by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com

Listen to the podcast of this post here:

Last week, thanks to Kevin Smith’s vocalness about his mistreatment on South West airlines and NAAFA’s willingness to let me be their spokesperson, I had the opportunity to appear on two national news programs.

As some of you know, I am a ham. (I was part of a musical improv comedy team at the P.I.T. for a while, and that stuff is not for the faint of heart.) Not only that, though I sometimes struggle with my eagerness to avoid confrontation, I love to have a good fight about things that matter to me, and discrimination in any form really rankles me. So when Kevin Smith decided to talk about his experience, and his 1.6 million twitter fans and the national media decided to listen, I was all too happy to make some appearances for the big fat good.

Until now, Body Love Wellness, has kind of flown under the radar. The toughest, most critical comments I would get were of the, “hey, I don’t think that tip would work for me” variety, and even then the commenters were usually willing to engage with me about what might work for them instead. So I wasn’t accustomed to getting real, trolly hatemail. I wasn’t accustomed to the kind of hatemail and comments that were only about how I looked and had nothing to do with what I wrote or said.

I’m so used to ignoring the comments at various non Fat-O-Sphere blogs that I completely forgot that adults, protected by the veil of the Internet’s anonymity, find it perfectly acceptable to insult other people with bullshit playground name-calling.

The comments started to get to me until a part of me, maybe that little eight-year-old inside of me, said something to the effect of, “Look, you survived elementary school, middle school and junior high for godsakes. How are you going to let some anonymous Internet idiots bring you down?”

And that part of me was right. In other words, I can’t play it small because someone else called me big. I can’t live my life small, avoiding conflict, avoiding the public eye, just because a bunch of jerks think I should be smaller. The more willing we all are to be out there about who we are and what we look like, the more power we will have as a group and as individuals.

In essence, if I weren’t the only fatty on The Early Show on Thursday, then maybe the couple of hostile commenters that took the time to search for me on google, find my blog and comment wouldn’t have known who they should pick to pick on.  Maybe they wouldn’t have even noticed my fatness if fat people on television weren’t so unexpected.

And yes, I’m going to wear an even bigger pattern the next time I’m on TV. :)

So this week, let’s all try to live a little bit bigger. Try something you wouldn’t normally try, speak up about something that matters to you. Extra credit if you wear something outrageous in the process.

As always, let me know how it goes in the comments section!
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Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda’s Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining.

If you’re in the NYC area, do not miss Golda’s March classes.  Click here to learn more or to register.

Looking for more support with intuitive eating and getting off diets? Click here to sign up for your FREE Body Love Wellness Consultation.

by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com

Listen to the podcast of this post here:

When I first heard V Magazine was producing an issue featuring plus sized models, I was non-plussed (lame pun intended).  For my own sanity, I tend to avoid fashion magazines.  And for whatever reason, I thought that plus sized models were sometimes in fashion magazines anyway.  At the very least, they’re in the plus sized section of department store web sites and attached to the Lane Bryant coupons that I receive with some regularity.  Okay, if I’m to be honest, I haven’t thought much about plus sized models since my beloved Mode Magazine died in 2001.

That is not to say that I’m not glad that plus sized models exist.  I am so glad that they exist.  I’m so glad that gorgeous plus sized models like Crystal Renn are out there, being gorgeous and writing about healing from eating disorders.  The more that plus size models work their way into mainstream media, and the more that they are seen as beautiful, the more hope I have that more young women will grow up loving their curvaceousness and not spending money on diet programs and diet pills.

But can I just say, (more…)

An important hearing on height/weight civil rights is happening in Massachusetts this month! You can help make history!!!  (more…)

PETA’S latest obnoxious billboard features a fat woman in a bikini that says “SAVE THE WHALES, Lose the Blubber, Go Vegetarian.”

This billboard is offensive, misleading, and encourages fat hatred.

I have contacted PETA about the billboards. The only way to contact them via their site is to report an animal in danger, so I decided to frame my letter in this way. Here’s mine:

I’m a writing in regard to PETA’s billboards in Florida. Because humans are animals, and billboards like yours are size-ist, sexist, and contribute to demonizing a significant portion of society, I consider that putting animals in imminent danger. There are plenty of vegetarians who are thin, fat, healthy, not healthy and every combination of the two. Calling fat women whales does nothing to contribute to the dialogue around animal abuse. It only serves to legitimate hate. If you really care about creating a more loving, peaceful, caring world for animals, including humans, TAKE DOWN THE BILLBOARDS!

Please contact PETA and let them know that fat hate is not an acceptable marketing campaign. Feel free to copy and paste my letter or come up with your own!