Fat So or Carb Wars

Fat!So?: Because You Don't Have to Apologize for Your Size

Author: Marilyn Wann

In this hilarious and eye-opening book, fat and proud activist/zinester Marilyn Wann takes on America's biggest fear--worse than the fear of public speaking or nuclear weapons--the fear of fat.

Michelle Goldberg

Marilyn Wann must be one of the bravest women in the country. This 270-pound world traveler, aviator, Ivy League graduate and journalist is the Abbie Hoffman of fat power, a movement that seems all the more courageous for its utter lack of hipster cachet. By loudly and boldly proclaiming her message of fat pride in her irreverent hot-pink zine Fat!So? on talk radio and now in a book, Wann has shamelessly flouted our culture's most potent remaining taboo. She revels in her body, in fat culture, fat clothes, fat sex and fat community with a breezy confidence that's almost impossible for a typical neurotically weight-obsessed reader (i.e., me) to fathom.

Lots of writers like to pretend they're spurning cultural rules -- witness the floods of prose about sex work, incest, heroin addiction, s/m and mental illness. But in reality, copping to any of these things is as likely to increase a scribe's social status as it is to render him a pariah. Fat is different. Fat people don't even have subcultural coolness as a comfort. Not fitting into society's weight ideal really is likely to exclude one from both the mainstream and from the radical chic elite. Despite the recent flippant headline in W magazine, "Living Large: Fat Is Back," being a size 22 -- or a size 10, for that matter -- is far from fashionable.

Not that you would know that, though, from reading Fat!So? -- whose tireless cheerleading often succeeds in making it seem OK to be big. Wann forgoes the angsty musings of more "serious" books about appearance anxiety like the essay collections "Minding the Body" and "Beauty Secrets." Instead, Fat!So? is relentlessly fun, with features like a Venus of Willendorf paper doll (replete with nine cute cut-out outfits), silly songs and poems, even "Heroes and Villains of Fat History" trading cards. Section titles include "You, Too, Can be Flabulous!" "Why You Should Dye Your Hair Hot Pink" and "The Joys of Fat Sex."

It's not all frivolous, though. There are somber chapters about fat teenagers who commit suicide and battle stories from Fat!So? readers that are full of loneliness, shame and frustration. Some people will probably be surprised by the amount of good health information in the book, too. Like Laura Fraser's wonderful, muckraking anti-diet-industry book, Losing It, Fat!So? makes a convincing case that most attempts at radical weight loss are futile. She urges readers to eat well and exercise regularly in the hope of getting healthy, not thin. Wann says she works out three times a week, and there's even a chapter written with her personal trainer, herself a size 14.

Perhaps the most refreshing part of the book is Wann's "Anatomy Lessons," photographs of nine different bellies, chins, upper arms or butts. Except for those who frequent nude beaches or spend a lot of time in health club locker rooms, most of us hardly ever see what real people's naked bodies look like. These pictures are calming and reassuring, though they can also defeat Wann's purpose. Sadly, instead of realizing that all kinds of bodies can be beautiful, I found myself thinking, "Well, at least I'm not that fat."

That may be the biggest problem with Fat!So? -- it's so ahead of its time that Wann's positivity can seem like wishful thinking. She calls on fat people to reclaim the word "fatso," just as gays have taken back the word "queer." "You're not overweight, not plump, not bloated," Wann writes. "You're fat! Combine the word fat with other words in new and unusual ways: sexy fat, fat and fabulous, fat pride. Use fat in a sentence: 'You're looking good. Are you getting fat?' 'I met a handsome fat man the other day.' 'Gee, I wish I could be fat like her.'" Learning to love fat is easier said than done, though, and it takes tremendous courage to remain impervious to the vicious loathing of an entire culture. Wann has that courage. Reading Fat!So? probably won't make you love your body. But it might inspire you to hate it a little bit less. -- Salon

Kyle K. Norris

Fat!So? is recommended for anyone who has ever felt uncomfortable in their own skin for whatever reason. Wann's flabbulous (her coinage) attitude has the capability to both completely alter one's self-perception and radically shift society's perspective on body image form one of hatred into one of acceptance and celebration. -- ForeWord Magazine

School Library Journal

YA-The pervasiveness and dangers of anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders are undeniable; recent articles on the subject have appeared in periodicals ranging from People to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Wann, a 5'4", 275-pound Californian, states unequivocally that America needs an attitude adjustment. Fear of fat, she says, supports a $40 billion a year diet industry, destroys both relationships and self-esteem, and engenders "loathing on a national level." Her revolutionary idea? Eat right, exercise, and stop worrying about weight. Being thin doesn't automatically equate with either health or happiness, the author reminds readers. She includes information from physicians, health experts, and medical journals to support her assertion that fitness contributes more to longevity than the "the f-word." The book, named after her Web site and her zine, is an engaging blend of fact and humor. Charts, graphics, photos ("visual counterpropaganda"), testimonials, quotes, ideas for sassy comebacks, and much more can help teens of all sizes reevaluate their view of the "flabulous." Fat! So? is irreverent and thought provoking, informative and fun.-Dori DeSpain, Herndon Fortnightly Library, Fairfax County, VA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Table of Contents:

INTRODUCTION	9
What Are You So Afraid Of?	13
Quiz: Are You a Fatso?	15
Why I Encourage You to Use the F-Word	18
ANATOMY LESSON #1: THE BUTT	22
What Do You Like About Being Fat?	24
Love in the Time of Size 18: Alexis Neptune	25
Little Lost Pound o'Fat Sees the World	26
The FAT!SO? Manifesto	28
Talk Radio & You	31
She Likes It!: Boanne	34
But What About Your Health?	35
What's In a Word?: Donna Marsh	42
Fat Kills: Betty Rose Dudley	42
A Happy Ending: Dawn Falkowich	44
300,000	44
Another Number	46
Anatomy Is Destiny	47
The Little Black Dress: Audra Spurlock	49
A Letter to FAT!SO?: Bethany Johnson	50
The Cutoff Point	50
Oh, Yeah?	54
Celebrity WastingSyndrome	56
My Personal Trainer Can Beat Up Your Personal Trainer	56
Cinder Says	61
Break the Connection	61
What Being Fat Has Taught Me: Nicole M. Nicholson	63
A Talk Show By Any Other Name	63
What Can You Do?	64
ANATOMY LESSON #2: THE BELLY	66
Self-Hate Crimes	68
The Search for the Cure	69
A Brief Timeline: Prescription Diet Drugs	71
The Same Old Song	74
The Battle of the Pseudosciences	75
Skeptical But Equal	78
The Soap Lady: Lynn McAfee	81
Beating a Horse of a Different Color	82
Fat Is Not a Cloaking Device!	83
Gab Café Success Story #1: The Newlyweds	85
The Wash & Chop Way	87
Diet Doublespeak	88
How to Tell When You're on a Diet	89
First Strike	90
The Cyrano Syndrome	91
Opportunity Cost	92
Yeah, Right!	94
Eat Like a Bird	96
Genetic Curses: Emily Ivie	96
Notes from a Young Zine Editor	97
Cottage Cheese Cuisine	98
Gab Café Success Story #2: The Angry Young Woman	100
Why Not Just Needlepoint?	103
Everyone Needs a Hobby	105
The Dance of Happiness: Yalith Fonfa	107
ANATOMY LESSON #3: THE CHIN	108
It Ain't Necessarily So	110
It's Hereditary	113
Deserts: Kristine Durden	116
Children Can Be So Cruel	117
A Normal Childhood: Tracy Pekar-Rogers	120
The Weight Question	121
He Ain't Heavy, He's Samoan	123
BMI: Bold & Meaningful Information About Fat: Sondra
Solovay	125
They Called Me Hank	127
Generation XXX	128
Cut & Paste Project #2: Venus of Willendorf Paper Doll	129
My Size: Debora Iyall	150
Shopping With Mom: Johanne Blank	152
Gab Café Success Story #3: The Entrepeneur	154
Thank You, Barbie!	155
Why You Should Dye Your Hair Hot Pink	156
ANATOMY LESSON #4: THE UPPER ARM	158
Muumuu-of-the-Month Club (A Fatlin Mint Exclusive)	160
When In Russia	161
A Good Fat Rant: Joanna Iovino	163
Fat Phrasebook	164
Roseanne Sighting	166
Calling All Fat Men	167
By Any Means Necessary	168
Join the Air Force, See the Scales: Porter Bennefield	170
Tales of a Fat Lad: Charles Van Dyke	171
Cut & Paste Project #3: Dial-A-Clue	173
Flirting 101	175
The Joys of Fat Sex	177
A New Position on Fat Jokes: Cynthia Meier	179
In Praise of Appetites	180
Aunt Agony	182
You, Too, Can Be Flabulous!	184
Shelf Life	185
FAT!SO? Trading Cards: The Heroes & Villains of Fat
History	189
Contributors	195
Notes	199
Index	204
About the Author	208

Interesting textbook: Your Special Wedding Toasts or Everything Thai Cookbook

Carb Wars: Sugar is the New Fat

Author: Judy Barnes Baker

You don't have to compromise on taste in order to cut down on sugar and starch. Carb Wars is filled with delicious low-carb recipes that let you indulge your cravings while still maintaining a healthful life-style. This is food too good to resist and now you don't have to!