"Shapely Prose" Blogger Responds to our "Roll Reversal" Story

By Joel Mathis
Add Comment Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted May. 14, 2009

Share this Story:

Kate Harding, the Chicago-based writer we featured in our story about the "fat acceptance" movement, has critiqued the story at her blog. An excerpt:

Here’s what Mathis quotes me as saying, in response to (I believe)  ”Do you think of yourself as beautiful?”

“I do feel beautiful on my own terms,” says Harding, a blue-eyed blonde who weighs in around 200 pounds. “I’m married, my husband thinks I’m beautiful and plenty of guys have thought I was beautiful.”

Finis.

I’m sure I said all those words. I’m also sure I followed them up with something like, “But really, that’s not the point. It’s nice to feel validated by other people, but that’s not what matters. Plenty of people don’t think I’m beautiful, and the point is, their terms don’t have to be mine.” (He does throw that bit in later.) I also noted that said blonde hair and blue eyes (and associated fair skin) and 200-lb. body and hourglass shape actually bring me a lot closer to the beauty standard than many women are, which makes me less of a target for hatred from dudes who think a woman’s worth is directly proportionate to her perceived fuckability. (Granted, I’m sure that whatever I actually said, I didn’t articulate it anywhere near that clearly. But I do know I did not leave “My husband thinks I’m beautiful and plenty of other guys do, too”—with the implied “So, nyah!”—just hanging out there like that.) 

I’m totally not criticizing Mathis for this, I hasten to add. I think he did his job in good faith—and the article’s quite positive. But the more I talk to reporters, the more I realize how important it is to think about the soundbites I’m spewing, even as I couch them in more nuanced babbling.

Add to favoritesAdd to Favorites PrintPrint Send to friendSend to Friend

COMMENTS

ADD COMMENT

Rate:
(HTML and URLs prohibited)
User Guidelines

Related Content

Roll Reversal
By Joel Mathis

Constance D’Ulisse is a big, beautiful woman. And she’s not afraid to say so. “I have curves. I don’t know how else to describe it: I have a bustline, a waistline and hips,” the South Philly woman says. “I have a great smile, I have twinkling eyes. What’s not to like about me?”

READ MORE
Posted May. 12, 2009 | Comments: 24