Also, yes–Sheana, who organized Fat and the Academy, is brilliant and awesome.

PCA does have activists/non-academics in the Fat Studies section, Eileen Rosensteel did part of her Fat Ladies performance, Lesleigh Owen performed poetry, Jay Solomon did a presentation on South Park, and Kari Peterson did a very personal presentation on fat lived experience.

And at NWSA we would really like to have a pre-conference for fat activism and/or include more activist presentations/performances. (And fwiw, as far as I know, anyone can put together an NWSA panel and submit it for approval).

Part of the problem with these conferences is that they are often not very accessible to non-academics/non-members/people who don’t get funding to go. Though a PCA guest pass is $50 and it tends to all be in one room, so you could crash it without it really being obvious.

Also, you have me thinking about the utility of filming the NWSA panels…though I don’t own a camera or really have an immediate way to pull that off in a city where I don’t live…but my wheels are turning.

Your rambling podcast is basically my favourite thing ever.

Please please pretty-please?

The lack of plus-sized clothing options for both men and women where I am (Lisbon, Portugal) is painful. All clothing, in every size, is already too expensive here where most people make $700 a month, but plus sized clothing is a combination of overpriced and almost non-existent.

Office culture here dictates a very specific kind of conservative/classic look that sort of straddles the line between suits and corporate casual. I’m convinced that this look does not exist in plus size here.

I was at a parent meeting at my daughter’s school last week, where we had all just come from work. There was one mom in the class in a black t-shirt and black leggings…both many too sizes too small. Her stomach was poking out the bottom of the shirt and the leggings were stretched so thin you could see things I’m sure she had no intention of revealing. (Oh, and add to the dignity of the situation, we were all sitting on tiny toddler chairs.)

With the importance placed on appearance (and age and skin color), I have no idea how fat people manage to find jobs in the first place, when just finding something to wear every day (much less paying for it) is so difficult.

In the six years between the first time I came here, til’ moving here the population is getting very noticably larger. Clothing is definitely not.

Seriously, this is my new super special ring tone for Lesley as soon as I get home so I can download it. AMAZINGSAUCE.

I just had to toss that out there.

Re: social shopping with friends, back when Seattle HAD a couple boutiques which carried from size 14 up to supersizes I DID go shopping with a fat friend. But after those closed down and I was still wearing bigger-than-size 24, well, we invaded Casual Male a few times, but that was about that.