"All About That Bass": Empowering or Problematic?

On Monday I posted that I'm loving Megan Trainor's first single, All About That Bass. Since then, I've been reading what others in the body positive and feminist community think about it. So I thought maybe I'd throw my own hat into the ring and discuss what I find empowering about the song, and what I consider problematic.

Here goes.

Yeah, it’s pretty clear, I ain’t no size two

But just look at Megan in the video. She's not fat. She's within the realm of what society deems acceptable. She's probably a size 4 or 6, even. She has no idea how hard it is to be "unacceptable", to be told by strangers that she's going to die if she eats another cheeseburger, to sob in a department store dressing room because even the largest clothes there won't fit her. 

But... body shaming hurts skinny girls too.  

Then again... "Skinny shaming" is not the same as fat shaming. One results in a few minutes of hurt feelings; the other is a single aspect of the systematic oppression fat people face every single day.

So I agree with those who say 'Bass' isn't so much an anthem for fat girls as it is for what Jenny Trout has dubbed "the fatcepptable movement".

But... At least we're moving in the right direction. Excluding fat girls and putting down skinny girls is definitely not where I want society to be, but with catchy, somewhat empowering, somewhat problematic songs like 'Bass' and Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda', at least we're getting closer to where we should be.

The other major problem I see with this song is the emphasis on how boys feel about curves. 

"Yeah, my mama she told me don’t worry about your size / She says boys like a little more booty to hold at night".

Part of me snarks, 'thank God! Boys like your booty! Then I guess your body is acceptable'. But is it wrong to care what others think of your body? No. Part of why I love my body is because I know it's fun to touch and others find me attractive. But that's just part of why I love my body. That's the key. So what's problematic isn't that Megan mentions that boys will appreciate her booty; it's that she seems focused on the male gaze, rather than what she loves about how she looks. 

But I can shake it, shake it
Like I’m supposed to do
Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase
And all the right junk in all the right places

The above line could go either way; she can 'shake it, shake it' like boys expect her to, or how she feels she's 'supposed to do'. And is she glad that boys feel she has 'all the right junk in all the right places'? Or is that how she feels about herself?

The main aspect of the video itself, that I find could be empowering or problematic (or both) is the dancers. There's one dancer who's fat. Is he highlighted because being fat is 'perfect from the bottom to the top'? Or are he, and the skinny girls in the video, too fat and too thin, respectively, and in the video to demonstrate that only Megan Trainor-sized people are acceptable?

All of that being said, the one lyric that really sticks with me is this one:

If you got beauty beauty, just raise ‘em up
Cause every inch of you is perfect
From the bottom to the top

Doesn't that say something?

To conclude: 'All About That Bass" is somewhat empowering, somewhat problematic, and catchy as fuck. I can't wait to hear Megan Trainor's future releases-- and I hope they'll be just as catchy, but far less problematic than this one.

Still from 'All About That Bass' borrowed from here.

Fat Girl Takes On the Mall

Summer is the perfect time to rock a cute crop top or fun short shorts that show off your great legs. I always look forward to this season of barbecues and beach days and (fashionable) fun in the sun.

But this year has started out a little different.

"My shorts don't fit."
"Neither does this pair."
"All my skirts are too small,"

I complained to my mom, tossing item after item out of my closet. That's when I realized it: my endocrinologist had said PCOS can cause continued weight gain, even during treatment. I'm still gaining weight. Fuck!

Don't get me wrong: I love being fat. I love my body. And I consider myself a fat activist. Learning to love myself means accepting myself at any size, whether it's a 2 or a 32. But growing out of your clothes at a rate that feels unhealthy and puts a dent in your (already half-empty) wallet? It's hard to cope.

So off I go to the mall. The biggest mall in the biggest city in Canada. I have limited funds, since my disability means I can't work as much as I'd like to, but I'm sure I'll find something.

Wrong.

With multiple floors and hundreds of stores, you'd think there'd be at least a hundred that carry sizes over 16.

Nope. Not even 10.

Let's count them:
1 Forever 21
2 Reitmans
3 Sears

Three stores. In an entire mall. The scary thing is that I have more luck at the Eaton Centre than I do at other malls in Toronto.

I'm fortunate that I can sometimes fit into a 16 or XXL, the largest straight size available, so stores like Old Navy and the Disney Store are not entirely off limits. Still, who wants to squeeze into t-shirts and cotton dresses, crying "I'm so lucky this blouse is cut big!"? And as a fat woman, I'm already not taken seriously in the office, so do I really want Tinkerbell's face on everything I own?

I'm glad the three fatshion- friendly stores above exist. But... why aren't their plus sizes mixed in with their "normal" clothes? Why is the fabric quality superb in straight sizes and so-so at best, ghastly at worst in plus? Why should fat girls wear low quality clothes that cost more, just because they're bigger? And why are the few stores in Canada that specialize in plus sizes extravagantly priced and rarely in malls?

We're being punished for our size. We're being punished for eating 'too much', for having illnesses like PCOS, for our genetics, for happening to have double chins.

Do I begrudge my slenderer friends their fast fashion, their hundreds of stores, the breeze that shopping is for them? Not at all. I just want my experience to be as good as theirs.

Image source: Reitmans (one of the few stores at Eaton Centre which caters to plus size shoppers).

An Open Letter To Rebel Wilson

Rebel Wilson is a great actor, she was hilarious in Bridesmaids, and she seems like a genuinely nice person.

But, I don't support her choice to be Jenny Craig Australia's spokesperson, because:
1, she's sending an awful message to her fans, and 2, weight loss almost never works anyway.

In an interview, she said ‘this [obesity] is something I can fix. So I should probably fix it'.

Except you can't 'fix' obesity, because weight loss almost never works, and because obesity may not even be a problem to begin with.

Rebel has lost 30-something pounds and hopes to lose more. She says, 'I guess with being this size you kind of put yourself into the friendzone. You never think anyone will be attracted to you at this weight. So you don’t really go out' [source].

Here's my open letter to her:

Dear Rebel Wilson,

You're gorgeous. You're talented. You're hilarious. And you're smart. 

 But you're doing something very, very stupid.

Your Jenny Craig partnership? Bad idea. 

Many of your fans (including me) feel alienated. We're expected to lose weight if we're fat and we enjoy your movies? If we have a killer sense of humour and a successful career like you, that isn't enough unless we drop a few dress sizes? That's the implicit message you're sending.

I'm sure your desire to lose weight stems from your insecurity about being in 'the friendzone', being unloved, your career ending too soon. But your fears are irrational.

Anyone who doesn't like you because of your looks doesn't deserve the pleasure, the privilege, the honour of seeing your movies or being your fan, friend or lover. 

Anyone who says you need to lose weight to have a successful, long career is full of shit (look at Tess Munster, Beth Ditto, Melissa McCarthy and all these famous fat babes).

Anyone who says you need to lose weight to be healthy is full of shit, too.

In conclusion: don't worry about your weight. Love how you look. Take care of your body. And focus on your career, girl, because it's red-hot!

Yours in friendship, 

Rebecca Esther

Image Source

"Why do we hate the overweight?"

The Gloss writer Jennifer Wright's recent article, "Why Do We Hate the Overweight?", is very insightful.

She confesses, "there is not a day of my life when I do not worry about my weight". From that line, I knew this article was not just another piece of 'fat people suck' drivel. This was personal.

Jennifer shares this anecdote: "I just spent ten minutes debating whether or not to eat a piece of ice cream cake... [but I can't, because] if my weight goes over a certain amount I feel a real and true fury at myself [because] I realize that the skinnier I am, the nicer people are to me".

After 3 pages discussing why society hates fat people (and how irrational this is), she finishes, "Incidentally, I ate the ice cream cake... I ate it and it tasted as good as skinny feels".

Brilliant!

Photo Source

Vogue Introduces "Health Initiative"; Still Thinks You're Too Fat

Vogue (and its 18 international editions) pledge to implement their "Health Initiative": using "healthy models" in their magazines. Here are the criteria:

1. We will not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder. We will work with models who, in our view, are healthy and help to promote a healthy body image.

2. We will ask agents not to knowingly send us underage girls and casting directors to check IDs when casting shoots, shows and campaigns.

3. We will help to structure mentoring programmes where more mature models are able to give advice and guidance to younger girls, and we will help to raise industry-wide awareness through education, as has been integral to the Council of Fashion Designers of America Health Initiative.

4. We will encourage producers to create healthy backstage working conditions, including healthy food options and a respect for privacy. We will encourage casting agents not to keep models unreasonably late.

5. We encourage designers to consider the consequences of unrealistically small sample sizes of their clothing, which limits the range of women who can be photographed in their clothes, and encourages the use of extremely thin models.

6. We will be ambassadors for the message of healthy body image.

What worries me most (among the numerous misguided notions the above list represents) is that "healthy", to the fashion industry's standards, ergo society's standards, means 'thin, but not "too thin"'. So Vogue's models will be size 2 instead of 00.

Health At Every Size has proven that one does not have to be thin to be healthy. So to truly be "ambassadors for the message of healthy body image", Vogue better feature models of all sizes-- yes, from 00 to XXXXXXXXXL & everywhere in between.

I'm not counting on it.

Body Shaming Hurts Skinny Girls Too

Angelina Jolie looking gorgeous at the Oscars. Look at all the fucks she gives about the haters who say she needs a sandwich! Image Source.

I'm curvy. But that doesn't mean I won't stick up for my slenderer sisters. On the contrary: I know what it's like to have my body viewed with disgust, to be belittled and bullied over my appearance, so I'll do everything I can to save other women the pain.

On the rare occasion that I'm complimented for my size, it usually goes like this:

Person: Wow, you're pretty/have nice hips/big boobs/whatever.

Me: Thank you.

Person: It's true, real women have curves.

I'm left wondering: What the fuck? My friends who are skinny aren't real? Does that mean they're figments of my imagination? They can't find jeans that fit their tiny hips, so they don't exist?

It's meant as a compliment, but sizist catchphrases like "real women have curves" or "she should eat a sandwich" are just as hurtful to thin girls as "but you have such a pretty face, it's a shame you're so fat" or "she should stop eating" are to fat girls.

The only way we'll beat body-shaming, once and for all, is if we all stop bashing each other's size and start realizing that all bodies are good bodies, regardless of how large or small.

Related Links:
I Stopped Reading Health Mags and You Should Too | Full-Fat Frappuccinos | Stop Telling Angelina Jolie To Eat a Cheeseburger

You ARE beautiful NOW!!

Becca, age 14

Sometimes, when I see old pictures of myself, I say "wow, I was so beautiful!" ...with the implication that I'm not beautiful now. And that needs to stop.

We look at ourselves in the mirror & only see flaws. 10 years from now, looking at photos from today, we'll think, I was so pretty/perfect/flawless, why didn't I see it then?!

So let's stop that. Today, look at yourself in the mirror. Look at how stunning you are! Don't wait.

I Stopped Reading "Health" Magazines + You Should Too!

April Flores for Bizarre Magazine

I used to pore over women's health magazines, certain that reading them would inspire me to be healthier. Recently, though, I learned that so-called health magazines aren't so good for us afterall: They perpetuate negative body image ideals and insist that a woman will never be good enough until she's thin, inspiring crash diets and self-loathing.

Now, I do indulge in magazines (what girl doesn't?) but I'm far more discerning than I used to be. In place of reaching for Self or Shape, I explore the Health at Every Size community online or read feminist publications like Bitch and Bust. Better quality material and it makes me feel good about myself. I love fashion magazines too, but take their "health" tips with a grain of salt.

Rather than reading about ways to be skinny, I actively work at being healthy by going for walks, preparing nutritious snacks or practicing yoga.

I recognize that skinny is not necessarily healthy and healthy is not necessarily skinny, just like fat is not necessarily unhealthy and unhealthy is not necessarily fat.

I acknowledge that my body type (voluptuous, full-figured) was highly sought-after throughout history-- a larger figure meant a woman was well-off enough to eat lavishly and her curves were considered beautiful. In the past 60 years or so, slender has been considered most attractive. Society's tastes change in cycles. One day curvy will be in again and thin will be out. We just have to ignore trends and embrace the body we have.

Lastly, I remind myself over and over again that I am beautiful and I deserve to be healthy-- emotionally and physically.

And so do you.