How effective is “fat shaming” in gaining health?

While preparing to read this article I took many deep breaths and prepared my research to help promote an honest, respectful, heart centered dialog to get answers to the question; How effective is “fat shaming” in gaining health? Why the deep breaths? Well, I remember when many people felt it was okay to use the [...]

Do We Have Secret Fat Envy?

This guest post graciously submitted by Virginia Sole-Smith Rebecca DiLiberto (producer/executive editor of The Ricki Lake Show, which my inner ’90s child is randomly a bit excited about although I usually consider myself strictly an Ellen girl) has a post up over on Huffington Post called Why You Can Have Everything You Want (Even Though You’re Fat).  [...]

Size Bullying IS Bullying, thank you Jennifer for fighting back!

If no one has ever criticized you for your weight, body shape or size you may not know that this was bullying. If you have never been yelled at by a bunch of teenage boys in a pickup truck as you were going for an evening walk, you may not realize this was bullying. If [...]

Jennifer Livingston, Caroline Rothstein, Katie Couric, Lady Gaga — Body Image Warriors

Another public personality stands up to bullying due to weight bias and stigma. News reporter Jennifer Livingston in LaCrosse, Wisconsin stood up to a bully who had the audacity to write to her about her appearance.  Watch it, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIwBwJzl5eI&sns=em Her message is clear: it is time to stand up to bullies regardless of who [...]

From Fat to Phat

This week, Real Deal’s very own Caroline Rothstein added her voice to Lady Gaga’s Body Revolution mash-up after Lady G bore the truth of her eating disorder and struggle with body image to the masses and encouraged everyone to claim their true body and self — warts and all.  To flip through the onslaught of [...]

Status Quo(tes)

“Recovering from my family vacation.” “If I could remember your name I’d ask you where I left my car keys.” “Could you speak up? My son’s a bassist!” Before there were Facebook status updates there were T-shirt status updates.  I was and still am a big fan of these tees.  They provide just enough information [...]

True Beauty Podcast — Truth about FAT

Graciously re-posted from Judy Ciacci and Anne-Sophie Reinhardt created these cool episodes on the True Beauty Podcast. In this episode of the True Beauty Podcast, Judy and Anne-Sophie share the truth about the word fat with you. The go into the real meaning of it and what we imply when we say it to ourselves or to [...]

ED 101 — A Film About Eating Disorders

This is our first post from Robyn Hussa, President of Normal in Schools (NIS). She started NIS driven to bring to our schools education about eating disorder through theater (or as Robyn would say “theatre” but I’m not so hip to the art scene). We all think we know everything about eating disorders, after all we are suffers, [...]

Michelle Obama: No Friend to Fat Kids

Mrs. Obama, my respect for you has taken a serious hit since you initiated your campaign against childhood obesity.

It isn’t that I want to force-feed our nation’s children and turn them all into lumbering giants; rather, I thought you were smarter and had more vision than to approach the issue as clumsily and insensitively as you have.

There’s nothing wrong with encouraging children to get more physically active, as your “Let’s Move!” campaign does. There’s also nothing wrong with educating children about good nutrition.

However, your campaign is unintelligent at its core, because instead of simply encouraging all children to eat right and stay active, you have made the choice to cast obesity itself as the enemy to be destroyed.

When we frame our battle for healthier children as a battle against fatness itself, we’re merely proclaiming open season on fat people. We’re encouraging an already fat-prejudiced society to further demonize those who bear the fat – worst of all, the children who bear it.