online university. Become involved with different volunteer efforts. Develop hobbies, such as photography, reading, writing, etc. Most importantly, while you’re taking time to focus on these other aspects of your identity, realize that everything you engage in is purposeful and ultimately preparing you in some way for a life off the stage. Some of you younger dancers may be participating in intense training and therefore do not have time to engage in other activities. That’s okay. Just be sure to make an effort to recognize your interests outside the dance realm. The mere knowledge that you have an interest in other things is just as important because those interests could become a secondary career choice in the future. Also, by being able to recognize your other interests now, then you will not be left offstage asking “Well, what else do I like? What do I do now?”

 

Here are a few activities that you can do pre-retirement to help you prepare for and successfully manage the emotional turmoil that can stem from this transition – whether that transition is next year or ten years from now.

 

1. Know what stage you’re experiencing. Drahota & Eitzen (1998) modified Ebaugh’s (1988) role exit theory to make it applicable for professional athletes. I believe their modification is also applicable to professional dancers.

Pre-Stage 1 – Original Doubts: You realize before becoming a professional dancer that this career (or role) would be temporary due to injury, the aging process, and intense competition. Therefore, you plan for another career before becoming a professional dancer. (If you experience this stage, then you typically experience a smoother transition post-retirement and enter directly into Stage 2.)

Stage 1 – First Doubts: You begin to doubt your commitment to being a professional dancer by realizing this role will not last forever. This questioning can occur as a result of burnout, injury, layoff, illness, or company restructuring.

Stage 2 – Seeking Alternatives: You begin looking for and consider alternatives to your current role as a professional dancer.

Stage 3 – The Turning Point: You make a voluntary or involuntary decision to exit your role as a professional dancer. Involuntary decisions occur because of layoffs, career-ending injuries, or illnesses. Also, during this stage, you announce your decision to leave your role and assemble the emotional and social support you need to act on that decision.

Stage 4 – Creating the Ex-Role: You learn how to be you without the role of dancer prominently attached and begin learning how to incorporate your past identity into your present and future identity. This stage is an intense process and takes time. (I’m still learning how to incorporate my identity as a ballerina into my present life.)

Consider the following questions regarding your current stage: How does it feel to be in that stage? What questions do have about the other stages? What do you see yourself doing to successfully move into the next stage? What’s preventing you from doing those things? What emotions do you feel when you think about moving to the next stage?

 

2. Explore your self-identity through a freewriting activity. For ten minutes, write whatever comes into your mind about your self-identity. Don’t stop to critique what you write. Just keep writing as much as you can get down. If you get stuck, keep writing – write ‘I’m stuck,’ or ‘I don’t know what else to write.’ Most importantly, keep your pen moving. After ten minutes, read through what you said. What did you learn about yourself? What are you missing? How will you fulfill those missing components? What are your strengths? How can you use those strengths in areas outside of dance?

 

3. Create a collage that reflects how you presently feel about retirement and how retirement makes you view yourself. After creating the collage and recognizing some of the emotions present in it, say out loud to yourself, “I will not allow retirement to make me feel _____.” Fill in the blank with anything (i.e. lonely, ugly, unimportant, sad).

 

4. Complete the following statement: “If I hadn’t become a dancer, I would have _____.” Explore that variety of interests that you use to fill in that blank via a part-time job, volunteering, or an educational outlet.

 

5. Research the multitude of resources at Career Transition for Dancers – http://www.careertransition.org/OnlineResources/TransitionLinks/ – based upon the area in which you’re lacking information, such as career counseling, resume writing, dance education resources, college guides, performing arts unions, etc.

 

6. Share what you learn with someone – either a fellow dancer or a trusted friend. You are not alone in this process.

 

References

 

Doerr, D. C. (1995). Coping with the emotions of job transition: A model for presentation to

clients. Journal of Career Development, 22(2), 101-107. doi:10.1007/BF02247460

 

Drahota, J. A. T., & Eitzen, D. S. (1998). The role exit of professional athletes. Sociology of

Sport Journal, 15(3), 263-278. Retrieved from SocINDEX with Full Text database.

 

Ebaugh, H. R. F. (1988). Becoming an ex: The process of role exit. Chicago: University of

Chicago Press.

 

Jeffri, J. (2005). After the ball is over. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 11(3), 341-355.

doi:10.1080/10286630500411499

 

Pickman, A. J. (1987). Career transitions for dancers: A counselor’s perspective. Journal of

Counseling & Development, 66(4), 200-201. Retrieved from SocINDEX with Full Text database.

 

Roncaglia, I. (2006). Retirement as a career transition in ballet dancers. International Journal

            for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 6, 181-193. doi:10.1007/s10775-006-9106-0

 

van Staden, A., Myburgh, C. P. H., & Poggenpoel, M. (2009). A psycho-educational model to

enhance the self-development and mental health of classical dancers. Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, 13(1), 20-28. Retrieved from International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text database.

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Katy Perry Pretty in Pink at the VMA’s

Clearly Katy is more comfortable with her body these days, judging from her body revealing ensemble at the VMA’s.

 

It’s hard to believe that  young woman who rocks the 1940’s pin up look, had issues with her body as a teen. But then again, the teen yeas are the teen years and in an interview with Rolling Stone Perry talks about developing the cleavage that has become her trademark:

• It took Perry a while to learn to embrace her body. “I started praying for [breasts] when I was, like, 11,” she says. “And God answered that prayer above and beyond, by, like, 100 times, until I was like, ‘Please, stop, God. I can’t see my feet anymore. Please stop!’ I was a lot more rectangular then. I didn’t understand my body. Someone in sixth grade called me ‘Over-the-shoulder boulder holder.’ I didn’t know I could use them. So, what I did was, I started taping them down. How long did I tape them down for? Probably until I was about 19. And, no, I don’t have any psychological pain because of it.”

Clearly, she puts those bad boys front and center of whatever she’s doing. It’s just goes to show you, that often the way we feel about ourselves is a mercurical, changing thing. The way we feel today is not necessarily the way we will feel tomorrow, sometimes it is a phase, like your teens, sometimes you realize that there are more important things to be concerned about, and sometimes, you just stop caring about it. Just as your body changes through time, so do you thoughts about it!! a good lesson.

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Demi Lovato Fires Back at Haters!

 

Demi Lovato presented at the VMA’s and apparently there were a number of Tweeters that had something to say about her weight. Well for those of you who don’t recall, Lovato is just making her reentry into the spotlight after seeking treatment for her eating disorder. So it seems to me a bit insensitive for people to get all hot fingered and tweet about how fat she looked. Truth be told she looked happy, yes she is fuller, but far from “fat”.

Here’s the real question I would like to ask, what if she did show up “fat” I mean rolly polly? What then? Would these tweeters, who obviously are either fans or people who follow her enough to know who she is, and that she was thinner before so I would assume that they might know that she was treated for having an eating disorder, would they hurl such incendiary comments at her and risk what that might do to her recovery? Sadly yes, they probably, would because a “break-down” is great fodder for gossip. I love that Demi stood up for herself and did not break down she tweeted:

“I’ve gained weight.Get over it.That’s what happens when you get out of treatment for AN EATING DISORDER.”

She then erased the tweet and replaced it with :

“Guess what, I’m healthy and happy, and if you’re hating on my weight you obviously aren’t. 🙂 #UNBROKEN”

 

Personally I like the first one. We all need to get past this high school mean girl, jump on the underdog mentality that has become ubiquitous with the internet social media networks. The old adage of “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all” should be heeded by all these days. Good for you Demi- stay healthy and happy and keep right on moving, people busy texting and tweeting can’t look up long enough to move forward!!! Good on ya!

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Well I guess Jessica Alba won’t have to Starve herself to regain her Shape

Just prior to giving birth to her second daughter, Jessica Alba talked about her desire to regain her pre-baby body. She mentioned that she has always suffered from body image issues and even battled eating disorders. But having given birth to her daughter Haven apparently her second pregnancy didn’t reek as much havoc on her money making figure as she thought it would. Now in People Magazine she is quoted as saying:

My grandmother was amazing — would go home in the clothes that she wore before she got pregnant with all five of her kids . . . It’s definitely good genetics.”

She also credits being active during her pregnancy for her keeping her in shape both during and after. Congratulations on your new bundle of joy, and remember your health and the baby’s is what is most important. Enjoy her!

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Jenny Craig Strike Back!! Carrie Fisher losed 50 Pounds in 9 Months!!


You have to admit that Jenny Craig does work.Carrie Fisher is the latest spokesperson that the program has transformed. What I like about the program is the fact that they focus on a lifestyle change not just dieting. Fisher equates it to a 12 step program. It seems that even after being spokesman for the program most celebs manage to keep the weight off by learning new tools, and incorporating exercise and portion control into their daily lives, this is a good thing!

Fisher told Today Show’s Ann Curry:

“I want to get back in the metal bikini and just walk around the house like an idiot, you know? Answer the doorbell. ‘What? What is it? Oh, this old thing? I’m just wearing my homestyle metal bikini!’ I’ll just come out with a line of metal bikinis for women over 40.”

check out what Carrie has to say on the Today Show.

Dance Studio, In Your Words, Uncategorized

One Size Fits All…but does it?

Recently I was sitting in a dance concert recently watching a piece, which was almost completely in unison. Now, in today’s world of contemporary dance the idea of unison (especially for long segments of time) is often considered trite, predictable, or old fashioned. As I watched the piece (which was also very slow) I was struck by how moved I was at seeing a mass move in exact unison. The oneness was soothing not only my eye, but to something deeper within me, not quite as deep as the soul, but it touched my innate humanity, that part of us that seeks to belong, to be a part of and identify to tribe. It is the thing that creates recognition, and sameness in ourselves and others. The desire for recognition is that animal instinct that informs us that “You are not an enemy, not a predator but one of us, I do not have to fear you”. Though the piece was very simple in it’s movement vocabulary, having danced in a corps de ballet, I know how difficult it is to stay in time with a group of people. Though there are counts to help everyone stay together, there is a deeper more visceral connection that happens when people have the intention of staying together, you have feel. There is a submission of the individual and the absorption into the collective, larger entity. This is the essence of the concept of the Corps de Ballet- the Body of the ballet, and we are one. In dance there is that idea of physical uniformity, where the size, shapes, forms of individuals need to match to create a visual harmony for the viewer. There are dance works that require dancers to where the identical costumes, hair and make-up, rendering the bodies on stage virtually indistinguishable from each other, thereby erasing the individual.

 

This idea appeals to us because as human beings we have a need to be a part of the collective, while also needing to stand apart. It is not so much the desire for separatism, but the desire to maintain our individuality. This is the duplicity of human nature; we so vigilantly defend our individuality yet we have this innate need and desire to be one with the tribe. The key is to fit in, but stand out just enough. In a sense I see the same principle with the body, and fashion in the real world. There is that desire for uniformity, sameness, and blending. Take for instance the concept of One Size Fits All…

 

 

There is something so inclusive and egalitarian about that phrase. There is something about the concept that one thing, can serve all people in the same way. It implies a type of uniformity and balance that is required in the human psyche to feel ok, safe. As lovely as it might *sound and as altruistic the concept might be the reality of it being achievable is virtually impossible. “One Size”, may fit many or even most but it will never fit all, and those who fall outside of that scale of “All” where do they belong? What does that say about them and where they fit? Therein lies the problem.

The concept of One Size may seem to be a frivolous topic when talking about fashion, you say, “ So chose another designer, a different style or cut, what’s the big deal?” And generally I would agree with you, however it is not only the concept, that I am scrutinizing, but also the language and the mentality behind words. To imply that we as human beings can so simplistically be diminished to a banal level of sameness based on a common structure (one spine two are, two legs, etc) is absurd. If you transfer the concept of sameness to something like education or medicine it starts to look vastly different and potentially harmful. Where the foundational elements of learning are Universal (Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic) it has been proven that children learn not only at different paces, but also in different ways. Today we would never think of presenting such a narrow approach to the education of young people, mainly because it is ineffective.  If we think of the concept of medicine, which though a science is really a the categorization and grouping of symptoms that add up to a particular ailment that have things in common, there is not really *one way to treat ailments, there is almost always a tailoring of treatment to match the patient.

 

So why does society try to treat the body and beauty (in terms of form) with uniformity? It seems silly but in truth it can be just as detrimental as treating illness with a broad stroke. Then there is the idea of separation, full figure, big and tall clothing lines, these labels create a sense of “otherness” in the people who fall in to this category. It, whether designed to or not creates exclusion. It could be considered tantamount to the educational idea of “separate but equal” and we know how that ended. I know that creating categories are ways of marketing and merchandizing that makes it easier to serve consumers and that is understandable but the stigma attached to people who don’t fit into the “One Size” of the norm can leave them feeling ostracized. Something must be “wrong” with you if you don’t fit.

 

I find the inescapable contradictions of human beings infinitely interesting. While we strive to be a part of the group there is something within us that wants, needs to be identified as different, individual, perhaps this is one of the things that makes us different from other animals. As sophisticated as we are, we have not yet (as a society and as individuals) learned how to negotiate the reality of the principles of sameness and otherness occupying the same space. There is nothing inherently wrong with the idea of “One Size Fits All” albeit when it is used against people who do not fall in to that category this is when it becomes a problem. Everything is copasetic until you are not a part of the “all”.

 

There is a beauty in uniformity, there is a harmony and balance that resonates with us on a visceral level and that is very real. When we see a forest of trees, a field of sunflowers, it moves us, homogeny in the human race, or culture as a similar effect, but we have to be able to accept, appreciate, respect AND include things that are different. A snow covered ground is one of the most beautiful things, though made up of individual snowflakes the beauty is the togetherness of the flakes, and we all know, and are still awed by the fact that each flake is singular as are we. One size is just that, One Size and that’s ALL!

Just a thought…

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What ‘Fat Talk’ Does For Your Body Image

Hosted by Huffington Post

“These jeans make me look fat!”

“I wish I had your thighs.”

“My diet starts tomorrow!”

Fat talking — the tendency to make negative comments about our bodies — is a tried-and-true staple of female culture. Today, researchers are just beginning to study why we do it, and how it affects the way we feel about our bodies and ourselves.

In the early 90s, anthropologist Mimi Nichter, Ph.D., unexpectedly stumbled onto fat talk while she was studying teen girls. During a series of focus groups, she noticed that they all reported a familiar ritual: One girl would say, “I feel so fat,” and the other would respond with, “You’re not fat!” The exchange was a normal part of daily life; the girls repeated it over and over throughout the day.

QUIZ: What’s Your Unique Body Type?

Once Nichter started listening for fat talk (a term she coined), she realized the ritual was commonplace, peppering many women’s conversations.

Chances are, you’re one of those women.

Meet the Fat Talkers
A 2011 study published in the Psychology of Women Quarterly found that an “overwhelming majority of women” — 93 percent to be exact — reported engaging in fat talk. A third of them reported fat talking frequently.

“Fat talk is everywhere,” says Nichter. Mothers say it to daughters; daughters say it to mothers; girlfriends say it to boyfriends; friends say it to friends. We hear it on TV, read it in magazines and overhear it on the street. Once you notice it, it really is everywhere.

Surprisingly, most women who fat talk aren’t fat.

In fact, most of the women who report frequent fat talking are a normal, healthy weight. Heavier women do feel pressure to join in when their friends are fat talking, but actually participating may hit too close to home.

Read more

 

If you are interested in this you’ll Love the essay by Jenny Stahl on “Banning Bitchfests” the circles of debasement that women love to form, check it out!