Media and Research Roundup - April 2022
The graphic shows visual depictions of three of the subjects included in the Roundup listing: the pic in the upper left shows an ABC health consultant and reads, "What the media gets wrong with plus size pregnancy risks"; in the upper right is a pic of a stage and reads, "'A Jar of Fat' a play by seayoung yim"; in the lower center is a quote, "Fat people's erasure from media is dehumanizing. Visibility in marketing allows us - and the world - to see the full range of our humanity. The bottom line? We want to see ourselves represented just like everyone else does. " - Tigress Osborn, NAAFA Chair.
By Bill and Terri Weitze
For the latest information and research on fatness, check out the Media & Research Roundup. This issue features: "A Jar of Fat", a play written by Seayoung Yim, Plus Size Mommy takes on ABC and media that get plus-size pregnancy risks wrong, Tigress Osborn talks about NAAFA's work with Google in developing guidelines for inclusivity in marketing, and more!
March 25, 2022: Seayoung Yim wins the 2022 Yale Drama Series prize for her play Jar of Fat, a darkly comedic fairytale about the quest for beauty and thinness. Yim states, "I offer this play as a struck match to burn some of the accumulated rage at what fatphobia steals from us every day: grace, space, possibility, and breath."
https://news.yale.edu/2022/03/25/comedic-take-quest-thinness-wins-yale-drama-series-prize
March 28, 2022: Plus Mommy takes ABC's Chief Medical Correspondent to task for exaggerating the risk for perinatal death for fat women by not putting the statistics in proper context.
https://plusmommy.com/media-plus-size-pregnancy-risks
March 29, 2022: Despite manufacturer size and weight restrictions, Tyre Sampson, a 6 feet 5 inches tall, 320-pound teen was allowed to ride the Orlando Free Fall ride and fell to his death.
https://news.yahoo.com/teen-died-theme-park-may-205311234.html
https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-tyre-sampson-14yr-old-killed-at-icon-park/sign
March 31, 2022: Historical romances featuring fat heroines, while not plentiful, can be found. A few recommendations are offered and a request is made for suggestions from other readers.
https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2022/03/fat-girls-in-history
April 4, 2022: Actor Joy Nash is interviewed by Velvet d'Amour, talking about being a fat working actor, the fat acceptance movement, and life in general.
https://www.volup2.com/articles-and-blog/2022/4/2/ssvzqrbqp8dcx16n59ewcxxsycbr7f
April 6, 2022: Tigress Osborn offers a list of five strategies for creating inclusive, diverse, and fat-friendly marketing.
https://adage.com/article/opinion/how-create-marketing-positively-represents-plus-size-people/2410491
April 6, 2022: In her search for plus-sized dancers for an upcoming tour, Lizzo ended up creating a TV show, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, which premiered in March 2022 on Amazon Prime Video.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/style/lizzo-big-grrrls-amazon.html
https://www.hollywoodinsider.com/lizzos-watch-out-big-grrrls
April 11, 2022: BBC.com discusses why legal protection against size and weight discrimination in the workplace is needed.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220411-the-unspoken-weight-discrimination-problem-at-work
Pic is of Terri and Bill Weitze, a Caucasian couple, both wearing glasses
Terri and Bill Weitze have been active within NAAFA for years, and they currently coauthor the Media and Research Roundup in the NAAFA Newsletter. They both live and work in San Jose, CA, and met through a fat-positive bulletin board system before the days of the World Wide Web.