#Bodypositivity Roundup: Sydney Sweeney vs. Fat Activists

Originally published via Armageddon Prose Substack:

Fat Propaganda Roundup: Documenting the meatiest, juiciest cuts of “fat acceptance” propaganda from corporate and social media.

Here in Europe, whenever I chance upon a human-walrus hybrid, hauling its blubber down the street on overtaxed legs, begging to be put out of its misery by some apex predator National Geographic-style, and it opens its mouth to speak, 80% of the time — and this is a fact — it turns out to be American, or else British, and I feel compelled to apologize to the locals on the street on behalf of my nation for the unsightly spectacle that has migrated their way.

Fat propagandists hate Sydney Sweeney and her enormous, wonderful breasts

You might recall — I didn’t see it at the time, because I don’t own a TV and wouldn’t watch SNL even if I did — a brouhaha over a bombshell named Sydney Sweeney and her appearance on the show a few months back.

https://youtu.be/E4fh7eBK4qE?si=qcXXck_rzJscKYkT

Via Evening Standard (emphasis added):

“In the National Post, Right-wing commentator Amy Hamm posited that Sweeney’s boobs could be ‘double-D harbingers of the death of woke’. Hamm outlined how Sweeney’s breasts ‘[bulging] from her cups’ were proof that we’re no longer going to be pressured into ‘pretending everyone is beautiful’. Instead, she eludes, we’re finally allowed to get publicly horny over the people who ‘actually are’…

The liberal Left, who love Sweeney for her roles in progressive queer teen drama Euphoria and wealth satire The White Lotus, were predictably aghast. Counter-think pieces declared the discourse as misogynistic, unfounded, and an obvious hijacking of one woman’s body in service of the culture wars…

‘This very specific obsession with her tits is so uncanny,’ says the editor in chief of feminist Polyester Zine, Ione Gamble. ‘It’s something we haven’t really seen in a while. The last body part I can remember talking about in such detail recently was Kim Kardashian’s bum.’ But the key difference, Gamble notes, is that Kim K’s butt was never co-opted as a political statement*.”

*”Co-opting” body parts “as a political statement”! The fat propagandists would never do something so crude!

There was once a time — a simpler time — when objectively hot women could appear in the media and it not ignite a political shitshow, yet another animal joy feminism has robbed us.

Olympic rugby lady becomes a #bodypositivity icon for being built like a brick shithouse and eating sandwiches in lipstick

Via Associated Press (emphasis added):

“Ilona Maher, America’s rugby-playing social media sweetheart, walked onto the terrace of Team USA House carrying a sandwich, the United States’ first ever rugby sevens Olympic medal hanging around her neck.

In between a rapid-fire media rotation, she squeezed in bites of her snack and reapplied her trademark red lipstick. It was authentic Maher, who uses the platform she has built to promote body positivity and the sport she loves, all while insisting women who run, tackle and throw stiff arms can still be feminine…

‘I think the stereotype around a rugby player is this idea that you need to drop your femininity and play a very masculine, brutal sport,’ Maher said Wednesday, a day after the medal match. ‘Myself and my team and some others on the circuit like Australia and Ireland, are showing that femininity. We are doing our makeup before games, wearing makeup, wanting to feel pretty out there.’”

She’s an Olympian, apparently very good at her sport. God bless. Why does her likeness need to be politicized in any way whatsoever?

“Shut up and dribble,” as they say.

Clothing brand debuts fat line, not fat enough for #bodypositive activists

These people will never be satisfied until the models look like literal heifers with hair armpits — and even then, they’d just push the envelope further.

Via Buzzfeed (emphasis added):

“Corporate misuse of the term ‘body positivity’ is nothing new, but Fashion Nova’s latest campaign may just be its cringiest peak.

‘Breaking News: Fashion Nova’s Body Positivity Campaigns Are Going Viral,’ the Instagram carousel post reads, featuring women who all have the same body type in slightly different sizes…

The main image used to promote this ‘body positivity campaign’ appears to feature the ‘Aubrie Gems 2 Piece Bikini,’ which goes from XS to XL. According to Fashion Nova’s size guide, this is from a 32A to a 40D i.e. not plus-size.

The largest model used in the post is a 1X, but the bikini she’s modeling — the ‘She Sells Seashells 2 Piece Bikini’ — is only available for purchase in sizes XS to XL**. The same is true of the ‘Island Wonder 3 Piece Bikini Set⁠’ which the 1X model also advertises…

‘Body positivity’ is a term that brands and social media love to dilute, but we owe it to the Fat Activists fighting for liberation for decades. As National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance Chair Tigress Osborn put it, ‘If together doesn’t include the fat people and Black people who made Body Positivity possible — as well as other marginalized bodies — it’s not Body Positivity at all.’”

**If you don’t fit into an XL bikini, this lady might file that under a “you problem” — and take it as a hint that she probably shouldn’t be wearing bikinis in the first place. Have the decency to discover Allah and wear a burka until you get yourself under control, please.

          Related:  Olympic Hijab Heroine Takes Brave and Stunning Stand Against Western Bigotry… Or Whatever

Ben Bartee is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs.

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