[Content Note: Fat bias.]
In fat advocacy, there's something called Playing the Good Fatty, which, first of all, is something even many of the most radical of fat advocates have done themselves before, so there's no need to feel terrible if you think, "Shit, I've done that" or "Shit, I do that." It's essentially the fat equivalent of Playing the Exceptional Woman—exceptionalizing yourself to gain acceptance with the privileged class.
Like the Exceptional Woman, who exists somewhere between a woman who explicitly seeks to uphold the Patriarchy and a fully-fledged feminist, the Good Fatty is someone who exists somewhere between the fat person with desperate desire to be thin and a fully-fledged radical fatty. It's a space many of us tend to occupy on our way to freedom, when we know we want more, but haven't quite jettisoned the self-loathing, or self-doubt, or shame, or willingness to offend in defense of our own humanity, in order to seek community.
Playing the Good Fatty might entail talking about how you totally eat healthy all the time, or totally work out regularly, or totally have "great numbers" (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.), or totally make sure you wear clothes that aren't too revealing.
It's basically saying: I'm not one of THOSE fatties. You know, the ones we're always hearing about, with their eating whole pizzas and destroying the healthcare system and stuff.
The transition from Good Fatty to Radical Fatty is when you decide it doesn't matter why someone is fat. That fat people's rights aren't contingent on anything else but our humanity.
So, last night, Amanda Levitt and mazzie were having a supportive conversation that prompted mazzie to use #notyourgoodfatty in reply to Amanda. And the #notyourgoodfatty hashtag was born.
And it is AMAZING.
(I will note that, as always, there are people trolling the hashtag. Because of course there are. But fuck them.)
Last night, I fired off a few of my own #notyourgoodfatty tweets:
If you troll my body, I'll laugh contemptuously, not apologize, & not give an infinitesimal speck of shit what you think. #notyourgoodfatty (link)
I will not wear sleeves for your comfort. #notyourgoodfatty (link)
I will love my body so much that I decorate it with beautiful tattoos. And then wear clothes that show them off. #notyourgoodfatty (link)
I will never, ever, feel obliged to defend, justify, or itemize what I eat. #notyourgoodfatty (link)
I will never react to "calories in calories out!" with anything but mirthless laughter. #notyourgoodfatty (link)
If you think my fat says something about my character, I'll pretty definitely think you're a dipshit. #notyourgoodfatty (link)
I will laugh loud enough with my fat friends to make you give us dirty looks. #notyourgoodfatty (link)
I will never affect shame of myself to indulge fantasies that happiness is the exclusive province of the not-fat. #notyourgoodfatty (link)
I will be perfectly content with my fatness. #notyourgoodfatty (link)
I will take. up. space. #notyourgoodfatty (link)
* * *
See the entire (and ongoing!) hashtag here. Major fat-fives to mazzie and Amanda. LADIES. ♥
#notyourgoodfatty
Happy (Early) Birthday, Space Cowboy!
(Space Cowboy's birthday is actually tomorrow, but I wanted to celebrate on a weekday.)
Happy Birthday, Space Cowboy! You are such a dear friend to me, and to Iain. We love you. I'm so glad I made those note cards.
And, even though not everyone realizes it, this whole community is indebted to you for all the tech work you've done behind the scenes over the years. Thank you. You rock out loud.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker masculine_lady: "What is the alternate universe version of you doing today?"
An Observation
[Content Note: Silencing; privilege.]
True fact.
Have we gone too far with content notes? Have we gone too far with hashtag activism? Have we gone too far with criticizing satire? Have we gone too far with body acceptance? Have we gone too far with consent? Etc. etc. etc.
It's virtually never a serious question, but a rhetorical used to introduce the argument that we have definitely gone too far with whatever.
And that argument virtually always amounts to some concern trolling about slippery slopes, which is a thin veneer slapped over the contention that we've really gone too far giving credibility to voices who challenge us to expect more.
It's no coincidence those voices typically come from marginalized populations. Of which the person asking have we gone too far...? isn't typically a member.
Basically, this shit is just the more "sophisticated" version of "goddamn those people are hysterical."
Throwback Thursdays
Looking for something else altogether a few days ago, I found this old Polaroid of Iain and me. Thirteen years ago, on his first trip to the States. ♥
Then, and now:
[Please share your own throwback pix in comments. Just make sure the pix are just of you and/or you have consent to post from other living people in the pic. And please note that they don't have to be pictures from childhood, especially since childhood pix might be difficult for people who come from abusive backgrounds or have transitioned or lots of other reasons. It can be a picture from last week, if that's what works for you. And of course no one should feel obliged to share a picture at all! Only if it's fun!]
Honey Maid Hands the Haters Their Hats
[Content Note: Bigotry.]
Last month, I mentioned that Honey Maid had produced a cute new advert for their graham crackers which featured gay dads, a racially blended family, and a tattooed rocker dad redefining "wholesome."
As predicted, Honey Maid received a bunch of messages in response to the ad, some of which weren't very kind. So they made a second spot, and here it is:
Guitar music. Text Onscreen: "On March 10, 2014, Honey Maid launched 'This Is Wholesome,' a commercial that celebrates all families."Love.
Clips from original ad: Two white dads bottle-feeding their white baby; two white dads walking their baby in a stroller; a black mom and a white dad walking with their three kids, swinging their daughter into the air between them; a close-up of the mom and dad holding hands; a tattooed white dad hugging his daughter.
Text Onscreen: "Some people didn't agree with our message."
Images of social media messages reading: "@HoneyMaidSnacks Your TV commercial is Horrible, NOT 'WHOLESOME'" and "DO NOT APPROVE!" and "Disgusting!!"
Cut to a large room, in which two thin, white, female artists are working with paper at a table. Text Onscreen: "So we asked two artists to take the negative comments and turn them into something else."
The artists begin rolling the printed out messages into tight tubes. The music broadens. Using glue guns, the artists begin to connect the rolls of paper on the floor. Roll after roll after roll.
The camera then pulls back to reveal that they've assembled all the individually rolled sheets of paper containing messages of hate into the word LOVE.
Text Onscreen: "But the best part was all the positive messages we received. Over ten times as many."
Cut to the artists rolling sheets of paper with the positive messages, these rolled so the messages are visible on the outside, rather than hidden on the inside. They begin to arrange them around the word LOVE.
In stop-motion, we see the room absolutely filling with the positive messages buttressing the word LOVE.
Text Onscreen: "Proving that only one thing really matters when it comes to family..." The camera pans across the room, and we see the LOVE floating in a sea of positive messages.
Text Onscreen: "Presented by Honey Maid. This is wholesome."
[H/T to Shakesville Contributor Misty.]
Daily Dose of Cute
"How YOU doin'?"
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Quote of the Day
"In the last two years, more than 20 planets have been identified outside our solar system that seem to be far enough away from their suns and dense enough that they might be able to support some form of life. ...It may be the only way to unite us in this incredibly divided world of ours. If they’re out there, we better think of how all the differences among people on Earth would seem small if we felt threatened by a space invader."—Former President Bill Clinton, on the Jimmy Kimmel show last night.
That's a nice thought, I guess? But if the universal threat of climate change hasn't united us, I sincerely doubt that the threat of a space invader would.
I imagine it would polarize in a similar way as any other social issue. Half the population would be urging caution and restraint: "Let's at least try to establish whether these aliens even want to harm us, or if they're maybe going to introduce us to the greatest technologies we've ever experienced, before we make any rash decisions." And the other half of the population would be screaming: "KILL IT WITH DEATH LASERS!"
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
All the blub forever and ever: A man writes a loving letter to his faithful canine campaign at the end of the dog's life. "The 8,028,000 Minutes I Called You Friend."
The Supreme Court decision I mentioned yesterday, McCutcheon vs. FEC, which effectively obliterated existing campaign finance law, has empowered a class of people that is mostly comprised of wealthy white men and: "Now an individual donor could contribute up to $3.5 million if they maxed out their contributions." Neat! How neat for them.
Speaking of wealthy white men, Charles Koch of the reprehensible Koch Brothers, wrote in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, without a trace of irony: "Far from trying to rig the system, I have spent decades opposing cronyism and all political favors, including mandates, subsidies and protective tariffs—even when we benefit from them. I believe that cronyism is nothing more than welfare for the rich and powerful, and should be abolished." LOL wow.
Whut. "The U.S. government masterminded the creation of a 'Cuban Twitter'—a communications network designed to undermine the communist government in Cuba, built with secret shell companies and financed through foreign banks, The Associated Press has learned." The US foreign policy of absurd, awkward, and destructive meddling continues to be awesome.
Fuck: "Arctic sea ice falls to fifth lowest level on record: National Snow and Ice Data Center says findings reinforce trend that Arctic sea ice disappearing much faster than expected." I feel so helpless just reporting the increasingly alarming climate news, knowing there isn't really anything that any one person can do about it. Not as long as the most powerful industrial global leaders don't give a shit.
Meanwhile, in London: "This week, dust blowing in from the Sahara has mixed with industrial pollution originating in Europe and the U.K.'s own traffic fumes to create a thick, yellow smog shrouding southern England. ...Schools are keeping students indoors at recess and the elderly and officials are warning those with lung and heart conditions against strenuous outdoor activity."
[Content Note: Fat hatred] More evidence that gut bacteria plays a crucial role in weight: "A study of lab mice, published on Wednesday...concludes that one of the most common and effective forms of bariatric surgery, called Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, melts away pounds not—or not only—by re-routing the digestive tract, as long thought, but by changing the bacteria in the gut. ...If that occurs in people, too, then the same bacteria-changing legerdemain achieved by gastric bypass might be accomplished without putting obese patients under the knife in an expensive and risky operation." The gut bacteria theory has been around for years. Yet, despite lots of solid research on it, it's still not considered a major contribution to "obesity research." Because of course it 100% undermines the narrative that weight is totally within our individual control.
[CN: Worker exploitation] Yes yes yes: "Adjunct Faculty Demand Fair Pay and Benefits: Adjunct professors—the majority of whom are women—are contract employees usually paid per course taught, and the pay is low. ...The vast majority of adjuncts do not receive health insurance, retirement benefits, or sick leave, and many must cobble together a living, often by traveling miles to teach at multiple campuses. ...Some adjuncts have joined labor unions at their institutions in order to organize for better pay and working conditions, but the average adjunct professor is still a source of cheap labor for many colleges. And the use of adjuncts is more widespread than ever. Adjunct professors now make up approximately half of all college faculty."
[CN: Rape culture] Brad Pitt reportedly wants to make a movie about a hacker at the center of the Steubenville rape case. I hope I am wrong about this, but I have a sinking feeling that the film is centered on the hacker so there's, ahem, no reason to get the consent of the victim, Jane Doe, because they're telling "his story." And I don't guess I need to use 87 different swear words in order to convey my feelings about telling a story about a rape while essentially writing the victim out of the story, because y'all probably already know exactly what I'd say.
This story about a missing cat is amazing and has a happy ending! All I can think is: Thank Maude that shop kept good records!
Meanwhile...
[Content Note: War; self-harm.]
While many veterans of the wars he started are killing themselves and others, former President George W. Bush, who "sheds a tear" over suffering vets, is about to open an art show of his supercool paintings of world leaders.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Today host Matt Lauer: ...and tomorrow on Today, President George W. Bush: He's taken up painting since leaving the White House, and now an exhibit featuring his work, called "The Art of Leadership," is opening at his presidential library. The president gave his daughter, Jenna, a preview.I just can't fucking even.
Cut to clip of Today reporter Jenna Bush Hager interviewing her dad.
Bush Hager: Have any of these leaders seen their portraits?
Bush: They have not.
Bush Hager: Not one?
Bush: Not one.
Bush Hager: What do you think their reactions will be?
Bush: I think they're gonna be, uh, "Wow. George Bush is a painter." [They both laugh.] I mean, I'm sure when they heard that I was painting, if they have, they're gonna say, "Well, I look forward to seeing the stick figure he painted. Heh heh heh." [They both laugh.] But, I hope they, they take it in the spirit in which these were painted in, that was, ahh, the spirit of friendship and, ahh, that, uh, you know, I admire them as leaders, and was willing to give it a shot, in terms of getting people to see how I felt about 'em.
Cut back to the Today studio where the hosts ooh and ahh over the "good tease," as Lauer describes it.
A Cost of War
[Content Note: War; self-harm.]
Shaker KatherineSpins forwarded me a difficult article about a known cost of war, about which we are refusing to have a meaningful public conversation, even in the wake of incidents like the shooting at Fort Hood. The title is effectively blunt: "At Least 22 Veterans Kill Themselves Every Day and No One Gives a Shit."
That's 1,892 former soldiers who have killed themselves since the beginning of 2014, according the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America organization (IAVA). But even that is a conservative number, some say, as there is no centralized system to track veteran suicides.The thing about the public's understanding about PTSD, especially in regard to soldiers, is that there is a close association with harming others, and very little understanding about the numbers of people with PTSD who harm ourselves.
A recent poll found that more than half of post-9/11 veterans know at least one colleague who attempted or managed to kill themselves. For many, the list of friends lost to suicide is much longer.
Mental health is one of the greatest challenges facing returning soldiers, but a deadly combination of indifference, stigma, red tape, and government dysfunction are to blame for the sobering numbers. Citing Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) statistics, the IAVA claims that 22 ex-service members die by suicide every single day.
(That incomplete narrative is fueled by the narrative of the "lone crazy gunman," which seeks to attribute veteran-driven violence to PTSD whenever possible.)
PTSD isn't the only reason that veterans take their own lives. It's one of many reasons, sometimes acting in concert. And the difficulty of treating a constellation of health issues means that access to healthcare, and healthcare providers who know how to treat complex veterans' issues, is critical.
But that requires funding. Funding for which there is much less robust and widespread support than there was for sending these women and men to war in the first place.
Democratic Senator from Montana John Walsh, who is the first Iraq veteran to serve in the US Senate, introduced legislation last week in a bid to change what we're doing for veterans:
"Far too often, we're leaving our veterans to fight their toughest battles alone," Walsh said in a statement. "Returning home from combat does not erase what happened there."If you live in the US, you can contact your Senators here and ask them to sign on to Senator Walsh's bill. Even (and especially) if they're Republicans. Urge them to really and truly "support the troops" by helping pass this important piece of legislation.
His "Suicide Prevention for America's Veterans Act" hopes to fight the problem with large reform to veterans' access to care, including expanding special combat eligibility from five to 15 years, and repaying the medical loans of psychiatrists who sign up for long-term service with ex-soldiers.
The bill would also require the military to review its practice of handing out "bad conduct" discharges to members for behavior related to post-traumatic stress disorder — so disqualifying them from the little mental health services available to them under the VA system.
Shooting at Fort Hood
[Content Note: Guns; violence; death; disablism.]
There has been (another) shooting at Fort Hood:
A soldier who was being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder opened fire at Fort Hood on Wednesday, killing three people and wounding 16 before killing himself, the authorities said. The shooting set off a huge police response and shut down the sprawling Army base, the same facility where a deadly rampage by an officer resulted in 13 deaths in 2009.My condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of everyone who was killed, to the survivors and their loved ones, and to the people whose lives are tied to Fort Hood, who will be deeply affected by this shooting. I hope they all have the resources and support they need.
Fort Hood's commanding general said the gunman, an Army specialist who had served in Iraq and was being treated for behavioral and mental health issues, had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The commander, Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley, told reporters that the soldier's motive remained unclear, but that the shooting did not appear to be related to terrorism.
* * *
Already, there is plenty of "lone crazy gunman" stuff surrounding the shooter, whose identity has not yet been confirmed. In this case, because the soldier was a combat veteran, who may have had a traumatic brain injury and was seeking a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis, there's even more impetus to blame this exclusively on him and his illness/injury, as if it happened in a vacuum.
But, three quick observations:
1. Even someone with PTSD doesn't act violently without reason. It's important to investigate what, if this was the result of a PTSD trigger, it was that triggered him.
2. It's also important to note that, if this was the result of a PTSD trigger and/or a traumatic brain injury, he was navigating one or both of these things as a result of being a combat veteran. That is context, as well as why he was a veteran—why he joined up; whether it was his only option; why he was in Iraq; what was the purpose of that war—that negates the "lone crazy gunman" bullshit.
3. To ignore these issues, in favor of "lone crazy gunman" narratives, is to deny how culture works. To deny its very existence.
People who are arguing for the fifth, tenth, twentieth time in the span of a few years the "lone crazy gunman" thing, and don't see that maybe there's a larger, connective problem—even if it's simply access to guns—are in denial of culture. And they've given up on prevention.
Question of the Day
[Note: I've got some personal stuff to do this afternoon, so I'm wrapping up a little early today and I'll be back tomorrow.]
What is your favorite fast-food restaurant?
"All of them!" and "None of them!" are perfectly cromulent answers, of course.
The Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by turtles.
Recommended Reading:
The amazing Prison Culture has started a dedicated blog for information and updates on Shanesha Taylor and her case. Please be sure to check out (and bookmark!) Justice for Shanesha.
Fannie: [Content Note: Misogyny; privilege] How Convenient
Anita: [CN: Misogyny; harassment] The 2014 Game Developers Choice Ambassador Award
Jennifer: [CN: Misogyny; poverty] Kenyan Program Empowers Women and Girls to Support Themselves
Mike: [CN: Terrorism] Nearly Thirteen Years after Sept. 11, 2001, Nothing Has Changed
Jennifer: Ted Cruz Polls His Own Facebook about Obamacare, Finds Everyone Loves It
BYP: [CN: Racism] Anchorage School Board Candidate: 'Ethnic Students Aren't up to Standards'
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Daily Dose of Cute
I'M ON UR CHEST STARIN IN UR FACE.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Gas Up the Clown Car
[Content Note: Christian Supremacy.]
This ass is so running for president:
Possible presidential hopeful Ted Cruz is auditioning at one of the nation's largest meetings of young evangelicals, a critical voting bloc for any Republican with White House ambitions.Sounds like you've got a great line-up of potential candidates for 2016, GOP!
The Texas senator and tea party favorite was to speak Wednesday before the student body of Liberty University, the Virginia school founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. These sessions, which feature remarks from a campus visitor, prayer and music, are favorite stops for potential White House contenders honing their message and trying to build buzz among voters with great sway over who will be chosen as the GOP's next presidential nominee.
... Last month Cruz told an influential group of home-school advocates in Iowa that the United States was founded on Christian values. He also told a separate group of anti-abortion rights activists in Washington that they should not compromise on their beliefs.
In coming weeks, Cruz plans to speak to a "Freedom Summit" in New Hampshire, the early voting state, along with potential rivals Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and perennial potential contender Donald Trump are also slated to be on hand.
The thing I like most about this slate of wannabes is how much they all hate each other. That will make for some amazing primary debates. I'm stocking up on popcorn now.
[Credit for the Republican Presidential Clown Car goes to Pam Spaulding.]
