Just got back and am digging out from under approximately 500 pR0n spam messages, to discover that a reporter from the NYT had tried to contact me last week about a story on the burgeoning field of Fat Studies. Yes, I used burgeoning. I am a bad, bad person, and will have lots of time to think about snarky word choice as I roast in hell.
Needless to say, I missed that boat, but she did quote my blog - thanks to commenter Weezy for bringing it to my attention.
The article is here (and you'll have to register). I am briefly mentioned on page 2. Weird.
Sometimes I forget that typing words and sending them into the void means that other people may actually read them.
But enough about me - well, that's a total lie, since this entire blog is about me, and sharing my unique flowerhood with the world at large, but anyway, you get the point.
I was all set to talk about the latest feminist manifesto from the latest feminist scholar when I came upon a set of reviews for her book here, but as I finished reading the oh-so-cleverly turned phrases and bits of navel gazing that pass for literary criticism these days I was left with a big fat feeling of "so what?"
Seriously, I have reached critical ennui with the whole "omgwtfbbq women should/shouldn't work/have kids/write vagina monologues/vote a certain way" debate, because it dawns on me that the debate isn't really about women anymore so much as it's about the fact that we all think happiness is a fundamental right, and one that we shouldn't have to work or sacrifice for.
All this puling about ladies with PhDs who are staying home or fighting the boardroom fight is merely projection on a truly cosmic scale. As though feminism's legacy, instead of the freedom to choose a course to pursue, is just a license to worry that what you're pursuing isn't valid, and to validate it by tearing down the other side. And you can't lay that off on society or the patriarchy, kids. It's all on you.
I suppose we should at least take comfort in the fact that we're doing what men have been doing since time immemorial. Ahh, I love the smell of gender equality in the morning. Smells like progress.
Posted by Big Arm Woman at November 27, 2006 04:28 PMOn the contrary, men know when to lay off. There'd no resulting stable hierarchy otherwise. Battles are serious but rules are followed.
This eternal grudge business is woman's doing.
Thurber mentioned the difference in ``The Case against Women,'' in _Let Your Mind Alone!_, a self-help book. Look for an illustration of one woman looking another up and down, captioned ``The Cold, Flat Look,'' that he says accompanies the evaporation of every humane quality.
John and Ken mention a fat acceptance article in the NYT July 29 1999 http://rhhardin.home.mindspring.com/johnkencut.fat.ram (32 seconds)
Posted by: Ron Hardin at November 27, 2006 07:20 PMYay! I'm so glad that was you! I've been reading your blog for-- well, ever and when I saw your name I was so psyched! A little free publicity never hurts!
Posted by: Weezy at November 27, 2006 09:07 PMI know it's gone now, but, beyond the usual sociopathic misogyny, you get the greatest crazy-ass comments here. I consider it a fun challenge to try to catch 'em late at night before they're gone in the morning.
Posted by: marc at November 29, 2006 10:14 AM