tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257588203413185881.post3183223010954234570..comments2023-10-25T04:21:45.683-07:00Comments on Steatopygia: Two conversations with the parentsSpinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11724733227363429223noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257588203413185881.post-63792818942090430182011-04-17T15:05:44.937-07:002011-04-17T15:05:44.937-07:00This post reminds me of Gary Taubes' new book ...This post reminds me of Gary Taubes' new book Why We Get Fat and What to do About it. Not a diet book but it has changed my thinking about dieting (and truly pissed me off as no other book has in years). I never knew, for instance, that animals that hibernate fatten EVEN IF THEIR DIET IS RESTRICTED when it's their "time" to prepare for hibernation. This reminds me very much of your description of the fat cat!Anissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07840065219579912310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257588203413185881.post-31022600906647346852009-01-24T18:02:00.000-08:002009-01-24T18:02:00.000-08:00Hey Spins. I've just been reading through your po...Hey Spins. I've just been reading through your posts for the first time, and am sitting here weeping. Me, I've always struggled with anorexia, which is truly based on self-hatred and the terrible feeling that you're never safe, and don't deserve to be. It's all about denying life and pleasure. <BR/><BR/>I'm 55 now, and gaining weight, and am bigger than I've ever been. I'm paying attention to the way I fall into feeling that this makes me lose my "identity." I mean -- to be a basically smart, socially radical, intellectually engaged woman, and to still find myself deeply undermined by a warped brain chemistry (and ideology) that tells me it's shameful to be hungry, shameful not to be a size 8 -- ??<BR/><BR/>And then to read about your parents torturing themselves by believing that they could and SHOULD lose huge amounts of weight, and that they fact that they just aren't "strong" or "disciplined" enough to do it -- that they actually wish they could voluntarily become anorexic (which, believe me, is an illness, and hellish, a form of slow suicide I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy) -- well, it made me weep.<BR/><BR/>We all have these bodies. They're big and small, sick and well, disabled and temporarily abled (I'm disabled). And these bodies are really just our launching pads, our raw material, our homes, our "apartments," which we sometimes take great care of and decorate in lovely ways, and sometimes neglect and just close the door and hope nobody comes over without calling first.<BR/><BR/>It's so painful. I too worry all the time these days that I'm no longer "attractive." But I know, and I hope you know, that being attractive is all about the mind. I've met people, now and then, with weird, highly restrictive "rules" about the only body types that they can possibly imagine having sex with.<BR/><BR/>But that's rare. The whole deal is that chemistry is mysterious -- we never know whose going to get us hot, and it's always a gift.<BR/><BR/>I love human shapes: large, small, bent, twisted, straight, round, short, tall. <BR/><BR/>What scares me is the way we take ideology into our hearts, into our most personal, human hearts, and allow it to torture us. So thanks for your generosity in sharing your fears, your wisdom, and your varied and valuable experience.<BR/><BR/>It's all in progress.Susan Noelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17261597679792091369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257588203413185881.post-67507978583404483432008-09-19T10:50:00.000-07:002008-09-19T10:50:00.000-07:00Random comment: Unrelated to weight, I sure wish I...Random comment: Unrelated to weight, I sure wish I didn't have to eat. It takes so much time out of my day that I wish I could spend doing other things! Maybe someday we'll all have compact IV systems that we insert into our bodies each day that will deliver nutrients and calories throughout the day as we need them. Then we could all be so much more productive, because we wouldn't have to take the time to eat! (Not to mention saving time on cooking and cleaning the kitchen; imagine no more fights about who does the dishes!) <BR/><BR/>People could still eat sometimes if they wanted to, as a novel recreation. I'd probably eat twice a month as a fun activity with friends.<BR/><BR/>I think if this were the common practice, it would become apparent that different people have different body equilibrium states. There would still be people of varied body types, even with completely medically controlled nutrition. Then everyone would HAVE to acknowledge that it's not about "willpower" or something. It's just about what your body wants to do and what is best for each individual.preoccupiedgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04126898176264678963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257588203413185881.post-3073462914655170632008-03-28T03:24:00.000-07:002008-03-28T03:24:00.000-07:00My dad felt the same way too. I think it's a part ...My dad felt the same way too. I think it's a part of the male "fix-it" mentality. That if there's a problem, there has to be a way to fix it, even if that way is drastic. It's like, they can't accept problems that can't be fixed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257588203413185881.post-20700787721489100652008-01-07T12:48:00.000-08:002008-01-07T12:48:00.000-08:00i had a similar experience with my dad, only that ...i had a similar experience with my dad, only that it was bout my weight issues( all in all when i'm about seven kgs overweight). my dad kept on telling me to eat less, to exercise more, despite knowing that i had nearly turned anorexic a year ago. in frustration i yelled at my dad "do you want me to turn anorexic again?" and without irony he replied "if that would make you lose weight, yes!". since i live in a household of doctors who see psychology as a "fluffy, insubstantial" science, i didnt expect a serious attitude to anorexia. but then again, the comment rattled me. im over it now, though :)indigo oysterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16357405683759815427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4257588203413185881.post-73716516729161649552007-12-08T11:06:00.000-08:002007-12-08T11:06:00.000-08:00This is exactly what sets the fat rights movement ...This is exactly what sets the fat rights movement apart from other forms of social activism. Have you ever heard a black person say that they feel there ought to be federally-sanction segregation? Have you ever heard a gay person say that gay people shouldn't be allowed to adopt or enjoy the same benefits married couples enjoy?<BR/><BR/>Fat people are so deluded by a culture that continuously tells them that they too can be thin and beautiful if only they had willpower. The fat rights movement is hindered not only from outside forces, but from forces within.Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06442545891223505489noreply@blogger.com