Round.Net

I’ve spent much of the last few days reading other fat-related blogs. I bet I’ve only skimmed the surface and I’ve read several entries apiece at 13 of them so far. There are a lot of us out there. I feel a little bit like I did when I transferred from the University of Delaware to Mount Holyoke after my sophomore year and was suddenly surrounded with mouthy, brainy women like me. God, it was a voluptuous experience to not feel weird for the first time in my life. At UD (it was different back then–no Honors Program, fairly crappy faculty morale and one Honors dorm that was for men only–my suitemates were prone to intro me to their friends as “Devon, the intellectual” like I was Vulcan or Martian), I had already had the glorious experience of actually being able to study stuff I actually cared about, but at Mount Holyoke no one ever asked me why I used so many big words (which had been happening fairly often from 4th grade on–and, okay, I will admit to having been a snot and maybe still being one, but I LIKE words the same way I LIKE butter).  So back to the issue of fat-related blogs: I’ve learned a lot. But I’ve also just had the pleasure of listening to a bunch of other voices whose life experiences mirror mine sometimes, inform mine sometimes, and challenge me to do as close to a damn fine job of this as I can manage.

Here’s the list of the blogs:

danceswithfat.wordpress.com (I love to dance, and do it with a fair amount of abandon, even though I’m aware that it is befuddling and a little frightening to those around me, so this one really spoke to me)

haesmed.blogspot.com  (she’s a resident and on the fr0nt lines, fighting the fight and standing up for us all–fiercely)

fatfu.wordpress.com  (really smart, also has a terrific list of other blogs)

fiercefatties.com  (great networking node)

these are all good, smart, fierce voices, too:

bfdblog.com (esp. good on fashion and media)

lifeonfats.wordpress.com

bogfatdelicious.blogspot.com

drdeahstastymorsels.wordpress.com

fatandnotafraid.jigsy.com

thejellieroll.blogspot.com

adayinthefatlife.wordpress.com

And while I’m at the business of making lists, here are the topics I have lined up so far:

wearing red to my wedding

sites/stores where I find the quirky clothes I like

the violence of bariatric surgery (speaking of which, one blog I find execrably dishonest and repugnant is fatblog.org, which is all about the salvific process of letting someone hack away at your innards)

BMI & pediatrics

will this blog hurt my poetry credentials?

dancing

clothes/sewing/opinions about dressing

exercise

food vs. booze/narcotics/alchohol

Puritanism

wealth & class & weight

“high-risk” pregnancy

being in front of a classroom and giving readings

Those ought to keep me going for a while. I figure to blog fairly frequently at first, then once or twice a week once the thing’s established. I have a couple of really interesting guest-bloggers lined up (okay, my brainy/snarky/funky daughters and maybe a friend or two) for down the road.

And a couple of you have sent me good fat poems in response to yesterday’s post. The classic, of course, is the magnificent Lucille Clifton’s “Homage to my Hips.” Lord, I am sorry that woman is gone. She mattered. I hope literary history is as generous to her as she deserves.

The second is “The Hymn of a Fat Woman” by Joyce Huff. I’m pretty sure I can’t reprint either of these without tracking down (and paying for) permissions, but you can look them up.