Tank Top Tuesday!!!
Today’s Tank Top Tuesday submission comes from Katie Koumatos!
I, like my mother and grandmother, have copious arm fat. In the rad world of fatty activism, we call them “Hey Baby’s, because that’s the part that wiggles when you wave and yell hello to your friends. I have learned to love my arms, appreciating their size and interesting shape. But I have not always been this chill about my arm fat. For many years I wore ill-fitting t-shirts in the summer, staring jealously at tank top clad girls who seemed so svelte and comfortable. About five years ago I finally took the leap. My first tank top was covered in glitters and sparkles, in hopes that folks might be dazzled by it and completely miss my giant naked arms. I wore it out and surprisingly, no one threw rocks or even insulted me. I felt beautiful and even more importantly, cool in the hot Sacramento sun. Years later, more than half of my summer tops are tanks and I don’t even think about it. It was one of those first steps on the road to body acceptance and I am so thankful I took that risk!
I am taking submissions from anyone who wants to exercise their right to Bare Arms! Email your pics here: notblueatall@notblueatall.com, please include the name you’d like included in the post, a blog or etsy shop you wanna plug, your thoughts on bare arms or other fatty philosophies. It does not have to be in a tank top, so long as your arms are bare. Have fun with it!
Also, feel free to still treat comments as TMI topic/discussion area! Feel free to ask TMI questions or just vent/rant about your own stuff. I love it! We all do! =0)
I love that last top too!
As a ‘thin’* girl, I’ve never seen a fat girl’s bare arms and thought; ‘hmm, no. Maybe you shouldn’t do that.’
Maybe it’s more of an American thing to worry about, maybe i’m just blind to the whole thing.
If bringing your arms out the closet is a spiritual hurdle, then great, celebrate it. But really, most people don’t give a damn either way. They’re just arms, I wouldn’t worry about them.
*how I hate heaping individuals into boxes…
@Christine: I don’t know if it’s an American thing, but I do know that many fat people are told to cover the hell up or stay indoors. This is no exaggeration! It often comes from family, to be honest, or close friends or even strangers. We are shamed into hiding ourselves in uncomfortable and ugly clothing or shamed into not going out at all! But I agree with you that arms, regardless of their size, are just arms! This is exactly why I do the Tank Top Tuesday posts. It is a liberating experience for the submitters and hopefully begins to normalize seeing fat people’s bare arms, too. Thank you for reading and commenting. =0)
It’s certainly not an American thing, I’m Australian and it’s a common thing to hear people say that “fat women should cover their arms” or fat women’s arms referred to as bingo wings or tuckshop lady arms or some other snarky name.
Katie is rocking up there in those photos (and I want to steal that red and gold top from her!)
@Kath: I didn’t think it was just an American thing. And yeah, love that top, too!
Thank you for being so brave to show your arms. Mine look just like yours and it is so hard to find short sleeve shirts that are long enough to hide my roll dent. It drives me nuts. I see people way heavier who don’t have this problem. I wish I had the confidence to bear my arms, but I have unfortunately internalized every mean thing ever said to me.
Brenda: You sound so very much like I used to about my arms. My then-husband would be so frustrated and confused by my arm-shame. Years later and I went sleeveless on a first date the other night and it was fabulous! I know how hard it is, though. I did take some baby steps in the process of wanting to free my arms. I went shorter and shorter with my sleeve lengths, then tank tops or sleeveless tops with a shrug over them. What helped me most was simply being around other fatties who were already fearless in their arm exposure. I know now that my hangups were really never my own and that made me angry. I used that anger to fuel my progression and activism when I could, but everyone’s journey is different. I hope you find a path to loving your luscious arms and letting them out in the lovely breezes of life from time to time. <3 S