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Subversive Mission

October5

This picture has been floating around ye olde web here for awhile and today my friend Carol Squires inspired me:

“Wow, just think how much fun it would be to make thousands of these and then plaster them in women’s bathrooms in schools, clubs, dressing rooms, any place we can. I want one for my home mirror. INNDD project?”

My response?
“Love that idea! May just have to make it a mission!”

And then I looked up a recipe for wheat paste and created a printable version so I could get a bunch on a page (email me for the word doc)…it just so happens that I was watching something on street art the other day and some famous artist mentioned a new product that could apply paint for street art and I thought it would be perfect for wheat paste application, too! (It’s like a small squeeze bottle with a sponge-wheel applicator at the top.)
Anyway, I think I will make this a mission of mine: to paste this message in as many places as I can.
I am not yet sure if I will document it somehow, but I will do it and will gladly talk about it!

What do you think? What would you think if you came across this message somewhere?

What other awesome things can we do like this?

Lay it on me!

ETA: Or something more like this? I want lots more suggestions!

posted under Crafts, Decor, DIY, Easy, Fat Acceptance, Free, FUN!, inspiration, Politics

18 Comments to

“Subversive Mission”

On October 5th, 2011 at 4:23 am Veronica Says:
I thought about doing something like this just yesterday actually. This exact message doesn’t translate (we don’t have the warning text on the car mirrors), but I saw something else that would be perfect. Must now go dig through my archive. 🙂
On October 5th, 2011 at 9:42 am Not Blue at All Says:
@Veronica: Oh please share what you intend to spread the word on! I have had this idea before, but never fully believed in the sayings until this one. I was a big promoter of the “you are beautiful” campaign, but soon found myself to not wholly buy into it anymore. I don’t always want to be or feel beautiful. I embrace the rough edges of life, ya know?
On October 5th, 2011 at 8:53 am Carol Gwenn Says:
Ahhhh…..ye olde “everyone who looks in this mirror is a size 8” trick. That mirror DESERVES to come with a warning and I think your idea is absolutely brilliant! If I saw that message on a fitting room mirror I’d probably laugh, applaud & try to find out who put it there. GET OUT THERE & DO IT!!!!!
On October 5th, 2011 at 9:43 am Not Blue at All Says:
@Carol: Thank you! It wasn’t entirely my idea, but it would be fun to do I think. Thanks.
On October 5th, 2011 at 9:33 am Alena Says:
As an aethete (a philospher of beauty?), I respect the intention and it seems like a good message at first. But then I thought about how I would react. It seems to be a clever way of saying that the observer can’t trust her own mind and it assumes that there is probably something innately wrong with her conception of beauty – not a very empowering message! All concepts of beauty are socially influenced, but I think people take those constructs and mold them in their own unique ways. It’s presumptious to imply that the complex notions people build up in their minds about beauty are all damaging. I think I would take the message more like criticism – like if I happen to embrace a conventional idea of beauty then I am clearly brainwashed, not intelligent enough to trust what I see…
On October 5th, 2011 at 9:45 am Not Blue at All Says:
@Alena: I totally get what you’re saying, but I would venture that the average gal may not think as you do. Or as I do for that matter. I do think we’ve all been brainwashed to see youth as more valuable over age/wisdom, beauty over brains, fashion over function, etc. I wish someone had shown me this “light” ages ago! Not that it’s an entirely new concept to me, but I do love how this is worded. Do you have a suggestion as to what could be in its place?
On October 5th, 2011 at 10:27 am Alena Says:
Well, I absolutely love “You’re awesome (substitute any other adjective like beautiful). Start fucking acting like it!” I didn’t see that when I originally read this post. Yes, I like that message over the “warning” message,especially because it encourages action.
On October 5th, 2011 at 10:36 am Not Blue at All Says:
@Alena: I added that after your comment. A facebook friend had posted it. I love it!
On October 5th, 2011 at 12:43 pm Twistie Says:
I want to post those ‘start fucking acting like it’ ones EVERYWHERE!

Pop me over the doc for the first one… and if you do up a version of the second, don’t wait to ask, just send it straight to my inbox, m’kay? M’kay.

BTW, do you mind if I write this project up on Crafty Manolo? I love writing about subversive acts of craft over there.
On October 5th, 2011 at 1:59 pm Not Blue at All Says:
@Twistie: Yay! I will work on that and send it to ya. And go for it! The more subversive ideas that get out there, the better! <3
On October 5th, 2011 at 2:29 pm Vanessa Says:
Oh how neat-o. Love the concept and what Alena said. I never considered that perspective before.
On October 5th, 2011 at 2:39 pm Not Blue at All Says:
@Vanessa: Thanks & no worries. She’s been my BFF over 20 years, we always challenge each other! In fact, she and I would write “There’s no diva like me” in bathroom stalls up the Cali coast on road trips back in the day! =0)
On October 6th, 2011 at 4:02 am KellyK Says:
I like the first much more than the second, actually. It’s not telling the viewer that she’s full of it or doesn’t know what she’s looking at—just that what we see *can* get distorted by all the messages we take in. And it totally can. (I’ve looked at pictures of my size 12 college student self ten years later and wondered where the heck the fat girl I always saw in the mirror went. Because she isn’t in those pictures.)

“Start f—ing acting like it” actually reads a lot harsher to me– a combination of “you’re not doing what you should be doing, so knock it off” and “snap out of it!” (which is ever so helpful for depression or low self-esteem or eating disorders or just plain bad moods).

It’s funny how we all have such radically different interpretations of these.
On October 6th, 2011 at 9:37 am Not Blue at All Says:
KellyK: I agree with you on both parts, actually. However, I do often tell my friends, “OWN IT” when they know they are better than they are giving themselves credit for. Like, “You’re awesome and amazing, now OWN IT” I do this to myself as a pep-talk sort of thing, but certainly not everyone would understand this. Thank you for your thoughts. And for reading.
On October 6th, 2011 at 6:58 pm Heather Says:
i looove it! I may have to start this as well!
On October 7th, 2011 at 10:07 am Not Blue at All Says:
Heather: Oh yes, please do and share share share
On October 13th, 2011 at 5:50 am Veronica Says:
Well, Amanda of LYBD made this fab poster a while back that said, “I love my fat body. Start a body revolution – stop hating yours.” I thought that was really awesome, and radical, and subversive, so I think I will borrow heavily from that.
On October 13th, 2011 at 9:42 am Not Blue at All Says:
Veronic: Amanda Levitt, my heroine! She is amazing and lovely! Thank you for sharing that fabulous message, too!