Fat activism movement? ugh.

Mix in a salad.

"but given that these days (size) 16 is pretty average for women,"

are you kidding me!? average?! you mean to tell me that you think 50% of all women everywhere are a size 16 or higher?

I would say her letter has forced me to seriously reconsider my definition of humor and body image.

The clothing industry is smarter than the overweight americans it is servicing. Think about it, they are providing only smaller sizes to fit a select (Healthy) type of person. If you don't fit into thses sizes, think twice about your diet. And a size 16?? In no way is that an average american woman's size...maybe during the renaissance.

Put down your typing stick and go for a damn walk. Repeat.

The average size is not a 16. I find the fattist movement annoying. I would also add that most of the stores in this issue don't carry clothes that fit much over a size 8 or 10, which is too bad if you are not fat and not thin and would like to buy cool clothes from local shops.

Sossity, Are you big boned?
Are you size 16+ big boned?
If not then buy a bicycle or walk. If you already do that then stop eating meat.
If that still doesn't work for you then try exercising on purpose every once in a while.
I'm sorry but fat people are a waste of energy and I'm not afraid to say it.
If in fact you are one of those few (they really are rare) people who can not physically be skinny due to medical reasons then stop complaining, because really if I where 7+ feet tall with a size 16 shoe I wouldn't be complaining that I could not always find specific shoes in my size.

Each designer had to pick one picture to represent their creation. I wasn't in any of those pictures, you weren't and over half a million Portland residents weren't either.

I bet the Mercury would love to do a feature on Fat Girl Speaks, Cupcake, and your choice of boutiques.

Many Portland designers do commissions to fit any customer. So put together a guest article or commission some clothing and write about it.

"I bet the Mercury would love to do a feature on Fat Girl Speaks, Cupcake, and your choice of boutiques."

I bet they wouldn't.

- fat people are a waste of energy
- Put down your typing stick and go for a damn walk
- Mix in a salad.
- are you kidding me!? average?!
- ugh.

If any of you who made the above comments (or even agreed with them)
have ever protested, scorned or argued about a woman's right to choose, gay rights, combating racism, or any other bigoted group that I'd say a majority of Merc readers don't like...you are now one of what you've said you hate.

A bigot.

Feel better about your skinny ass now?

i was just commenting about how statistically that pretty improbable that 50% of all women are size 16 or larger. i probably would have said the same thing if someone said "hey i think people who are 6 feet tall are average"

people use the term "average" all the time and i think they don't quite understand what it means.

fat people? you be fat! just don't use statistical terms incorrectly.

Oh, come on, DBW, that's about as reactionary as some of the posts you reference. *Most* (but certainly not all) overweight people in this country are the way they are due to poor lifestyle choices. Poking fun at a fairly militant "fat acceptance" advocate who admits to being overweight is hardly on the level of overt racism or homophobia.

Merc Reader -
Her stats were wrong - but not by much...
"half of American women wear clothing in sizes 14 and larger. In 2000, women spent more than $17 billion on clothing sizes 16 and up, a 22 percent jump over the previous year according to the New York-based NPD Group, a marketing-research firm."
http://www.geocities.com/tenorqueen/fashionfacts.html

Elgordo -
But don't bigots always think that they're just poking 'harmless fun?'
Most extremists are nuts - and I'm not saying there needs to be any sort of fat acceptance movement - but there also doesn't need to be overt rudeness about it.

I was all set to jump down Sossity's overly-wide throat too (and Brittney hit the nail on the head, incidentally), but come to think of it, dedicating the fashion issue to the overweight would fit in better with the Mercury modus operandi. (see: annual "best of [some bumfuck neighborhood]" issue, etc.)

What does a fashion issue really mean to a town so apathetic to their own dress, anyway? I love Seaplane and all the local designers and the work they do, but the "Portland look" is still stuck squarely at Buffalo Exchange.

divebarwife, I made the exception in my statement for those who are overweight and can do nothing about it for medical reasons.

Choice is everything. If you make a choice to be a certain way I have the right to make a choice to not like you for it.

If you don't have a choice then it is my responsibility to respect you in the context of the topic.

Here are some examples:
If you have the choice to not drive drunk but do anyways - I have to right to fucking hate you for being an idiot.
If you have the choice to become a republican - I have the right to think you are a dumbass.
If you have the choice to sit around and watch day time tv and eat bonbons - I have the right to laugh at you when you die of congestive heart failure.
People do not have a choice when it comes to ethnicity, social birth status or sexual orientation. So it is my responsibility to respect them when it comes to those topics.

You choose to call me the bigot - I have the right to tell you fuck off.

Jesus, what an insipid gathering of self-righteous assholes. Who are you people? Most of the people I know in this city are decent at minimum. I suspect most of these commenters are, too, but something about anonymous posting brings out the asshole in people.

The woman isn't asking anyone to condone her lifestyle—or, for that matter, to make any assumptions whatsoever about why she weighs what she does. She just wants to know where she can spend her money. Yet the knee-jerk reaction is to tell her to eat a salad? How is that in any way appropriate?

No this women is accusing the paper of not representing it's readers (and or the greater Portland area) by claiming that "women size 2-8 are not the majority of our population" and that it should be the Mercury's responsibility to show women outside of the 2-8 size range in the fashion issue.
But in fact it is not the Mercury's reposibility.
I don't know about her but I've never paid for a Mercury.
And honestly all jokes aside I'm really sick of hearing people complain about news papers not reflecting their own demographic perfectly. For fucks sake how many different people read the paper, you can't please them all.
Journalistic integrity is make sure that facts are presented correctly and that's it.

If the Mercury represented this group of readers above, the cover would include a picture of Big Bird every week with the cover story about fatties and the merits to eating more salad.

Sossity,

You want them to respect you, and yet you disrespect their choices, opinions, and personal aesthetic? And you think this is a way to get them to be more open to you?

Designers do their hardest to create a range of clothing in various sizes and styles, and it's a very shrill and misguided thing to down them for their own personal decisions. Fashion is not a welfare program, it's an art.

If you want to take the art out of the artist's hands, then you're only left with what can best be described as, well, a muumuu.

And the models in the pages of the mercury are women just as you are. You are no better than them, and it's degrading to both you and the model to portray them as any less or more than you, size notwithstanding.

Damn, judge much? Some of you people make me ashamed to be skinny.

Fat people have money to spend, and so do skinny people. The Merc made an editorial choice that pictures of skinny people in clothes would be more appealing to readers (and therefore, advertisers) than pictures of fat people in clothes.

Sossity disagrees with this editorial judgment. Fine. But that doesn't give her editorial control over the paper. She has registered her protest and the paper has "printed" it via the website. Opinion noted.

I was not aware there was a "fat activism movement," and now I am. Very helpful. Given that I'm about 5'11" and weigh 150 pounds soaking wet, I doubt I'll be invited to participate.

In fact I think all commenters should have to list their height and weight from now on.

saying that size 16 is average (and healthy) was a rhetorical over-reach. i'm a tall size 12, which i think is actually about average, and i could certainly stand to replace a beer with a salad (or water) from time to time.

but i can also see why sossity's upset. i was horrified to find that in going from size 10 to size 12, i'd jumped from a comfy medium straight to a tight extra-large in the mind of a really awful shop on hawthorne whose cutesypoop punkrock name they're lucky i can't recall.

some fashion designers are probably feminists. but given the way they design clothes for us, most designers hate the fuck out of women. i hate them back.

I have a 34 inch waist and a 36 inch inseam, I have yet to see anything marketed to me. I'm too skinny for Big & Tall stores and too tall for regular stores. I find 34x36 Levi's online. Large Tall shirts are even harder to find. What I don't do is read fashion issues.

Why can't you tell a fat person to eat a salad? I understand it's all about personal choice, but guess what comes with choice? Consequences. You don't want to hear that your fat?

thank you Ritchie.

The fact of the matter is, too, that most designers create clothes for super skinny women. I'm 5'7", 150 pounds and a size 7/8 but I still have difficulty wearing things made in a boutique because I've got D cup breasts and a large ribcage. This is annoying, yes, but I don't lament my lot or complain that by advertising those super-low skinny jeans or that tight knit mock dress (two things which would admittedly look terrible on me) my "existence is being denied". Learn how to dress, figure out what looks good on you, and stop complaining.

It also doesn't hurt if you're not carrying around 20 - 40 (or more in some cases) extra body weight. The pro-fat movement makes me sick. Extra body weight is just that, and unless you're built like Toccara (who is pictured in this entry) or similar women who have a larger body frame but fill it out in a devastatingly sexy way, figure out what it is you're doing wrong in your lifestyle that has made that so. Honestly. I'm so tired of fat girls acting like they're natural, average, or curvaceous. I'm fucking curvaceous! Being above a size 16 in an unhealthy manner (read: you CAN help it and you're OVER the weight you should be SIGNIFICANTLY) is LUMPY.

Americans need to stop being so lazy and start taking some personal fucking responsibility.

I think it's stupid and hateful to get down on anyone for their size, be they ultra skinny or super fat.

The truth of the matter is that even 'normal' bodies aren't normal. There are huge numbers of people purchasing clothing that does not fit properly in all size ranges. Why? Because expensive tailored clothing and specialty range fits are difficult to afford unless you're rolling in cash. And if you're rolling in cash, no one cares what size you are.

I would like to see a list of places that offer more plus sized clothing, but the likelihood that I could afford any of it is pretty low.

And it's true, there are dozens of fantastic designers in Portland who would be happy to make custom pieces if you've got the dough.

Ps- you guys are a bunch of nasty, judgmental jerks. Thank god we have your opinions to keep us warm at night.

fine. i'm 5'5" and close to 200# -- guess that makes me an overweight guy who does nothing but sit on his ass, eat high calorie foods and complain about his weight. please disregard the fact that i'm training for a marathon; that i work about sixty hours a week and thirty of it is on my feet in a busy retail environment; that i walk several miles a week. i'm a tubby lardass who should start living on slim.fast and never have a fucking beer.

oh, but wait... i'm a guy, so it's okay. there's clothing that fits me, and that's tailored to fit me sexily, and having something "extra to hold onto" is cute. and really, 200 isn't so much, is it? i don't look it, do i? does this suit make me look fat? no... i think i'll pass on the dinner -- i'm not hungry. i'll just wait till no one's around and eat. i'm self conscious, you see. if i eat where other people see me, what might they think? "fucking fatass. eat a fucking salad. you're unhealthy. what the hell do you think you're doing with that hamburger? go take a walk. you make me sick."

but i'm a guy, so it's still okay. there's this wicked evil double standard in popular media where it's fine for guys to have some extra weight but where women are generally portrayed as bobble-headed sticks -- and it's everywhere. radio adverts promise miracles with herbal supplements; glossy magazine covers show women who have gone from a size sixteen to a size six in eight weeks or less; strip mall store after strip mall store promises to be the new "weight loss mecca" so that you can fit into that swimsuit by summer (it's not too late!)

so what? so what if women taught that they have to strive to fit this superficial molded image of beauty? who fucking cares anyways? i don't want to think about it. go eat a salad, fattie. does this dress make me look fat? i hate how my legs look. i feel fat. i think i'm going to start this new diet... i know the last one didn't work, but this one promises to keep the weight off! i don't want to know about places that sell things for fat people. i'm not fat. i'll buy that size six and work my way down to it. really.

sossity's letter does not strike me as particularly incendiary; rather, she states clearly the lack of coverage for fat-positive (or plus sized or whateverthefuck you want to call it) clothing -- even when the resources clearly do exist.

...and before you call someone lumpy or ugly or tell them to go eat a salad, look at yourself in the mirror and see if you're happy with what you have. do you feel comfortable in your body, or do you think "well, if i changed this" or "when i am this" or "when i lose five more pounds..." where did you get the idea that you aren't beautiful? how often have you been told that it's not okay to be comfortable in your body? why do you think it's okay to make other people feel that way?

being fat positive isn't about telling people it's okay to laze around and eat bon-bons all day long; it's about helping people to see that they are beautiful, sexy beings, no matter what their size, shape, or gender. it's about introducing dialogue by which people can realize that they're allowed to take pride in themselves and not be ashamed of who they are. it's about people not apologizing for the space they take up.

i think the merc has taken good first step in the right direction; they've published this letter. i would second the challenge on them providing a follow-up on resources for the rest of us.

I've lost 100 pounds and kept it off for 5 years. I am one of the success stories.I workout regularly, I don't eat processed food, I don't eat an enormous amount of fat, I also, don't drink beer (although I love it). I still weigh 180 pounds and am considered 'overweight'. I still wear a size 12. I am curvy in all the 'right' places. I have been told that I need to lose MORE wieght (how that is to accomplished, I don't know). I have been told that I am a 'fat' girl still. So how much weight does one need to lose before they are 'normal'. How many salads? Am I supposed to now starve myself, even though I have become a paragon of health? The reason the 'fat acceptance movement' needs to exist is because of the attitudes expressed on this board. The problem lies in that attitude.The OP wasn't asking for your approval of her "lifesyle" she was asking that people that ARE 50% of the population be represented in a fair way, in a magazine that is supposed to represent Portland.

"They are like fish in the water that don't know that they are wet..."

With all your education and all your opinions, you could only come up with telling Sossity to go for a walk? get some exercise? eat healthier? use a typing stick? Are you kidding me? News flash. Fat or thin does not equal unhealthy. There are no broad generalizations that cover all fat people or all thin people. If such generalizations could exist, I could make a sweeping judgment that all of the editorial staff at the Mercury is resonsible for the slack job of creating a "Fashion Issue" that only speaks to sizes 2-8. I could then also generalize that all respondents to the call for comments to Sossity's letter were actually drunk at the time of typing, otherwise how could so much inane, self-righteous, uninformed, spoon-fed-by-the-media hypocrisy come out of such an articulate, physically diverse readership?

Unfortunately, the discrimination that fat folks feel is so embedded in the culture at large that those who perpetuate it can't even see their own shit. Next time you want to blame someone for being a "waste of space and resources," maybe you should turn your oh-so-obsevant-eye to Fat Girl Speaks at PSU in June 2007. I dare you.

See you there.

The fat hate displayed on this blog is disgusting and people should truly be ashamed of themselves.

I am a fat girl who hated my body most of my life. I was told I was "wrong" for being fat even though I ate healthy and was very active. Eventually, I realized the simple notion of exercise and eat healthy meant weight loss was not a guarantee. I bike 15 miles a day and more. I am vegan. I dance, I walk, I live my life without apologizing.

And I sew clothes. I know it is possible to created artwork from material for my size and make fun and good-looking creations.

It is easy to stereotype, but you solve nothing with such behavior but hate. Body acceptance is a true revolution- no matter your size.

Clearly Brittany is as bright as her famed counterpart or at least as well informed. Firstly, just because one wears a size 2 or 4 or 6 does not in anyway signify that they are "healthy" as she states. And secondly, the average woman does truly wear a size 14. Go read up Brittany. Have you ever seen an bulemic woman in a size 2 dress? Healthy? I think not.

Do you all think that fat people choose to be fat? Do you think that fat people want to be the brunt of all fat jokes? Do you seriously think that maybe you might be wrong? Is it so horrible that fat people want to be treated like everyone else and want to have some respect? It is ubelieveable to me how so many of you think that it must be that easy and how narrow minded of you to make these posts. What is it that make you all so hateful and non-accepting?

I starve myself to stay thin. This is torture and is not healthy. I do this because I cannot bear being fat. Sizeist attitudes like the ones expressed here are a big part of the reason I suffer.

I wanted to ignore this entire post, but someone directed me here and so, dutifully I clicked. Everytime I get into this fathate/fatpositive debate, I walk away feeling like I just hate people more than I did in the five minutes prior.

Rather than espouse more rhetoric, I will share the following:

1. I am fat. Doesn't really matter why. Most of you are going to scrutinize this post looking for "evidence" of fatness; so you can decide whether I am on your side or not. I just told you I hate people, trust me I am not on your side whichever side it is.

2. A few summers ago I read a blog post by a 12-year old girl living in my hometown. She relayed a story of walking down the street in the summer (beach town) and having a carload of men drive up to her, begin squealing like pigs, and THROW GARBAGE AT HER, screaming "Roll in it, Piggy!"

All 12-year old girls are awkward looking; whether they are skinny legs or chubby chins. Most 12-year old boys are not especially hot either.

This is how we treat people, children. We throw trash at them because we carry our uncomfortable 12-year olds inside of us, always.

No wonder we're screwed.