Mischief: A Dance with Candles and Diversely Sized Bodies

So this past weekend I had the awesome pleasure of being one member of the last group to perform at the fabulous NEFFA event (New England Folk Festival Association). For one choreography I was even the “leader” to guide the number. The audience was pretty full and despite a few glitches in timing from the folks in charge of lights and music we all had a blast and pulled it all together like the stupendous group of dancers we all are

The only downside?  Dancing those 20 minutes with a nice sliver of some glass costume bead that must have broken earlier in the day on the stage lodged in the ball of my left foot.  Still, the show must go on, right? With a bandage and a lucky wet wipe find infection was prevented and until I got home and Adam D did his Eagle Scout thing and totally took care of my minor wound.

Bonus of the day?  Adam D and I got to sit in on a class to learn to play the Dulcimer together with extra instruments that the instructor provided. It was a laughable hour but so much fun.

This is my “Move IT!” activity of late, along with some nice lunch-time walks in the lovely weather. So, what have you all been doing lately?  Fun crafts? New activities?

For the love of all that’s holy: the only person whose health is your business is YOU.

I think one of the more difficult situations to handle (for me, personally) when I come across someone willing to believe that humans come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, INCLUDING Fat, is when the conversation inevitably comes to this phrase, nearly always verbatim: “People DO come in all shapes and sizes. It only gets to be a problem if you’re not healthy.”

*sigh*

No.  Here’s how that phrase should go. “People DO come in all shapes and sizes.”

The end.

As the post title says: the only person whose health is your business is YOU.  NO ONE ELSE’S HEALTH IS YOUR BUSINESS.  That includes fatties, thin-nies, tall, short, greasy-forehead, dry-skin, whatever visual cues you use to judge a person; the health of all those people is NOT your responsibility.  No.  It isn’t.  Yes, most of us pay into health care too for EVERYONE’S health.  That still doesn’t make the health of any one person (or size/shape of person) your Cause Celeb. Is it a family member?  A loved one?  Fine.  Tell them you CARE about them.  Don’t for a minute think you have a right or, worse, a responsibility, to berate them or judge them or proselytize to them about your assumptions about their health.

If I could just find simple ways to move people PAST this point of health being the one caveat to human size diversity acceptance I would be a rather happy April D.  So here’s where I ask you all to pipe in:

When someone you actually like and respect (not a stranger who is attacking you verbally but someone you are good friends with) gets HALF on-board the Fat Acceptance train, how do you push past that “as long as you’re healthy” portion of the discussion?

And then they’ll come for you…

Fierce Freethinking Fatties posted on a rather worrisome article in the Daily Nightly.  Not surprising, but worrisome if anyone is actually reading the subtext contained within.  The basic boil-down, as FFF deftly unwraps, is that all this hand-wringing over Fatness has made people In Charge even more inclined to move the goalposts of fitness so that even FEWER people qualify as Not Fatties.

The entire article is full of actual quote-gems along the lines of “without knowing how much fat you have, you can’t really save people from illness. It is the number one predictor of who’s going to live or die.” and is certainly far from one of the more encouraging small-steps towards sanity that I hunt for so desperately amongst the chaff of shitty articles like this.

The part that really pulled at me and makes me want to shake my head and poke those who continue to think bullying Fatties is a good idea with a gentle: “Uh…they’re coming for YOU next!*” reminder:

Of the 1,393 people studied, 26 percent were classified as obese when body fat was measured with BMI, whereas 64 percent of them were considered obese when measured with DXA. The misclassification was observed more often in women and increased with advancing age: 48 percent more women between the ages of 50 to 59 were classified as obese when measured with DXA instead of BMI, and among women ages 70 and above, 59 percent more were considered obese after getting a DXA scan. (Emphasis is mine)

Do you catch the significance there folks?  These people are advocating for new means of measuring for Fatness because now only 26% of us are counted as fat whereas this NEW method would show that nearly TWO THIRDS of us are all fat.  Anyone else feeling this is just a tad good for those folks in the business of selling weight-loss promises? Also of note?  The “misclassification” was more often found to be true for women.  Le Gasp!  You mean people want to make more people, more WOMEN, qualify as Fat And In Need Of Weight-Loss For Their Own Good? DOES NO ONE SEE THE PROBLEM HERE?!?  *headdesk repeatedly*

Instead of researching other factors related to the illnesses correlated with fatness (or, not if even the currently “normal” sized folks are still getting them, hence the hand-wringing about redefining who is “fat”) these people are more interested in just taking a big old brush to repaint the image of What Is Fat.  How about, instead, you look into actual measures of HEALTH?  Consider that Fats and Non-Fats alike get these diseases and figure out what ELSE is correlated. Perhaps the reason that fatness as it is defined now isn’t showing who is going to be ill because that is a PISS POOR WAY TO DETERMINE FITNESS!!  By basing everything on a simplistic calculation of Fat you do ALL of us a disservice. As so well put by FFF:

This really was the perfect opportunity for Dr. Braverman and Dr. Shah to make a dramatic u-turn and say “Hey, instead of focusing on fat and weight as a predictor of health, because let’s face it, those are pretty bad predictors, let’s work on this cool idea we heard about called Health at Every Size. Instead of stigmatizing certain numbers as good or bad, we focus on overall behaviours and attitudes towards food and health. Yeah! Great idea!”

But no.  Seems that lowing limits of what is an acceptable weight in a human body (no diversity allowed!) is so much more logical.  And if you can’t make your body fit the ever-narrowing image of healthy perfection?  Then why it is our right to bully humanity and its individuals to the point where they magically become thinner!  Yay! *sarcasm*

I came across an article in an older issue of the journal Science (Feb 10, 2006, page 759) in the course of my normal working day.  The article is about mice and bullying. The results of the observations described indicate that:

“after being bullied by a bigger mouse, mice experience brain changes that increase their fear of unfamiliar mice. Unlike typical mice, the cowed mice act frightened even when  caged with an unfamiliar, non-bully mouse. The changes were long-lasting: the ‘defeated’ mice maintained their phobic reactions even 4 weeks after exposure to the aggressors.”

It got me thinking about how much people seem eager to increase the pressure to bully fatties “for our own good”.  If the observations of bullied mice is at all translatable to humans (which these scientists seem to think it is in some way as they are excited about the potential for certain brain chemistry of these mice to help research new drugs for treating mood disorders), then as in bullied mice, so too in bullied humans: you remain feeling “defeated” and worthless long after the initial bullying event has passed.

Being bullied for your weight will certainly help if the end-goal is to make nearly 2/3rds of the population (with emphasis on us women) completely defeated, mentally paralyzed with fear of being seen in public, ashamed of existing and even more depression and illness-prone.  But as a means of actually increasing the health of our world’s citizens these folks are definitely barking up the WRONG tree.  Honestly, between things like this and the many ways that politicians are doing their darndest to remove rights from the female half of the population, I feel like I’m living in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and it is really making me fearful for our future as a nation and a planet.

 

*First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me–and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)

Beautiful Reminder: Why I do this

I know it has been quite a while since I’ve posted; and longer since content of real depth.  Life has been cruising along nicely though.  It was today, though, that I’ve gotten a quick reminder of just why I DO enjoy writing here.  Someone indicated they were linked and found my blog and told me that reading it made them happy.  To think that a post of mine could have brightened someone’s day, in a world of such rampant doom, gloom, negativity, and projected self-hatred was really a rather meaningful moment.

A lot has been going on in the Fat-o-Sphere and in my own life.

Fat-Related:

• Big Liberty takes on some common refusals to believe that 95% of dieters will fail and regain weight.  The comments are a nice filling out of the discussion. For other 101-style topics check out her newly moved Truth Behind Fat references page. It’s rather well-rounded and a great place to start gathering verbal weapons for any mild to intensive Fat Acceptance “arsenal” you might wish to have at your disposal!
• Regan over at Dances with Fat has gotten an amazing venture off the ground and billboards are going up in George to counter the very negative Strong4Life campaign which has been plastered down there.
• There has been a LOT of kerfuffle over mis-steps made in the sphere as well.  White privilege, white silence, cultural blinders and downright racisms were brought to light, discussed, examined and, for me, have really highlighted the many ways that there is still a LONG way to go before these many movements that intersect for social awareness actually combine forces well and effectively. I’ve been watching and reading and listening and have learned that I have, I’m sure, made my own mistakes and will strive to, as Regan herself put it, “be a better activist” both here and in all the many spheres in which I interact.

On to Life:

• Was working hard with Adam D to buy a house but so far we’ve gotten into two failed bidding wars so we’re taking a brief pause on that.
• Have a lot of fun dance events coming up that I’m working on pretty hard.  Candle dance, sword dance, tribal awesomeness with amazing women, all great, intense and yet mentally centering work that I love doing.
• Was really working hard on finding a new job but after two great interviews and even one decent job offer, I’ve realized what some of the more important and meaningful bits of my life are and have shifted my priorities a bit.  So, if nothing else, the process has honed my interview skills a bit and also helped me find some calm in my day-to-day life, taking away a pressing stress I didn’t even fully realize was there.
• I’ve started following the recipe blog Movita Beaucoup and have been longing to try this cookie recipe that I might take on this weekend!
• I’ve got quite a few crafts in the making and need to settle into finishing a bunch of them!

How are you all my Round-Shape readers?  Crafts in the making? Cleaning of the Spring (or Autumn) variety nagging at your heels? Restful moments recharging your spirits?  What’s making you tick right now and making a bright spot in YOUR day/week/month/year/life?

 

Great passage from a book about a fat character

I’m currently reading the book “Heft” by Liz Moore.  I’m nearly finished but before I have to return the book I had to jot down this rather touching and beautiful moment from a book full of them.

I *MAY* be particularly partial to it due to the character’s name but mostly I love the inclusion of a fat character who ISN’T hated by everyone on sight, particularly the main character.  It is refreshing in a book with one 500 lb main character and one small teen boy character.

I’m only about 50 pages from the end and despite this being a book I worried about from the start (worried that it would be all about trying to slim the 500 lb man or otherwise berate him) it has been a touchingly honest portrayal of two vastly different and troubled lives that I have really enjoyed reading.

Hey April*, I say.

She waves at me without turning. She’s nothing like Trevor. She’s very smart and has long hair all the way down to her butt and she wears glasses every day and reads all the time and is even reading now at the island. She’s very fat which I think Trevor and his entire family are embarrassed of. She’s more than plump. Her body swallows the stool she’s sitting on. Mrs. Cohen looks at her daughter from head to foot sometimes, I’ve noticed it, as if she is wishing to be able to do something about her, about her fatness. To do something about it the way you would do something about a leaky faucet. It is something I don’t like about Mrs. Cohen.

*Love the name choice!  I’ve rarely come across my own name in a book I’ve read and NEVER as a fat, LIKEABLE character! Yay!

Short, Fat, Female and In Power

Source: Wikipedia Commons

I have started getting the NAAFA Newsletter via email and the most recent update has an brief snippet about a woman from Ancient Egypt who has long fascinated me:  Hatshepsut. As I have of late been rather burnt out trying to maintain a constant level of rage against the many atrocities against fatness in daily life, not to mention those being even more forcibly and dangerously foisted upon the rights of women of all sizes, I found this brief mention of an amazing woman from the past to be a breath of fresh air. Not least of which because researching it lead me to the discovering of ANOTHER amazing woman…

Hatshepsut: Woman Ruler of Egypt (First of the few female rules to actually take the title of Pharaoh) for 20+ years (around the 1500s BC), established trade networks to rebuild the wealth of the 18th dynasty, commissioned the first recorded attempt to procure and transplant foreign trees (Myrrh), one of the most prolific builders in ancient Egypt with hundreds of works commissioned who was not shy about self-promotion of her amazing feats.

In short, she was powerful, intelligent, rich, important and knew her own value.  She was unafraid to not only use her connections and monies to the benefit of herself and her nation’s glory but she was out there for all to see: proud and fierce and female. Now, while researching the claims that she was also fat and short I was coming up…short.  Most representations of Hatshepsut in images or text refer to her beauty and blooming youth, etc.  I was happy to read that she ran the Pharaoh’s circuit in her 40s (go older woman!) but failed to find clear references to the woman actually being short and fat.

Source: Wikipedia images

However, I *DID* find references to the wife of Parihou/Perehu: Ati/Eti, the Queen of Punt (where Hatshepsut got her Myrrh trees to transplant).  This is where the true awesome rests.  The queen of punt, you see, was described as “short, fat, long-armed, and with a prominent behind”.  Rock on, Fatty Queen!

There is really not much written on the queen (or even her King for that matter) as records are more concerned with the goodies that Hatshepsut brought back from her expedition abroad to the still disputed location of the  Land of Punt than with the fat queen from the land they visited. However, she was certainly NOT the general image of a queen, so much so that artists depicted her vastly differently from other generic people images of the day.  Her non-thin appearance in such images is, to this day, discussed amongst those destined to find out, from such depictions alone, what was “wrong” with her body.  Me?  I’m just happily enjoying the idea that a woman was queen of a land abroad and left such an impression that artists felt the need to capture her image.

Perhaps they were doing what amounted to mockery at the time, you suggest?  I feel that would have been a waste of time and talents when crafting a relief for the queen’s huge temple of Deir el-Bahri.  To me, these images are a representation of a woman that people were impressed with, enough so that they refused to carve her as yet another generically similar body-shapes but felt compelled to portray her as she was.

I say: Rock on you fabulous women of ancient days!  You RULED!

Mini Amigurumi Monkey with Scarf

Hi all! Lots of great and busy things going on in life right now.  I’m still around, still dancing, still loving and still out here being fat at y’all (though perhaps less verbosely than usual!)

At any rate, here’s a sweet pattern that I’ve done up twice now for baby showers of late.  It is a modification of this pattern by Betsi Brunson, which is nearly entirely a simple halving of the original pattern to make a “mini” version.  However, as there are modifications to a few areas I thought I would post it in the case that anyone finds it useful!  Happy crocheting and knitting!

NOTES: This is worked in the round. Each instruction line refers to a new “round” in the pattern. Numbers in (parentheses) after each instruction are the total number of stitches in that round.

Mini Monkey with Scarf

Materials:

• Yarn (Red Heart used here):

• A: Dark Tan (for Body)
• B: Light Tan (for Body accents)
• C: Pink (for Scarf)
• D: Black (for Facial Features)

• Crochet Hook: 5mm (H)
• Polyester fiberfill
• Stitch marker to mark the rounds
• Scissors
• Yarn needle to hide yarn ends & sew pieces together

Head

Color A (Dark Tan)

R1:  Magic Ring with 4 sc (4)
R2: Inc around (8)
R3: (inc in next sc, sc in next sc) 4 times (12)
R4: (inc in next sc, sc in next 2 scs) 4 times (16)
R5: (inc in next sc, sc in next 3 sc) 4 times (20)
R6: sc around (20)
R7: (dec over next 2 scs, sc in next 3 scs) 4 times (16)
R8:  (dec over next 2 scs, sc in next 2 scs) 4 times (12)
R9: (dec over next 2 scs, sc in next sc) 4 times (8)

Sl st in next sc and finish off, leave a long tail for sewing. If aiming for a baby-friendly toy, use French Knots to make eyes with color D (Black). Stuff firmly.

Body

Color B (Light Tan)

R1:  Magic Ring with 4 sc (4)
R2: Inc around (8)
R3: (inc in next sc, sc in next sc) 4 times (12)
R4: (inc in next sc, sc in next 2 scs) 4 times (16)
R5-7: sc around (16)
R8:  (dec over next 2 scs, sc in next 6 scs) 2 times (14)
R9: sc around (14)
R10:  (dec over next 2 scs, sc in next 5 scs) 2 times (12)
R11: sc around (12)
R12:  (dec over next 2 scs, sc in next 4 scs) 2 times (10)
R13: sc around (10)
R14:  (dec over next 2 scs, sc in next 3 scs) 2 times (8)
R15: sc around (8)

Sl st in next sc and finish off. Stuff firmly and sew head to body.

Arms (Make 2)

Start with color B (light tan), switch to color A (dark tan)

R1:  Magic Ring with 4 sc (4)
R2: Inc around (8)
R3-4: sc around (8)

Switch to color A (dark tan)

R5-9: sc around (8)
R10: dec over next 2 scs, sc in next 6 scs (6)
R11-12: sc around (6)

Sl st in next sc and finish off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Stuff lightly or not at all. Sew to body.

Legs (Make 2)

Start with color B (light tan), switch to color A (dark tan).  Legs are shorter than the arms.

R1:  Magic Ring with 4 sc (4)
R2: Inc around (8)
R3-4: sc around (8)

Switch to color A (dark tan)

R5-9: sc around (8)

Sl st in next sc and finish off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Stuff lightly or not at all. Sew to body.

Tail

Color A (Dark Tan)

NOTE: This is NOT worked in the round.  This is worked as a chain.

Row1: Chain 18 (18), TURN
Row2: sc 17

Finish off, leaving a long tail (on the tail!) for sewing.  Sew to body.  Tail has tendency to curl a bit in a corkscrew.

Ears (Make 2 in Color A, and 2 in Color B)

NOTE: This STARTS as worked in the round but becomes a back-and-forth item by the end.

R1:  Magic Ring with 3 sc (3)
R2: inc around (6), ch 1
Row3: Working BACK the way you just came (do NOT continue in a circle), sc 6 (6)

Finish off.  You should have a piece that resembles a half-circle now.

To make the border and finish each ear: Take 1 ear piece of each color (one dark tan, one light tan). Hold together and sc across the curved portion of the ear pieces in color A (dark tan), sewing the pieces together.  The ears do not require stuffing.  Sew to head (aim for the side if you’re looking for a more “monkey” look, higher up toward the crown of the head if you like the “bear/mouse” look).

Muzzle and Belly (Make 2 in Color B)

R1:  Magic Ring with 6 sc (6)
R2: (inc in next sc, sc in next sc) 2 times (8)
R3: (3 sc in next sc, sc in next 3 sc) 2 times (12)

Finish off. Leave long tail to sew pieces to body. You should end up with two oval-shaped pieces. Use Color D (Black) to sew nose holes and mouth on one piece.  Sew belly piece to body. Sew decorated muzzle to face.

Scarf

Color C (Pink)

NOTE: This scarf as shown was knitted in Rows.  For a simple crochet scarf feel free to check the one provided with my mini snowman pattern.

Cast on 10
R1-6: Knit
R7 (and all odd rows following): Purl
R8 (and all even rows following): Knit
Alternate knit and purl rows (making a nice stockinette pattern) until the scarf is long enough for your liking. 40 repetitions were used here.
Finish with 5 rows knit
Cast off

Wrap scarf jauntily around your wee monkey’s neck. If you would like to add a banana to the monkey’s hand, take a look at Betsi Brunson’s full pattern on Ravelry as the small size of the banana pattern provided works quite nicely.

Monkey stands just over 5 inches tal when completed.  Hope you enjoy this monkey!

Arwen Renn Gown in action!

Okay so a few weeks ago I posted about the site Holy Clothing with their rather impressive size-ranges in well-priced lovely Renn-Faire-esque gowns and other sundry fun garb.  I finally got around to having Adam D take some picks of me in this dress and wanted to share the awesome!

Now I’m looking into saving for a summer dress because this gown is just so comfortable, flattering and lovely.  When I put it on Adam D’s eyes lit up and he said, “Oooo I LIKE that”. When I posted the image on Facebook many friends declared that the dress gave them “sleeve envy”.

For sizing the measurements given in the charts are spot-on.  I recommend taking measurements and going with those for the perfect fit. The fabric is a soft, light, breathable material with lots of beautiful gradients which give it depth and make it almost appear to be crushed velvet in appearance (though it is not velvet at all). The crafting is well done and not at all the sort of shabby quality I was fearfully expecting for the low price.  I expected something along the lines of the paltry Plus-Size Costume in quality but was so happy to realize that this was much more like what I’d wished for in a purchased outfit for a Renn Faire (or even a fancy outing). Huzzah for getting something amazing without having to MAKE it yourself if you happen to be over a size “Large”!!!

Purchasing from Holy Clothing was simple and shipping was even a tad faster than the estimate given.

I did not receive any remuneration for this promotion-esque post but did want to share my lovely experience with the clothing and company and highly recommend them if you’re looking for a place to get a well-made, not outrageously-priced, high-quality item for your next medieval event or other gathering.  Their sun dresses look rather fun for everyday wear and might be my next purchase!!

Happy Day of Love all!

I Stand: for Loving all Bodies.

What a great thing to come home to after a long day waiting for my wonderful Adam D to get out of gallbladder-removal surgery (he’s doing well and recovering at home now!).

I stand for loving your body. Any body. All bodies. Mine. Yours. All of ours.  Using shame, bullying and hatred to inspire health is the furthest thing from healthy.  It is destructive, cruel and intentionally hurtful to the very thing such behaviors are purported to correct: health.  Stop the bullying.  All bodies deserve love and respect.

As my poster declares: I Stand for breaking the cycle of shame and hatred.  Body Love has NO limits.  Stop weight bigotry.

To see a Tumblr of these amazing posters go to I Stand Against Weight Bullying.  The submissions are so diverse and empowering.  So many voices crying out for a halt to hatred.  It is truly inspiring and hopeful and beautiful.

What do you Stand for?  (Or Sit for?  Or Pump Your Fist for?  Or Cry Out For?)

Not letting fat define you: doing what you want. Today’s example: Soldering

I’m a firm believer in the idea that you should never wait until your body conforms to some imagined shape/size/look limit before allowing yourself to do or be something amazing that you’ve always wished to do or be.  It is with this in mind that I write about the awesome adventure my hubby and I are currently undertaking.

We’re building a robot.

That’s right.  Freaking robotics.  We’re talking, circuitry, wires, mechanical parts, motors and a long-term end-goal of a smaller but functional version of Dr. Who’s K-9 unit. So far Adam D and I have put together a small kit with wheels and a base and managed to get all 4 wheels to spin, in the same direction!  (I fondly dubbed it “Flat-bot” because it is, thus far, a rather flat square chassis with wheels and one LED)

Yesterday we took out a kit to teach ourselves to solder.  Because many of the kits we got ourselves (using our pooled monies from the fairly recent holiday season) to make this eventual end-product require lots of small-wire soldering.  So, we soldered.  Like excited beginner pros!  It was fun.  It was a learning process.  It was something I’ve never though I would sit down and do.  Not necessarily because my body wasn’t the right size but perhaps because it wasn’t the right gender or some related fear that I wasn’t smart enough to take on the field of freaking robotics.  Yet, here I am.  Working on a robot.  Learning to solder and wire circuits to light up LEDs and spin wheel motors.

Very intensely concentrating while trying to look through safetly googles that fit rather poorly over glasses. Next item of business? Prescription safety goggles!!