Non-Fiction

Send in your all non-fiction stories, interview requests, articles, rants etc to [email protected]

See below for our Main Feature, which is an amazing piece of writing I came across on livejournal. It's beautiful and empowering - you have to read it!

Obesity epidemic that isn’t: Get moving, get healthy - "The physicians were a bit sheepish when they came back after doing their homework. To oversimplify a bit in the name of bluntness, what they found in the scientific data was — first, there’s no evidence that obesity itself is a health problem; and second, there’s no evidence that if it were, we docs have a clue as to what to do about it."

Challenging Physical Stereotypes - Great page on stereotypes and how they're hurting more and more young people.

Dispelling Common Myths About Fat Persons - Very good and important article. An absolute must-read!!!!

And now, onto our Main Feature:

I'm too fat for this world.


it's true, more then half of the nations population is overweight. In fact, it's probably closer to 80%of the nation.
 

And why not? in this day and age of SUPER SIZE fries, and the vast plethora of oversized foodstuffs. it's not bad enough to eat a BIG mac, a SUPER SIZE fry, and LARGE soda, Now we have BIGGER SUPERSIZED fries, and BIG mac's that are 40% larger. It would seem as though the world was directing us to be fat forever.


But that is not the case.


Although our serving sizes may be getting bigger, and it would appear that society's waistband is growing as well, women are being pelted with images of a fitter, more lean, shapely and overall thing "Ideal women".


We are being forced to raise our children, and even ourselves, on the
premise that you have two choices in this life. Fit, or fat. And with
each comes different outcomes.



    With fit:

Who knows what you can do with your life.

After all, you're beautiful, you can get whatever job you want.

you don't see many fat models out there, and you don't see many thin
women "beefing up" so they can fit into that nice loose fitting,
gathered at the top, flared at the bottom, always stylish Muumuu.

You can get the man of your dreams, without paying 11.95$ for the next
best thing- A hunk of a plastic man, complete with built in plastic
underwear and perfectly styled never out of place helmet hair.

You can fit into any pair of generic thrift store/goodwill pants or shirt.

The possibilities and opportunities are endless.



    With fat:

you are urged from whatever age you started "growing into yourself" to
lose weight, no matter what you might be having a problem with, the
answer is automatically found in your elastic waistband stretch jeans
and baggy form concealing teeshirts and sweatshirts.

So you cant find a job? "maybe they're looking for someone who would
represent the company's image better:" or "they just don't supply
uniforms for the more 'portly' applicants."

So you cant find the perfect man? "no man wants a wife he cant carry over the threshold"

There is no possible way that you got to the size you're at right now other then through laziness and over eating, god forbid.

It seems to me that the more space your body occupies, the less space the world allows you, or is willing to give you.

It may be true that women are given stricter body boundaries, or are
expected to fit into the little plastic mold that the world has given
to every one of us. It makes me, as a fat girl, feel uncomfortable in
my own skin. But, it doesn't have to be like that. You don't have to
shove yourself into that mold.

Being a fat girl myself, I understand what it's like to go through life
afraid to try on clothes at a department store, knowing that the
fitting room attendants will secretly whisper and chuckle "who does she
think she is? she is DEFINITELY not a size 14!" afraid to walk around
department stores by myself, because I knew that everyone was thinking
about how much of a fat as I am. I knew it. I grew up in a tiny town,
where everyone knew everyone else, almost from birth. I graduated
high school and went to college with many of the same kids I attended
preschool with. It was impossible to make any sort of fresh start, or
to gain any ground in the high school popularity contest when you were
fat like me. And for 16 years of my life, I chose to cover my fat,
which I thought was causing my problems, with a black sweater jacket. I
owned seven of them. No one ever saw me without it on. But the older I
got, the more I resented the image I was forced to accept as "the norm"
I started to realize that I really don't have to be just like everyone
else.


The only way anyone can change the way society thinks is to affect one
person at a time. Let that one person be you. Realize who you are. Are
you thin? Are you overweight? Tall? Short? Dark skinned? Pale? Tan?
What shape are you? What are your interests? What makes you laugh? what
makes you cry? What makes you smile, or frown, or do jumping jacks just
to express your joy?


Get to know yourself. You'll find out that it really doesn't matter what
other people think. Because it is true, chances are, if you're thinking
about yourself, and how YOU look to the people around you trying on
swimsuit's at the local department store, then what do you think they're
thinking about? THEMSELVES!! No one who is trying on a little pink
bikini in the middle of macys women's fitting room says to themselves
"oh my god, who does she think she is, trying on that one piece
conservative black swimsuit with a thigh concealing skirt?"

No.
 

They are thinking about how huge their thighs are, how pink makes their
tan lines more noticeable, or how they have stretch marks on their boobs.
(they may not say it out loud, but that's what they're thinking. No one
is truly happy with themselves, most of the time the type of women who
Do say horrible things in public to berate others, say it because they
want to make themselves feel better. sort of a "well, if I say it about
them, they cant say it about me" deal)


They don't have time to think about the fat girl in the corner just trying to hider herself from any human view.


Next step is to be yourself. I know, it's an overused cliché phrase, and
most people don't really mean it. Some people say it and mean "be who you
think you should be, who would fit what I want to hear, or see from
you" or "be who you saw last night who got the guy"  Or "be who
you saw last night that made everyone laugh" most people don't mean you
should be who you really are.


God forbid you weren't perfect in the first place.


But I really mean it. Be who you are. Be the
polyester wearing-bellbottom jean loving-flower power-queen of disco that
you are inside. Be the feminazi-ear cuff wearing- CNN
watching-political controversy uncovering-eternabitch that you are
inside. Be the baggy jeans wearing- clunky shoes owning- don't give a
care if the sky turned brown and started raining chocolate chip
cookies-head in the clouds-idealist that you are. Create your own
boundaries, and break society's little plastic mold. I hear it's not too
comfortable anyways.


The only thing to do after that is love yourself, and that's not easy to
do. No one wants to love something that they know isn't perfect. You
need to realize that no one is perfect. you were made the way you are,
for a reason. and for a purpose. So what if you're lugging around an
extra 15 pounds around your hips, or if you went from a size 12 to 14.
Sure, you've got love handles, but at least do what you're told... LOVE
THEM! Forget about finding a girdle, don't try to suck in your stomach,
Don't buy clothes that are 2 sizes too small and say "I'll fit into them
after this next diet" Don't tell people that you're big boned, or that
you just don't carry your weight all that well.


Remember the definition of beauty changes through the ages. Not that
long ago, weight was an indicator of social status. The women who were
rounded, with soft skin and less muscle tone were beautiful, because it
was obvious they didn't have to work, they were taken care of. More
muscular, toned with rougher skin, it showed you had to work. You
actually had to do something, other then sit around all day in your
shiny white house with servants waiting on your every whim. Wide hips
and a rounded belly are part of being a women. Being WOMANLY. Since
when did being thin make anyone more of a woman? Goddesses were always
fleshy. They definitely didn't diet. They had dimples and puckers and
ripples and bellies. And they didn't hide it. They didn't freak out when
they gained a few pounds, and rush out to buy the latest olean
olestra-fat replacer laden diet food. They were too busy being
goddesses.


Beautiful comes in many forms. And you are one of those.


So don't try to cover it up, suck it in, tuck it, roll it, conceal it,
tape it or try to draw attention away from it. You have to realize that
no matter what you do to it, it's still there.
 

We've all heard about miracle products that promise quick weight loss,
firmer thighs, slimmer arms, tighter abs. We know how to find a shirt
that will draw attention to your neckline, or bust, or arms, or
whatever else you have going for you on the upper half of your torso.
we know what we could, should, or would do to be different. But you
don't need that. You need to love yourself the way you are. No miracle
thigh cream will make you love yourself, and it wont take away your
self doubt, or give you confidence.


Wear the clothes you want to wear, and have the attitude to match. If
you love yourself, people will see that. They will see you for your
never ending smile, your confidence and your overwhelmingly individual
sense of style and humour.

 
There is no miracle sense of humour cream, or 8-minute self esteem
tape, and while a girdle may tuck away the appearance of a few extra
inches, it cant make you happy with who you really are.


While I'm not condoning unhealthy lifestyles- I am saying, being
overweight doesn't have to be unhealthy. being overweight doesn't mean
you "ate yourself there" or that you never exercise.


I'm just saying, love yourself, no matter what your shape, size, life
choices...whatever. Just love yourself, and the rest of the world will
come around.

Until then, I'll just be over here, eating my BIG mac, and SUPER SIZED fries, and enjoying every minute of it.
 

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