I know what you’re thinking: The About-Face blog is so utterly fabulous, it must be written exclusively by mythical blogging creatures and media-literacy gods. Not true! Though it may seem like mere mortals are incapable of writing the glorious content we publish two times a week on our site, I’m here to tell you that our… Continue Reading →
“Fat” is an emotion, according to Facebook
As a new member of Facebook, I frequently find myself flummoxed by its strange ways. Someone “liked” my “status”? I’ve been invited to play “Candy Crush”? Someone has “poked” me? Usually, with much grumbling and cursing in Yiddish, I find some way to adapt to the world of countable likes, crushes on inanimate objects, and… Continue Reading →
A day in the life of a swimsuit
Call me strange, but as I was moseying around the women’s swimwear section at JCPenney the other day, I found myself feeling pretty sorry for the swimsuits. They just looked so dejected and confused, like they didn’t know what their purpose was in life. I realized two things as I found myself empathizing with the… Continue Reading →
This summer, get YOUR perfect media literacy body in just 5 steps!
Since I occasionally get bored while waiting in line to pay for groceries, I periodically experience the utter joy of seeing a seemingly body-positive teen mag, leafing through it, and having my hopes crushed. At this point in my life, I pick up the magazines not out of legitimate hope that a Seventeen article entitled… Continue Reading →
Names that shame: from muffin tops to thunder thighs
Recently, I bought a pair of edgy, tight-fitting jeans. I was feeling pretty confident in them until my hand happened to brush against the fattier part of my hip on the edge of my jeans. Immediately, my media-brain set off its sirens: “Muffin top alert! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a muffin top! Please evacuate… Continue Reading →
Why humor surrounding mental illness is either the best or the worst thing in existence
“I’m really OCD about my notes being organized.” “Gosh I’m so dyslexic; I can’t believe I made that typo!” “My daughter is being really anorexic lately; she won’t eat anything.”. “Sometimes I can’t stand how bipolar that woman is.” Welcome to the modern world, where we’re exposed to messages telling us that it’s okay to… Continue Reading →
Fictional food is more real than you think
What does Winnie the Pooh have in common with Lorelai and Rory Gilmore? They all love food. In fact, they don’t just love food—food is their ticket to winning the hearts of their audiences. From Popeye, to Garfield, to Kevin Malone from The Office, food is a means for fictional characters to express themselves and… Continue Reading →
You are not a number: How scales can become large-scale problems
How would you react if you saw the number on your scale go up five pounds or down five pounds? It has become common for people to react to minor weight fluctuations with extreme measures (i.e. “I gain five pounds, and I go on a fast.” or “I lose five pounds, and I eat way… Continue Reading →
Does this name make me look fat? (Why “fatgirlism” needs to stop.)
At Thanksgiving this year, my aunt said I shouldn’t go by “Beth” because it’s “a fat girl’s name”. And before that, when a family friend named his kid Maddie, my brother cringed and said, “I can’t believe he named her that—it just sounds like a fat-girl name!” If you’re appalled and confused by these judgments,… Continue Reading →