But some are fat...

Fat on Fifth

2010-07-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

Since yesterday, my blog world has exploded with the news that Saks Fifth Avenue, some time in the near future will carry plus sizes (in some cases up to a size 20) from several high end designers. Not only are they carrying plus sizes, they are also not separating them into a plus section. I'm so excited, not only from a fat fashion fan standpoint but also as an academic.

To explain, I've been frustrated that fashion culture within the U.S. has been rather reticent to acknowledge the fat fashion phenomenon. While in comparison, European publications like Italian Vogue, French Elle, and French Glamour have been making a concerted effort to include women of all shapes and sizes. As a result, I'm a bit shocked that this huge move is happening here in the U.S. And while the fat fashion community has expressed excitement over the news, I don't know if the community that I follow so religiously and have become so obsessed with over the past year or so, realize how much they have had to do with this breakthrough, how much it may mean for the future of fat fashion and the implications for generations of fatshionistas to come. It is clear that the online presence of the community has become too big to ignore. I began to notice the industry responding when ASOS, put out a plus range, it became clearer still when Gabi of Young, Fat and Fabulous garnered the attention of plus sized retailers and pulled together yffcon and the power of the community was made even more apparent by her success in the MTV TJ competition. Ella Baker, a grassroots civil rights activist, said of her community organizing:

"The major job was getting people to understand that they had something within their power that they could use."

This is exactly what I have witnessed within the community. Popular fat fashion bloggers empower other fat women to change the way they see themselves as well as the way they are seen in society. Then they start a blog, they begin to demand more from retailers, they demand visibility from mainstream fashion culture, they refuse to accept the ideas that are fed them: that they cannot be fashionable, that fat is ugly and lazy and all things bad. And over time, change happens. And it will continue to happen (and it better or I'm out of a dissertation topic). It is truly inspiring. As a result, this post is written as a congratulations, to the very brave women of the fat fashion community, who are changing the world, one fat girl at a time.

our mother's mother's beyonce

2010-05-07T17:39:00.000-07:00

"Why Don't You Love Me" - Beyoncé from Beyoncé on Vimeo.

In her latest video, "Why Don't You Love Me," Beyonce and the video's director Melinda Matsoukas (an NYU film grad with a host of other music videos under her belt) do the sixties, which seems like a popular thing to do these days. With TV series like Mad Men, films like An Education and several designers (Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton and Prada this past season) who have designed sixties inspired collections in the past couple seasons, the sixties seem to be an era that is of interest to the current moment.

While these examples highlight the sixties as a specific stylistic moment, this era is also understood as period of uncomfortable change at a variety of levels. This video, as a representation of this time period, caused me to think about the lack of representations of black women on television and in films during this period, especially because of the explicit and implicit references used, like Daisy Duke or music icons like Diana Ross. I see this video as a stand-in or perhaps a nostalgic look at a time when black women weren't represented in this way. By this I mean, there may be something redemptive about it. Perhaps it works to represent what was invisible during that period.

I draw this conclusion because despite the fact that there weren't representations of black women like this in the sixties, this imagery is strangely familiar. The ways in which black women of this period worked to keep a household, raise children and secure a loving and supportive partner are part of a very familiar narrative about this era. I recognize this narrative from stories told in my family about my grandmothers as well as from popular music and literature from this time.

Also, as in keeping with nostalgic representations, I think the imagery and themes represented in the video are relevant to today. Despite the dual and conflicting images of the "strong black women" and "the single black women," how, if at all, despite the gains made since this time period, are these existential demons that we are still wrestling with?

Music Monday: (On Tuesday) Janelle Monae

2010-04-27T00:20:00.000-07:00

I'd been aware of Janelle Monae for some time, at least since October when I saw her first featured in American Vogue.

She is featured again in this month's issue of Vogue and while her style is noteworthy and it is an interesting feature, (that can be read here), it is her music that has changed my life a little bit. I didn't become acquainted with her music until a couple of weeks ago when the video for her single--Tightrope--debuted online. Let me just say, I was blown away, not only by how talented she is musically, but the artistry and creativity behind her persona is just so awesome. So you can imagine my surprise when one of my students was promoting an event in class and mentioned the Janelle Monae would be performing on my campus. I could barely contain my excitement and I was not disappointed. It was truly one of the best shows I've been to in a really long time.

Is it just me or is there a Maya Deren reference here?

so i did it...

2010-04-26T23:37:00.000-07:00

Yes that's right I'm a master. *cue the master face*

I haven't been very inspired to blog (I've also been crazy busy) but I feel like I'm breaking a contract with myself if I don't so....

One of the two papers that I completed for my master's exams was about fat fashion blogs and the ways in which the community has formed and also the very important ways in which I see women within the community resisting dominant ideas about what it means to be fat without necessarily calling it fat acceptance or feminism or any of those sometime very problematic monikers. Anyway, I'm almost positive that this is going to be the focus of my dissertation and I'm very excited about it. Eventually, I want to have some kind of survey or interviews with the more popular fat fashion bloggers but also and more importantly with women who are deeply involved in the community but may not necessarily be at the fore; everyday women who read and are involved with the activity of fat fashion blogging. But I might be getting a bit ahead of myself. All in all, its been an exciting (and exhausting) week and I'm looking forward to the things to come.

Music Monday: J*Davey

2010-03-08T17:26:00.000-08:00

Starting a blog and getting involved with blogging communities has changed my music life a little bit. I love music so much but I never have the time to search for new stuff. Well thanks to Nik of Mezzo Fashionisto and Mezzo Delicioso and the blog Soul Bounce, this whole world of music that I'm all about has been opened up to me.

With all props given, I can tell you all that I have been enlightened to the genius that is J*Davey. You can download, "Boudoir Synema: The Great Mistapes" at Bandcamp. Here's a little taste:

the night Gabby didn't win

2010-03-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

I have a rather strange relationship to the film Precious. Academically, its like food, I just want to eat it up! There are so many intricacies around its production and success that I'm really excited about exploring and wouldn't dream of boring you with. But the one thing I will say is I think it is a really important film. I'm really excited that it was produced. The problem is, because of the intricacies of the production of the film, the subject matter and society's relationship to the subject matter, that "recognition" for the film is always going to be called into question.

I was on Twitter last night for most of the Oscars (I wasn't able to actually watch the broadcast) and a lot of black people were upset with the Academy because of Mo'Nique's win. And I am the first to admit that there was a point in my little academic career when I would have been upset as well. Many people view the part that she played as a negative representation of black women (and furthermore, the film itself as an indictment of black men). But I think the film is important because we need to get past the point where we are worried about airing dirty laundry, and start telling our stories so that we can heal...

Mo'Nique thanked Hattie McDaniel last night in her acceptance speech. I found McDaniels acceptance speech on youtube:

She was forced to sit at a table by herself, what must it have been like for her, to have a passion to do something and to be restricted in those ways... Anyway, Mo'Nique was right to thank her and I think that's what some people miss, Hattie could have never played the role Mo'Nique played, or the role that Gabby played. And conservative blacks of her time gave her slack for playing a Mammy when there were no other roles. Whether or not we have "come a long way" is not in question. What is bothering me is the politics. Monique said, in her acceptance speech last night that it wasn't about the politics, and I think it always will be, why did Sandra Bullock win for a film in which she plays the white savior and Gabby lose, when she played a role (and quite well, I might add) that's so important, not just for black people, or for fat black girls, or survivors of abuse but for human people. I love the work that Mo'Nique did in that role, I think it's so important. However, I also think there is something to be said for that fact that her work has been "recognized" so much more than Gabby's this awards season. . .

familiar sensations

2010-02-09T23:46:00.000-08:00

When I was a little girl, I used to get this feeling in the palm of my hand. It was like a little pain, or an ache. It was always quick, like a flash of something. Like I probably could have missed it if it wasn't so painful. This was the feeling I would get before I was about to cry. And I cried A LOT as a little girl. And it stressed me out, as so many things did, because I thought everyone was annoyed with me: teachers, aunts, cousins. And maybe they were, in fact, I'm almost positive they were, but what eight year old cares who she's bothering? The one who cries a lot? Where did that self-conciousness come from?

I felt that sensation in the palm of my hand, again a couple of days ago. I think I was watching a movie. I must have been about love or something sad. But the thing that was most familiar was feeling as if I was a burden. I associated that sensation with being in the way, with taking up space; space that wasn't mine to take. And I can't help but think that that's a really sucky thing for an eight year old to feel on a regular basis. So that night, in the middle of Pride and Prejudice or another similarly sad movie, I cried, not for the characters, but for eight year old Jade, who was ashamed to cry for herself...

Music Monday: The Foreign Exchange

2010-01-18T21:42:00.000-08:00

I'm a little bit obsessed with this album and it was perfect for today. It got me through this rainy day in Santa Barbara. And I don't know, I'm in this really sort of hip-hop/neo-soul place right now. But who am I kidding, I'm always in that place. In other news, downloaded Mos Def's latest, and I'm feeling it...

But some of us are brave...

2010-01-15T23:52:00.000-08:00

So the title of the blog is sort of an homage and a declaration all in one...

In the late eighties at the height of the third world feminist movement, Gloria T. Hull, Barbara Smith and Patricia Bell Scott editied a volume called All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of us are Brave.

I've always loved that title. Because as black women, in the white academy, forcing often uncomfortable conversations about racism, sexism, ableism and homophobia, they were brave. They worked without tiring. They were always proud of who they were and what they believed in and they were never apologetic about it. When I am in my seminars, feeling too self conscious to speak, I feel like I've failed them because I understand they struggled so I could sit in that seat without feeling lesser than my colleagues. I always wish I could be more like them.

When I first started thinking about starting a blog, I thought that "because some are fat," was a good title because it was going to be about my research on fat fashion blogs and the fat acceptance movement from a sort of nerdy academic perspective. But now that is just a space for me to be me, I like it equally as much because being fat is such a huge part of my identity. It has informed so much of the ways in which I relate to the world. And unfortunately, despite all that I know now about the fat acceptance movement and the work that I have been doing in my own life to accept myself for who I am, I still feel really uncomfortable simply saying the word fat and talking about my research because I'm constantly worried about people's reactions to it or that I'm going to need to justify it to someone. So with the title and with the blog itself, I am attempting to summon the strength and bravery of my foremothers, in order to do the work that it takes to change myself and my world.

Below I have linked some of the online fat acceptance stuff I'm obsessed with...
Shapely Prose
Fatshionista
ProjectLifesize

The Beginning

2010-01-15T20:54:00.000-08:00

Im a fat black girl from chicago, going to phd school in santa barbara *insert annoyed face here* this is the beginning of my blog life, we'll see how it goes.