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The OH loves Fred Astaire movies and I generally find them irritating in one way or another, except for the dancing. But tonight's movie, Roberta, was an exception. It had great songs, several strong women characters, and even a couple of charming, non-buffoonish fat characters. It had some great geeky dialogue. It even qualifies under the Bechdel Rule. The leading man was played by Randolph Scott, who I gather usually played in Westerns, but he was especially cute and charming in this movie - he had an open face that most of the romantic leads of the era didn't have, and a great "gee, you're swell!" gaze. Even the OH had never heard of the movie before (it came in his Fred & Ginger collection). There are a lot of rave reviews on IMDB. We were speculating why it never became as popular as other Fred & Ginger movies. Maybe because ( spoilers )Tags: bechdel rule, check it out, movies
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Big Fat Carnival #3 is up here: http://vegankid.solidaritydesign.net/2006/06/07/big-fat-carnival-3/There were some good posts (especially from body impolitic). I'm glad that there IS such a thing as a Big Fat Carnival, never mind a 3d one (and the 4th is already scheduled). I sure as hell wish I'd had access to ANY critical thought about fat and body size when I was younger. And overall there was a lot of good thought and a lot of good sharing of personal experience. However, I should not have gone in to read the posts in an emotionally vulnerable mood. I kept getting upset at subtle hatred discomfort/ambivalence about (some kinds of) fat in the posts and less subtle healthism and fat hatred/discomfort/ambivalence in some of the comments. Things I need to remember before the next time I read a roundup of such posts: - The concept of "fat acceptance" covers a lot of ground, some of which I find, well, not accepting enough. But everyone has to start somewhere.
- Discussions of fat, body size, body image, eating, and so forth, even when they are presented in a context of acceptance, are not always comfortable for me and don't always conform to my fairly extreme politics on the subject.
- Not all bloggers moderate the contents of their posts and fat acceptance posts sometimes attract fat-hating and healthist comments.
Last night, I started a post discussing the specific parts I found uncomfortable, but I deleted it because I thought it was unfair of me to focus on the negative. I'm still mulling over whether I should make a post along those lines. Tags: check it out, feminism, opinionated rants, whinge
feeling: mad that I let them get to me
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This link was originally posted by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) plasticsturgeon in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) fatshionista: http://www.english.uiuc.edu/Maps/poets/g_l/amylowell/bradshaw.htm"Readying Amy Lowell's Body(s)" -- An Essay by Melissa Bradshaw A quote: After a disastrous reducing experience in her early twenties, which involved sailing down the Nile subsisting on a diet of asparagus and tomatoes, Lowell resolutely avoided losing weight ever again, refusing to modify her eating habits, take diet pills (which commonly contained strychnine and arsenic), or undergo any experimental cures. When one doctor suggested operating on her thyroid to cure her "imbalance" Lowell refused because she feared it would interfere with her thinking process (Gregory 39). Such resistance to changing her body is anomalous in turn-of-the-century American culture, which Hillel Schwartz describes as saturated with marketing campaigns for slimming programs and miracle cures. Gee, it's hard to tell which century-turning he's talking about, isn't it? Bradshaw goes on to discuss how Lowell dressed during the daytime (in severe suits) and for evening events (very flamboyantly) and to claim a camp reading of Lowell’s evening-wear transforms what many have described as a "failure" into a triumph. What might appear as a reinforcement of the dominant order becomes instead a daring transgression. Here is a counternarrative to those which describe Lowell’s evening wear as misguided and unfortunate, one which grants Lowell agency and purpose in her clothing choices. This is Amy Lowell coming out as a fat woman. This is Amy Lowell acknowledging a value system that ridicules and excludes her because she is fat, and inserting herself into it loudly and dramatically. I'm kind of embarrassed that I don't know much about her and I choose to learn more because of reading something about her body and style of dress rather than via reading her poetry. Isn't that just typical? But I'm glad I've discovered her now. Here's one of her more well known poems: ( Read more... )Tags: check it out, feminism, poetry
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The OH and I went to a new-to-us restaurant for brunch - Piccadilly Catering in Foster City. They have a Cajun brunch buffet every Sunday. http://www.piccadillycatering.com/cajun.htmThey didn't have everything listed on the menu (didn't see any smoked chicken, gumbo, or grits), but - They had the best Jambalaya I've ever had outside New Orleans. (And since one of my favorite restaurants is Creo La, which has very good Jambalaya, that's saying something.) The mac'n'cheese was the best I've had in a long time, and so was the fried chicken and peach cobbler. The BBQ pork ribs were excellent. The specials were prime rib and crawfish etouffé, and we could have had cooked-to-order broiled or fried catfish if we'd asked for it. Brunch came with individual crab cake and deep fried prawn appetizers with creole sauce, delivered to the table. I appreciated that they had serve-yourself coffee, because when I'm in a coffee mood I drink a lot very fast and feel guilty pestering the wait staff to bring more. The coffee was very tasty. The hostess/proprietress, Pam, made us feel very welcome even though we arrived a bit early and not all the food was out yet. (So we got to concentrate on the Jambalaya for a while.) It's a small place, holds about 32 people. Price is a flat $23 per person, which includes tax. (Oh, and she's really cute.) Tags: check it out, day to day, food, local
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