Body Positive Printable

Boy, I am getting some stuff done this week. As Clutch would say "I'm kicking life's ass". You know how there are some things on your list of things to do that are easily pushed aside for other things? I'm getting to some of those this week and it feels good.

Right now what I have is a printable 5x7 body positive inspirational print for you.  In 2005 I created issue #3 of Figure 8 zine (currently out of print). I made the subtitle and theme "The most revolutionary thing you can do is love your body".  I kind of doubt I'm the first one to say it, but through the zine the message reached a lot of people and I was happy to see the enthusiastic responses.

So, now, it's 2013 and I still print and sell some issues of Figure 8. I wanted to revisit that phrase and create a printable or postable image for your online outlets (click on it to go the flickr page with the large printable file).

I still believe this, but I might rephrase it if I was writing that zine now. Love is a word that can be easily dismissed or trivialized. We use it so much in so many ways. What we really need to have a revolution is to completely and utterly accept our bodies as they are - as is. And of course, this is what true love is, but, like I said, I think it is easy to forget this sometimes when throwing the word love around.

So, can you imagine it? Can you imagine if all women, men and children everywhere (or even just in this country) simultaneously no longer cared about their looks and their size? What kind of energy would people have left over for themselves and others if they are no longer hating themselves or trying to fit themselves in a mold that is not their size? And what would they do with that energy? Perhaps they would help other people more. Perhaps they would exercise for fun and eat what their body craves naturally and not what is morally acceptable.  Perhaps they would save lots of money and have more time to think about things other than what their body looks like. And, even more exciting - with this lack of judgement on themselves people would no longer judge other people on looks or size. Can you imagine the ramifications of that?

I hope you'll print this up or pin it on your Pinterest board. Share on your social media networks and when you do think about and share one thing that you can see happening if people could all finally and truly accept and love themselves as they are. <3 p="">

Fat Positive Gifts and Cards - from Vintage Postcards

It's hard to find art and products that show illustrations or images of women who aren't thin. I've written about this before and how I think it's really important to seek out fat positive body images and display them in your space. I decided this year to add to the small amount of offerings of fat positive images and since I am no artist, I decided to use my collection of vintage fat postcards.

I've been collecting fat comic postcards from the 1900's to the 1950's for many years now. There are many that are negative (most of these I don't buy), but also there are many that I see as positive. Postcards with sexy fat ladies with pin-up looks or smiling happy fat folks with positive messages. Did they mean them positively? I choose to think that they did. Usually the fat people are happy and sexy and the people around them seem to enjoy their company. These all seem to point to a positive message.  And you know, even if the artists who drew these images were trying to be negative, I don't care -  I am claiming them with pride as fat positive messages from the past! I refuse to think that vintage postcards that talk about the virtues of having more of a large lady to love was meant as anything other than the truth.

I've created a small line of cards and gifts using these vintage images. You can get greeting cards, magnets or prints (matted or unmatted) in the shop now. You also have the option of choosing which cards or print you want.  I hope you enjoy this collection of vintage fat images and that they can give your day a little lift.

Be Happy

For someone who creates zines and runs We Make Zines, you would think I would be right on top of all things zines. But, the truth is, I still have zines from last August's zine symposium I haven't read (probably some from the year before, too). It's not that I don't want to read them, I just want to be in the right mood and I have lots of reading competition taking up space near my bed.

So, with that in mind I can tell you truthfully that I have meant to do this blog post for many months. I first read this zine at the Portland Zine Symposium last August. I read it sitting at my table and felt so inspired by it, it totally set my mood for that day.

Be Happy is a zine by then 19 year old Jayna. It's a simple mostly hand written zine about loving yourself as-is and self-compassion. The simpleness of it is what affected me so much. There are lots of blogs, books and zines out there about this subject. Some of them are very deeply researched, academic and layered. That's great, I love that Fat Studies is out there. But, I say this because Be Happy is the opposite of that and it cuts to the core of self-compassion and accepting oneself. There is a time when you need deeper studies into fat oppression and self-love and a time when you just need it spelled out to you by a smart teenager. Jayna's zine is kind of like getting a pep talk note from your best friend passed between classes. And really weren't those the best!

Excerpts from Be Happy #1

Your body is yours to love and take care of. Love it as much (or more) as your favorite music, person or movie.

Everyone has their rights to self-worth. Degrading others to feel better about yourself is pointless because it starts to turn your 2 most valuable organs bad. Your heart for feeling the need to put down someone and your brain for processing and relaying the message.

Months later I got the zine Your Biggest Critic. This could be Be Happy #2.  This zine has lots of great points about self-compassion, too.

I recommend these zines for anyone struggling with these issues. It's just a good quick read that I could probably use every day - like affirmations. I especially think these zines would be great for a young person dealing with these issues. Having Jayna be closer to their age would inspire them even more and maybe encourage them to make their own zine. Just making a zine like this is great for the zine maker's self-esteem.

Visit Jayna's etsy shop. She has lots of other zines and projects, too.

stand for every body

For the last few weeks I've been helping out, along with about 35 other activists, in creating images that are being created in response to a hateful childhood anti-obesity campaign that is being run in Georgia.

The campaign, called, Strong4Life, thinks images like the one below are somehow going to actually help kids.

All images and messages like this are going to do is create shame and self-loathing. Shame and self-loathing are the basis of so many disorders, including eating disorders, substance abuse and depression, something a campaign like this is sure to create. How can anyone think that this is a good way to make children or their parents create healthy self-esteem and healthy eating. It is tragically misguided and just infuriating.

Many people feel this way and a campaign was started by fat activist rebel Marilyn Wann. She invited anyone who wanted to to submit a photo and a statement about what they stand for in response to Strong4Life campaign. The photos came pouring in and she couldn't keep up. So, many photoshop users, including myself, happily donated our time to help get these images out there. You can see them all on the site I Stand Against Weight Bullying. Here are a few of the many that I adore:

Funds are being raised to buy billboards in Georgia near the billboards that the Strong4Life campaign is running. There is a donor who will give $5,000 of we can get 155 more donors to give $5.00. Over 10,000 was raised in one day on Feb 2nd, but more funds are needed. Please give if you can.

There have been many new stories and blog posts about the campaign. You can keep up on the facebook  group page. Recently there have been article on Ms Magazine Blog and Salon.

You can also find lots of information on the Stand4Everybody site.  If you would like to participate in the campaign. You can send a large image of yourself and your statement to marilyn at fatso dot com.

remaking yourself

Christmas is over and 2012 is right around the corner and like many people out there, I am having dreams of redoing my whole life. I want fresh starts and clean sheets. I want to look at the world and my life in a new way. I want to be more of the me I know I can be and less of the me I am when I'm motivated by fear or insecurity. I want to try new things and make different efforts. I want to narrow in my focus and get more done - and do less multi-tasking.

 If you're like most people you are probably thinking of ways to make 2012 a better year. I love this part of the new year. I like making lists and assigning areas of focus. Unfortunately this fresh start feeling we all crave always results in millions of messages about how you need to lose weight to be the best you. 

This intense time of fat hatred focus can be a bad triggering time for lots of people. If your goal is to exercise more and lose weight that is your business, but don't let other people tell you what you need to be. This includes the media, family, boyfriends, workplace, ect. And it's not just about weight. I have seen many people over the years become less of themselves because other people wanted them to. They altered their interests or smarts because it made other people uncomfortable. This never works out. You can only be who you are. And in fact - you are the only one who can be that person!

If you want to change yourself for yourself that's different. That is life. We are all always in the process of changing and that's a good thing. But, don't alter or edit yourself just to please someone else.

Imagine what a better world this would be if people spent less time and money trying to change themselves and instead accepted and loved themselves. This would free up so much time and money for doing good in the world.

With this in mind I made this free printable 5x7 print. Print it or Pin it if you feel it can help you to remember. You're awesome! Thanks for being you!

surprises

Today has been somewhat rainy and windy. Fall is now here and as usual I am happy to see it. However, I was not happy to have such early fall-like weather last weekend when the mister and I went to the coast. I was hoping for a little blast of last minute summer. I had visions of laying on the warm sand during the day and staring at the stars at night. Instead I got a grey sky that almost exactly matched the grey ocean and rain all weekend long.  You couldn't even sit on the porch without getting wet.

It was still a nice weekend, though. There was lots of relaxing and one day we went into town, walked around in the rain and had some ice cream.

We also stopped by the smoked fish shop. I've driven by a few times and never could stop. We got the most amazingly good and still warm smoked tuna, salmon and black cod. I will stop there now everytime.

Karla's Smokehouse

We stayed in a kooky old run down house that hadn't been redone since the early 80's and is still filled with the owners things. The owners still come and stay there part of the year.

Down in their dark garage there's a little hallway to get to the washer and dryer area (everything else is behind plywood walls and covered in tarps). In this hallway I found a wall covered with clippings and old calendars and posters. I love finding walls like this. This one was especially exciting because the owner had a pin-up calendar from 1981 on Duane Bryers' chubby pin-up creation, Hilda. I have only ever seen these images on the internet. It was cool to see some in real life. 

Everyone seems to be pretty excited about fall being here. I am already looking forward to some things. But, I'm gonna try and keep my preconceived ideas to a minimum about my plans. You never know what you'll really get.

the art we choose

I have been meaning to write this post for several months. I haven't becasue there have been so many things I have wanted to say and I was having trouble organizing the thoughts. This is my attempt. Forgive me if it is not perfectly worded.

We all like to see people like ourselves reflected in art. How many times have you purchased an art print or a vintage image for you or a friend not just because you liked it, but because the person in the image looks a bit like the recipient?

Sometimes, I think people collect images of what they wish to look like. But, if your room walls are covered with images of women or girls who are what you want to look like, but do not, how would that effect your self esteem in the long run?

I think about these things often when I am looking at some of the beautiful art on Etsy. I think about it because as much as I love some of the pieces I find, I do not want to surround myself with images of thin women and girls. And on top of that, a lot of the art you see of females is extreme in the proportions, with large heads and eyes and skinny bodies.

I am not thin. I am a fat woman. When I find an artist I like and I look at their work, there are images of women or girls with all different colors of hair and skin - and yet none of them are fat or even chunky. All of them have the same body, maybe some are shorter and some are taller, but all are thin.

Why would I want to invest in this? I know this may seem extreme, because people have seldom questioned it, but stay with me here. How is it going to effect me as a fat woman who is already being told everyday in many ways that I am not okay, that I am not normal and that I need to change in order to be loved and valued?

How empowering would it be to be able to have images by artists you love of beautiful and lovely women and girls who are also fat? I think it would be revolutionary. Imagine if there were so many to choose from that a young girl or an older woman could have many choices of images of fat beauty available to her.

There are some fat girl art pieces out there, but it is often new age in style and usually the artist only does fat people. I really appreciate them doing what they do, but why the divide? Why can't people include chubby bodies like they include redheads?

I encourage artists out there to seriously consider this. I am tempted to link here to the artists that I most want to see this message, but I think I will not. But, I do think I will send this link to some of them and I hope that you will consider encouraging your favorite artist to include diversity in body size.

Here is an image of one of the fat positive artists on Etsy, ladyatlarge. This is one of the best I have found on there. Here is hoping there will be more featured in the future.

some things i forgot to mention...

I have been adding more stock to The Cedar Chest. Expect some more really great vintage postcard books soon.

Etsy Buy Handmade thecedarchest

Also, a little while ago I started the Fat Activist Network. I have seen We Make Zines (also a network I started) really flourish in the few months it has been in existence. We now have 556 members and people are really using it. I could see how this would be a really great resource for fat activism. So, one afternoon over brunch Carrie and I discussed it and I went home and signed us up.

The Fat Activist Network is a place for all people who are fighting for Fat Rights to come together. We can use the place to connect and network and plan. If you are a size equality activist, please join us there.




Visit Fat Activist Network

news from the fat front - 2 good articles

Go Your Own Way by wyanne on Etsy











I am finishing up Figure 8 #5. I will post here when it is done and ready to be ordered on Etsy. This issue of Figure 8 is a little different and it doesn't have the usual articles and new reports.

So with that in mind, I thought I would point out a couple news articles that are a pretty big deal. It feels like for just a minute the media is starting to take notice of the points that the fat activists have been making for over 30 years.

On MSNB (from Self Magazine) - The Miracle Weight Loss that Isn't - risks of bypass surgery are often underplayed, say experts.

......“I feel like I’m dying,” she told Ron. Months of doctors’ visits revealed that Wells had beriberi, a disorder caused by extreme thiamine deficiency. Rarely seen outside 19th-century Asia, it’s present enough among those in the weight loss–surgery world that doctors call it bariatric beriberi.........“Do I regret having gastric-bypass surgery? Yes, I regret it,” Wells admits......“I thought I was doing something to change my life for the better. But it made me feel a hundred times worse.”

Lots of good information in the article, including how the way bariatric centers and surgoens go out of their way to drum up business. Even though it is clear that "the experts admit [that the effects of gastric bypass surgery are] poorly understood. Few randomized, controlled studies (the gold standard of research) have been performed comparing gastric bypass with nonsurgical weight loss therapy".

...“Because it’s risky, it’s only appropriate for a tiny fraction of people with obesity — the sickest 1 to 2 percent,” Dr. Kaplan says. “The idea that all obese people should get surgery is insane.” Yet that’s the way weight loss surgery is being peddled to the public.

Also on MSNBC from the Associated Press. This was on the front page of The Oregonian-
Being Skinny is no Guarantee of a Healthy Heart - serious health risks are found equally in fat and thin folks, study shows

.....A new study suggests that a surprising number of overweight people — about half — have normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels, while an equally startling number of trim people suffer from some of the ills associated with obesity....

I haven't written much about fat issues in this blog. I considered having a seperate Figure 8 blog, but I have decided not to. I am all these things together - fat person, crafty person, zine maker, homebody, etsy shoopper, goofball - why not have it all together in this blog.

So, I will hopefully be posting more fat issued topics here from time to time. They will tagged so you can find them all. And make sure to check out the links on the sidebars. I am always updating them. Chub love!

number 8

I usually don't get too excited about these kinds of things, but I just now decided it was necessary to stop and note that today is August 8 2008. 8-8-08.

I think I first became partial to the number 8 from the classic and melancholy song Figure 8 from Multiplication Rock (sung by Blossom Dearie). It was my favorite as a kid. I loved it because it was so thoughtful and solitary and because she was ice-skating outside in winter, which was like some fantasy to a kid growing up in Southern California.

Later when I considered a name for my zine, I thought about how my large hourglass figure was like an 8 and I liked that that brought up images of the ice-skating song. In that song she mentions how a figure 8 on it's side is the sign for infinity, which made me like it for the name of the zine even more. Also, I liked how it made me think of the word configurate.

Also, note-worthy on this 8th day of the 8th month in the 8th year is that yesterday was my 8th year anniversary at my job. This summer marks 8 years since I moved to the Portland area. I was worried moving here. I left a pretty nice life in the Bay Area, but I just felt like I needed to and I am so glad I did. I feel like I found my real self here. And I fell in deep love with a great guy.

So, here is to the number 8! Thanks for the nice things with 8's on them. Thanks for being "a circle that turns round upon itself."

no one ever heard of a skinny santa

There is yet another ridiculous campaign from the fat haters out there that says Santa should no longer be fat. Along with the Pillsbury Doughboy's slimmer body and the push for the Cookie Monster to eat more vegetables, this is yet another bucketful of stupidity.

Thankfully, some smart people got together to make a stink about it and get some good done as well! This is some great activism!

If you believe Santa belongs on a sleigh instead of a stairmaster, sign the petition. Your support will do more than Keep Santa Fat. For every signature, DVA Advertising and Public Relations will donate a pound of food to America’s Second Harvest to help feed the hungry in our communities. And DVA will keep donating until we reach 50,000 pounds of food. Help feed the cause on behalf of the North Pole’s finest.

HELP SANTA STAY FAT!