Beauty standards for women (or at least how the media and fashion industry represents them) are horrible. However, I may have a different take on some of this than you all. Too often, this argument ends up pitting men against women. (ex. men are objectifying women and holding them to an unrealistic standard) True, there are many horrible men who do objectify and promote beauty standards that hardly any woman would be able to attain, however, I don't know about any of you, but I know a lot of men who disagree with the direction that the fashion and media industry is going in respect to not only the objectification and exploitation, but the type of women they show. (ex. super thin women with little to no features or curves) The fact is that in the fashion industry, many of the designers and executives in charge are not women-oppressing sexist males, but homosexual men. The logic they use when selecting a runway model, for example, is not to select a realistic or even pretty girl, but to select a walking mannequin. A woman, perfectly symmetrical, without any features, so as not to distract from there clothing or the products they might want to sell. Believe me, I am proud to be a full figured woman with curves and I find that many of your everyday, ordinary guys, (who usually end up getting blamed for the images of women we all see on tv) don't want women objectified and harmed and don't even find those women attractive anyway. Many men I know like women who are natural, have curves, no plastic surgery, down to earth, and not so skinny you could see right through them. A stark contrast between that and the surgically enhanced/altered walking pieces of plastic that you see on tv that young girls feel they should aspire to be like because that is what (the media and fashion industry implies) men want. Surprise, surprise, thats not even what a lot of men want, anyway.

That is awesome. Thanks for the link, Jessica.

Er... indyKat34, that's not good. Shifting the blame onto some imaginary collective of gay males doesn't fix anything- and it's not right. It's a collective problem in our media-overloaded society. Borderline gay bashing on the behalf of straight guys isn't even a logical response to all this...

(OMG! I think she's in my town! That's so awesome! I want to find her!)

Anyway...I think it's about time. I've had a hard time being the size I am and accepting the fact that my weight isn't a terrible thing. Too often I feel ugly around my guy-friends, especially when they meet my friends who are thinner than me. I often feel undesirable as a woman and a human. So I applaud this project, I hope I do find her so I can be part of it!

Sorry, but I don't see how celebrating the fact that you are overweight is a good thing. It's basically celebrating an unhealthy body. It's hypocritical that a lot of those fat women bashers out there are fat men themselves, but maybe these women need to move away from an obsession with their bodies and focus on working out and eating better.

Portside, maybe you should move away from your obsession with the way other people live their lives and focus on finding some empathy.

Yes, Portside, because a big woman needs to focus all her energy on getting skinny, all the time. She can't do anything else with her life. No hobbies, no work, no feeling good about herself until she loses that weight.

She does not deserve to fight back against the name-calling and attempts to humiliate her. She should listen attentively to the fat-shaming and cultivate a hatred of the body she lives in. If she likes her body and wants to help her sisters escape from the tyranny of fat-hate, there's something horribly wrong with her.

The real problem with indykat34's comment isn't even the gay-bashing -- that's a symptom of the deeper issue. IndyKat's post still upholds the same old same old: that a woman's value lies in her attractiveness to men. I mean, the whole thing is basically "But men find 'natural,' 'curvy' women attractive too!" In other words, I think indykat just completely missed the point.

Anyway, rather than engaging with the detractors any more than I already have, I'm just going to put something out there:

I am a 5'6" 175 pound size 14 woman. I have boobs that aren't quite shaped the way bra-makers think they should be, "junk in the trunk," and a little bit of squish all over. I am smart, sexy, not to be messed with, and I feel f'ing great. Do any of you really want to argue with me on that??

Also, love love love the video.

Portside,
to add on to what other people said- being fat or overweight or whatever you want to call it is not a guarantee of ill health. your health is much more related to your eating habits, exercise, drug/alcohol use, genetic/environmental factors, etc.
if you're truly interested in being a little more enlightened about us chunky folks, you might want to read this: http://bigfatfacts.com/

I forget exactly when the thread I'm thinking of was, but can we not get into the "fat people can be healthy too" debate either like we did the last time? I understand that it's well intentioned, but I still don't think my health is anyone else's damn business.

I agree, Idiolect. I'm much more in tune with the "everybody is deserving of basic respect" aspect of this conversation, and the arguments about who is healthy or not detract from that.

The "everybody" in "everybody is deserving of basic respect" includes unhealthy people too, especially since you can't tell who they are by looking at them.

Imnotemily:

Thank you - you have enlightened me. I've always wondered about the health effects associated with being overweight. I don't really "watch what I eat," and I'm neither overweight nor underweight, but I bet my arteries are more clogged than alot of people I know who would be considered "fat." I am a relatively unactive person who's probably alot unhealthier than some of my friends who are big but work out.

As for Portside, yes it's true that unhealthy lifestyles shouldn't be celebrated, but the point of websites like these are to acknowledge that being overweight doesn't diminish your worth. People who smoke or drink too much that happen to be skinny are admired much more than people who eat "too much," and their lifestyles aren't exactly healthy are they? An overweight person MIGHT be also unhealthy, it's true, but then that person should view that problem as a health issue, not an attractiveness issue.

"maybe these women need to move away from an obsession with their bodies and focus on working out and eating better."

Also, wouldn't focusing on working out and eating better be ADDING to an "obsession" with one's body?

And if the reason these women are ripped on is because they're unhealthy, than why do women who are unnaturally thin starve themselves to death - often literally - trying to look the way society accepts as sexy?

How about this: Stop eating so damn much and exercise, you don't need a goddamn youtube channel to loose weight.

Hey, Chauvinist:

How about you actually listen to what the lady said? She's not interested in losing weight. I know, a hard concept to deal with: a fat woman who isn't desperate to lose weight. However, just like bi-sexuals and English Majors, these people do exist. Thank you.