OVERWEIGHT

Over what weight, exactly?! Anyone? Bueller? EXACTAMUNDO! I’m fucking done with that word. I’ve seen it enough in the last three days to never need to ever again! It’s a meaningless piece of nothing. Yet it’s touted so much you’d think it was something terribly clever to drop into conversations. Well, it ain’t!

I am the weight that I am meant to be. Don’t believe me? I don’t give a shit! My body is my business. Period! There’s no wiggle room in this, it’s mine, not yours, and you need to leave it alone, obviously physically, but especially in conversation!

When I hear this word I cringe. Every fiber of my being becomes fire and I want to shoot it at whomever spouted the nonsense. It may sound a bit dramatic, but it’s offensive and ridiculous at once. It’s used as a proper thing and as though they are being polite by using it instead of the dreaded…FAT!!!

Fuck that! Use the damned word FAT! Please!!! It is far more true a term than any other. If you’re talking about someone’s body? Yeah, declaring it even in a hushed tone as “overweight” you’re only making yourself look ignorant. Because, “Ya are, Blanch! Ya are!”

So…Just…Stop it!

***

End Rant.

So my “perfect” purse is a piece of crap! I used it once or twice prior to gearing it up for my new job last week. Pssht! The moment I walked in the door the strap broke. “No problem, I know a repair guy!” I thought, foolishly! I also foolishly thought it was leather because inside it said “Genuine Quality” or some garbage like that. UGH! Sadly, repair guy said it’s made of vinyl, also showed me other spots it had torn or were about to (I’m assuming from just the one day’s use since I’d inspected it the day before and found no issues at all). He said it wasn’t repairable or even worth the effort.

The purse was perfect because the strap was the perfect length and the pockets are just right and in the right places but the closure is so cool! The repair guy said I should contact the company who made it (Relic) and send them pictures of it. He said it was shoddily made and really cheap materials. Funny, that tag inside said, “The finest materials!” I write to Relic and explain (minus the swear words) and they want me to pay for shipping to and from plus prove that I paid for it and it has to be within the last year, which was how I began the letter, “I bought this great purse over a year ago…” UGH!

So, hey, don’t buy their stuff. They suck! Their product sucks, despite it’s looks and “quality” promising and their warranty/customer service policy, while standard, left me feeling cold and unwanted. As a customer service guru myself (ask around), I take personal offense to this type of corporate bullshit! Hiding behind policy and not caring about one customer when you have so many…I know that the companies I have worked for, even some corporate giants, they cared about their customers. All of them! They stood behind their reputation for customer service and I mine!

I may take this sad sack to someone and see if they can make me a clone in real leather or if they could recommend a better material all together. I’d rather do something sustainable and not cruel if I can, but I need it to last a good long time! Y’all know I don’t have the moolah to go back to my old obsessive handbag hunt! Whew! Because I stopped when I found this bag! I found the “perfect” bag and stopped searching. How awful that I am so devastated by it’s failure now! Ugh! *ShakesFist*

Any recommendations on affordable materials for a close of my late, though not-so-great-after-all, purse?

How are you? No really, how are you feeling right now? I’m feeling pretty damned good, I must say. This past week has given me time to reflect and appreciate what I have and those I love. I haven’t done much, physically, but only because my left knee has been completely fucked…certainly not because I was lacking in spirit. These last few days hanging out with my husband and our puggyman and our tabby-cat and our BFFs and just all of it. The wine and food and laughs and games and fun and silliness! You know what? That is the spice of life, silliness! To be so at ease with yourself and whomever you are in proximity to just let go and be silly? That is the raddest thing of all!

Tomorrow night my friend Jeanette and I are hitting up a local BBW club for their NYE party. I’m so excited! I’m so nervous! That is so weird, I don’t really get nervous anymore. But it feels a bit like prom or something. I’ve never gone out on NYE. Well, okay, to friends’ houses or whatever, but never dressed up and never to a big fab party! We both bought dresses for it and are talking about up-dos and sparkly shoes and it’s so fun! I feel girly! I don’t often get to engage this side of me so it feels strange and adventurous! I will no doubt have many pictures to share, but more importantly, the experience itself. I know so many aren’t able or aren’t confident enough to do things like this. But this is why I do it!

I do it to show that you can even be a death fatty like me and have a great NYE or dress up and go out dancing or anything your heart desires! I do it to normalize fatness. I do it to feel fucking awesome! I do it to push back against the haters that would have us all hidden away or worse! When I try a new style of fashion that I’ve never seen on a fat person, I am pushing boundaries for myself and others. I love that! When I am unafraid and unapologetic about myself and my size? I am throwing a big middle finger to anyone who thinks that I should just shut up and conform!

That is punk rock, baby! And PUNK WILL NEVER DIET!!!

I hope that you have a safe and fun NYE no matter what you do. I hope that you will refuse to engage in the self-hating ritual of resolutions and consider ReVolutions instead! Check out some resources at that link or : revolutionsresources.blogspot.com

I do think that even small acts can create a ripple effect and together we can make a big fatty wave of positive goodness! I hope 2012 treats us all much better than 2011 did. I for one am glad it’s over and done with. I am hopeful for the coming year and it’s endless possibilities and opportunities. Here’s to you and yours! Aand Cheers to all on Earth!

revolutionsresources.blogspot.com/

The other day when I posted about a certain deodorant ad campaign many mentioned what they thought upon viewing the image. Some of us guessed it’s implications. I am still considering it all, honestly, as I do feel those images are loaded. We’ve discussed at length what we don’t like to see in advertising. We have all lamented about what we hate to see and read and hear, but that got me thinking that we should discuss what we would  like to see. So many products are marketed to us or our gender or our age group, etc. I so rarely see anything I like let alone would tolerate. So what would you like to see…

In a deodorant ad for men? For women?
Shaving or hair removal products?
Yogurt?
Weight loss ads?

I will tell you one thing, that new weight watchers commercial with Jennifer Hudson singing with her old fat self? It makes me a special kind of angry. The kind where I get all rage face-y and can’t articulate my exact thoughts. UGH! WHY?! But then I thought, well, what would I like to see?
I guess I’d like to see more information, more personal stories, more positive representations in general. I’d like to see people. Real people and not just singers and actors. I’d like a sense of realness and reality and not the kind that has sex tapes.

I’d like to see ads for senior citizens that don’t include a dog or a grandchild or that red pulsating light flashing over joints and lower backs to depict pain.

I’d like to see products marketed for their fine features and durability or sustainability. I’d like to see every car commercial from this day forward have the MPG rating in large print, at the top of the screen! I’d like to never see a prescription ad campaign ever again!

So…what would you like to see?

I suppose Old Spice is attempting to target all guys, but their latest print ad left me feeling angry and defensive. I was flipping through a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly, yes I know it’s not a very body accepting magazine but I like to keep up on all things entertaining…anyway, I happened upon this image:

*HeadDesk*

It appears to be a fat guy in winter wear, only they chose to insinuate that by using their products, not only would said fat be…sectioned off/away? I dunno…but the tag line is, “Somewhere in there There’s A Man In There, Old Spice, Smell Better Than Yourself” In his hand appears to be a bowl of cereal with holes in it as well as M-80’s or cherry bombs or something. Across his chest is an ammo belt with a corn dog, an old cell phone, pepper spray canister and two actual ammunition shells. Not to mention the fake-ass snake around his neck.

This whole thing smacks of hate to me. Fat hate. Winter wear hate? I don’t know I just hate it! The way the “inner man” or whatever the fuck is magically thinner/more muscular as though you cannot be a “man” unless you are of this build is appalling! But it’s not even their first go at this:

*HeadDeskInfinity*

Once again, choosing a thinner and seemingly more, uhh, eccentric? “inner man.” Ugh! This one seems anti-intelligence to me which is ridiculous if the point is to find a mate. Believe me fellas, anyone would rather you are intelligent than smelling like chemical perfumery! “Smell Better Than Yourself” is certainly relative. I mean, have you smelled this shit? Blegh! Why do all of these companies think anyone wants to smell this this? Marketing is, well, dumb!

I just hate that they chose this imagery. I hate that they are picking on fat guys. I hate that they feel the need to feminize the “outer man.” Once again! I won’t even start on the whole being called a woman is a negative thing. Just once I’d like to see a guy stand up and take that and say, “You know what? Thank you! My mom/sister/aunt/granny is the strongest and most incredible person alive. Call me a woman as much as you like, fuck wad!” Even if that ever did happen, it wouldn’t be on television!

What are your thoughts on this? Did these images make you angry? Upset? Eye rolls? Let’s discuss!