Ah, so no sooner do I post the blog post below "when did food become the (my) enemy," than CBS Sunday Morning has their entire segment: "Obesity: A Weighty Issue . . . " The comments are already coming in on their site - I'll be curious to see what is said - but, already there are . . . disagreements.
If you watched, or are watching, Sunday Morning, you saw Monique and how some people are mad at her for losing 40 pounds, as if she didn't own up to the words she said about big being beautiful. But, her message is still relevant, as she is saying, any size can be beautiful - women are beautiful and we should accept who we are, what we are, but as she said, we also have to have a point where we say "Am I too big to tie my shoes, to play with my children, to walk without losing my breath, ...etc." And an American woman living in France who was eating a muffin while a table of Americans made fun of her--then she pointed out, later, while looking at paintings of rubenesque women, they oohed and ahed at how beautiful the paintings are . . . huhn.
There's Valerie Bertinelli - who had to feed the hunger, had to fill that empty spot. And now? She has lost 40 pounds - ironically the same amount as Monique, but they both are very different women with different sizes . . . and both of them are absolutely gorgeous.
And now, laughing, Nancy Giles is stuffing tater chips in her mouth *laughing*Okay, back to watching as I missed what she was saying, dang it.
anyway - Deb from RGGrumblings won the signed copy of Tender Graces for the post below about "why do chickens lay so dang many eggs!" laughing... Congrats Deb...
I almost forgot about my Forehead Butt inductoreeeneer - Today's brilliant, creative, wonderful, beautiful, and all things oompa loompa doo Forehead Butt Society inductoreenee is: Barbara Kingsolver (although it's hard to see in this photo, it is there!). . . Thanks Lori for the idea of Ms. Kingsolver, and thanks Susan for reminding me! Down with Botox! Let the Forehead Butts show The Sign of how wonderful and brilliant we are!
21 comments:
Call me backwards, but I see no difference in the beauty of the women in the photos. Yeah, I could lose some weight, but the extra poundage doesn't keep me from doing a.single.thing I wanna do...including enjoying the bounty and goodness of my favorite foods. LOL. Besides, at this stage in my life, and having been imprisoned by so many other things and circumstances, I refuse to be a slave to ANYTHING again, much less what does or does not go into my pie hole.
I'm just ahead of my time b/c soon, Rubenesque women will rule the planet of Amazonia soon, and I'll be their Queen, rocking with my comfy fluffy body in a nice rocking chair!
Congrats to Deb. You will SO love the book!
PS When you wear flip flops and cowboy boots, there's no shoestrings involved. ;D
YES! both of them are beautiful, and it gripes my butt how we've somehow put women on some kind of "body image pedestal" ...
Yesterday I ate whatever I wanted and it was GOOD! *laughing* and this morning I hate a big arse breakfast just to make sure Iwasn't doing the Obsessssessssss thang.
I had an idea for a short story-- oh I want to write it so bad -- from something a doctor said on Sunday Morning -- it'll be a little weird and strange (but then my short stories aren't like my novels) - I hope I can write it...if not, maybe someone else will....
No inductee for the forehead butt society?????
There is so much in the press lately about women and weight. The Ralph Lauren model that got fired for being "overweight" and the other stories where models/celebrity photos are photoshopped to make them look "better." Oy.
What's funny is my German heritage prevents me from being a size 2 and I've accepted this. It took awhile but I eat healthier than I did at age 18 when my diet then consisted of Taco Bell burritos and beer. What a combo!
I wish people would stop obsessing over this. My rule is this: eat whole foods including butter and eggs and walk or take the stairs when possible. Oh and don't eat at Taco Bell. :)
Susan - got it! :-)
Marcy - *sigh* I know - it's maddening!
Women,listen! When will we learn to accept our bodies for how they were made to be? Are we all supposed to be 5'11', blond, blue eyed, with big fake breasts, no hips, long lean legs, ...um, Barbie Dolls? On the flip side, if you are a Barbie Doll, should women "hate you" because you are beautiful? No!...(although, that woman who has had multiple surgeries to make herself into a human barbie doll is pretty creepy).
I'm glad this topic is getting some press. It may be hard to sway popular opinion but it certainly can be done. Look at the pinup girls of the '50's--role models that actually had curves!! Yay, I'm retro :)
Thanks again Kat, fun contest and I'm soooooo looking forward to reading Tender Graces!!
Got to direct you to this:
http://bassviol.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-first-collection.html
Superb short stories about women of size, women and size - and their triumphs and tragedies are not all weight-related. It's a brilliant examination as well as brilliantly entertaining.
And yes, Vivien is a pal, but that's got nothing to do with it!
But can you get it in America?
Well, as someone who just went through 12 weeks of obsessing in order to lose weight, I can't in all honesty jump off the bandwagon now -- but I can say that, although I could stand to lose another ten pounds or so, I'm finished with the obsessing. I do intend to keep in mind how much better I feel now that I've dropped that thirty pounds, so that I don't lose all inhibition and eat my own weight in pasta (which I could happily do!)
I'm a thin person naturally but I've always thought curvy women were so beautiful. It makes me sad when a sexy, beautiful friend wants to look like a stick.
I love the message that we should love our bodies, whatever type they might be.
But I also love the message that we need to take care of our bodies. We can love something and still take care of it and change it for the better. It doesn't mean our love changes.
I think that's how it is with God. He sees the unhealthy and ugly stuff in our souls and loves us so much, even though He also wants to heal us of that ugly, unhealthy stuff.
Good post, Kathryn! *thinking about whether I really should eat a third cookie...LOL*
Just so you know, I will eat that third cookie. *wink*
Of course it's much more important to consider what's healthy than to be overly concerned with "the image." But for me, it took a whole lifetime to learn this and to stop paying attention to external pressures. I just wonder if there is a way to share the collective wisdom I'm hearing here on this post with young girls who have yet to learn that it's better to be true to the person they are than to potentially jeoprodize their health in order to conform to someone else's ideals.
But then I wonder if I would have listened when I was young.
I have been heavy and I've been thin. I am currently thin and prefer it that way because I feel healthier and for all the extra energy it affords me. But it is a personal choice and "to each his or her own"!
Sorry about the bad link to Katherine's blog. It was a typo, darn it, but has been fixed. So sorry about that! Please do pay her a visit, as she is one of our own Louisiana girls, from N'awlins, displaced from Katrina, to Eastern Tennessee. There are many others there and they have even formed a social group, "The Lost Cajuns of Eastern Tennessee".(link in her sidebar) Just a "stones throw" away from you!
I love that Barbara Kingsolver made it into the FBS. She's beautiful any way you look at it. Did you notice that neither Monique nor Valerie has anything even remotely resembling a wrinkle anywhere on their persons?
I have to agree that it's not the size we are, but how we feel in our size that should direct us on whether or not to lose weight. I lost 40 pounds a couple years ago due to the discomfort under my arms and the constant bloating feeling I had. I never want to go back there, not because of how I looked in those extra pounds, but because I feel so much better now, and the ease in which I can get down on the floor now is absolutely awesome, even if arthritis messes with that sometimes.
Yay for Ms. Kingsolver!
I seen this too and right away thought of your post Kat. I think someones trying to speak to me about something...lol!
OH, THE PHOTO SLIDE SHOW! I just returned from a fall festival full of arts and crafts. The photographers were selling small pics for $10 and up that weren't NEARLY as good as yours.
PS LOL on the Freudian slip in your second paragraph of comment to my comment. heheeeeee
LAUGHING - jus tsaw the "hate" vs "ate" but had to read it 3 times...lawd! laughing!
You just can't take a bad photo here, hardly....*smiling*
The comments have been so interesting -on the body image issue, AND!, on the chickens laying eggs issue *laugh*
I think if it is for health reasons than they should lose the weight. Other than that, be happy with where you are. :O)
Botox is the new Pandora Box. And they both even carry 'x' in their names. The thought of putting a needle through your eyebrows to make them... yikes, just to think about it gives me the creeps.
Good post. Agree with one of the contributors. Difference? Ne-ne, it's all in the mind.
Greetings from London.
I loved your previous post and I love this one. This subject must really be in the air b/c I'm doing a series right now at Blissfully Domestic on my own body image and disordered eating issues. My most recent post was about the retouching of photos in ads and magazines.
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