I’ve been a feminist since I was a teen (remind me to tell you the story of how I yelled, “My parents paid the same amount of money as yours did, giving me just as much right to be here as you. Only difference is I’ll probably get better grades than you!” to the 7th… Continue Reading →
Glamour poll finds thin women stereotyped as mean, heavy women as lazy
Glamour magazine conducted an exclusive survey in which they asked more than 1,800 women, ages 18 to 40, to imagine an “overweight” woman and a “thin” woman. They were told to imagine that they know nothing about either of the women, and to choose from pairs of words to describe them (such as ambitious or… Continue Reading →
Body judgments begin… almost at birth!
One of the reasons I went to graduate school was because I wanted to gain a better understanding of why women and girls develop disordered eating behaviors, what makes them worse, and most importantly, how to prevent them. And more and more research is telling us what many of the media experts at About-Face and… Continue Reading →
‘Fat Betty Francis’ caricatures a complex character
Along with many other Mad Men fans, I eagerly awaited the show’s return last month after an extended hiatus. I wasn’t home for the season’s second episode that aired on April 1st, but all it took was one quick glance at Facebook and Twitter to see what that episode’s theme supposedly was – Betty Draper… Continue Reading →
Removing Disney fat-shaming exhibit doesn’t change the message
Recently, Disney jumped on the latest trend, fat shaming, and opened an exhibit at Epcot called Habit Heroes. The interactive game featured two “heroes,” the buff Will Power and Callie Stenics. Cute names, huh? Unfortunately, the cuteness stops there. Will and Callie’s virtue and worth are based entirely on their able-bodied physicality, and the villains… Continue Reading →
Geico’s new commercial makes it even more normal for popular girls to not eat
“It’s funny because it’s true,” is a common adage following the telling of many jokes. The familiarity of the characters in the latest Geico commercial, teenage girls, are likely to incite a lot of snickering for this very reason. Of course, despite these laughs that Geico hopes for (and likely will get), I’m worried about… Continue Reading →
“Fat-Bottomed Girls” by Kim Selling in honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week
Guess what!? We’re now in National Eating Disorder Awareness (NEDA) Week, the aim of which is to ultimately prevent eating disorders and body image issues while reducing the stigma surrounding eating disorders and improving access to treatment. To celebrate, we want to show you a woman who really loves her body, and showing you how she talks. (A… Continue Reading →
Female celebrities during award season: Keeping it (too?) real
I’m all for celebs getting real about what it takes to look as good as they do. Hell, I’ve even been known to enjoy me a little of US Mag’s “They’re Just Like Us!” section because it pokes holes in the perceived perfection of A-listers. What I don’t like, however, is Oscar nominees Octavia Spencer… Continue Reading →
New children’s book celebrates the joys of diet and weight loss
No child should be reading a book that has the word “diet” in the title, especially when that book conflates weight loss with attractiveness and personal happiness—hell, no adult should be reading that book, but I can’t tell you what to do with your life. But alas, this world is full of things that shouldn’t… Continue Reading →