If we could opt out of oppression, would we still “deserve” it?
If we could opt out of oppression, would we still “deserve” it?
15 Body-Positive Stocking Stuffer Ideas Under $10
The holidays are one of the best times to gift your friends and loved ones with body-acceptance and fat-positive resources — especially when we’ve collected lots of great options for you.
Ask a Fat Creator: Jaime Patterson
Image description: Black and white photo of a Black woman with long dark hair, looking at the camera with a small smile. She has her hand in her hair leaning into her hand. She is wearing glasses and a light-colored knitted sweater. There is a teal banner across the image, reading “Ask a Fat Creator:…
The difference between helping and Helping
Image description: A fat blonde woman in a bikini with visible side rolls sits on a vintage red suitcase at the edge of the water on a beach, looking away. Content note: Dental procedures I feel like my poor dentist’s office has born the brunt of my ever-spinning analyses this year, while in truth, I…
LISTEN: Lindley on Body Liberation for All with Dalia Kinsey (with transcript)
In this podcast episode, Dalia Kinsey and I discuss the functions of propaganda, intersectionality and fatphobia, emotional labor and the world’s most important subjects, cats and plants.
Plant Chat: Thanksgiving cactus blossoms + planting rooted cuttings
My Thanksgiving cactus is blooming! I’ve had it for two or three years and this is the first year I’ve gotten it to rebloom. Three big beautiful blooms! I’ve kept it in an east-facing window this year and about two months ago started putting it in a completely dark, cool closet at night. (Last year…
15+ HAES-Aligned Resources for PCOS
You deserve respectful, effective treatment for PCOS, no matter what kind of body you live in. Here are 15+ articles, podcasts, books, support groups, programs and other resources to support your amazing, worthwhile body through PCOS diagnosis and treatment.
Body Liberation Photography | Body Liberation Stock | Changing the World | Guest Posts | In the Media | Living in a Fat Body | Noodlings
Based on a True Body: How Running Photos Lie to Us and Why it Matters
Image description: Lindley, a fat white woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, glasses and a sleeveless heart-polka-dot dress, stands with her arms raised and resting on each wall of a narrow brick alley. Superimposed on the image are the Fitness Protection logo and the words Body Love with Lindley Ashline. End image description. Photography is both…
Ask Lindley: How do I deal with fatphobia and diet talk at work?
Reader E. asks, “Dear Lindley, I’m working on accepting my body, but it’s so hard to sit at work and have to listen to diet talk all the time. How can I deal with this?”
Plant Chat: Propagation Station
Image description: A small houseplant with round fleshy leaves, called a peperomia hope, sits in a round terra cotta bowl on a white desk. I’ve been gardening and generally mucking around with plants for many years, but this year — like many bored, stuck at home folks — is the first year I’ve gotten serious…
Well-done steak and spray tans
Image description: A thin white man with close-cropped hair is shown from the neck up in two shots, side by side. In the first, he has a manic smile. In the second, he has an exaggerated frown. In both shots, his face and neck are covered with a pasty white substance. End image description. Photo…
Trauma dumping is oppression in action.
Image description: A fat white women with shoulder-length blonde hair is shown in a black and white image with a black drape just covering the tips of her breasts and part of her torso. She is looking off to one side with a solemn expression, with tree limbs behind her. Today we’re going to explore…
Ask a Fat Creator: Danielle Gregori
Image description: A fat white woman stands in a mowed field in front of green trees. She has long dark brown and gray hair in a ponytail and is wearing glasses, cropped green pants, and a t-shirt that says “Body Diversity” with a variety of cartoon dogs. She is looking to one side and smiling….
Rainy PNW Portrait Session with Ms. M | Body-Positive Portrait Photography in Seattle, WA
One of the wonderful things about outdoor portrait sessions in the Pacific Northwest is that you can adapt and use any weather you find. This client (who is also my lovely sister!) was only in town for a short time, so we headed to a local arboretum and used the weather we were given that…
Erica’s Story: “I am allowed to feel like I have value.”
For people in very large bodies, who are most affected by the physical and infrastructural inequalities built into a world that is designed to exclude fat people, moving through the world looks very different. In this guest post, Erica talks about the considerations that make up her everyday life, and how speaking out is gradually…
My body image advice for younger people
Image description: A young woman’s legs are shown propped up on a white wall. She is wearing a short black tutu skirt and black lacy socks that twine up (or down, since her feet are pointing up) her legs. Last week during a podcast recording, I was asked to talk about what I’d want young…
Body Liberation Photography | Body Love Shop & Box | Changing the World | In the Media | Interviews & Podcasts | Living in a Fat Body
WATCH: Lindley on Fat Product Reviews with Chrystal Bougon (with Transcript)
Because I have my fat fingers in so many pies, this chat with Chrystal Bougon of Curvy Girl Lingerie and All Bodies Electrolysis touches on lots of topics! If you’ve ever wondered about whether you can set boundaries with a photographer or how a good photographer works with mobility limitations or anxiety, this is the…
Good fat people, healthcare and the edge
One part of interacting with healthcare providers while living in a fat body is that your value and worth as a patient are always, always conditional and based on your perceived compliance. I’ve been seeing my dentist, who I adore, for many years. My genetic lack of tooth enamel makes me a frequent visitor. In…
Ask Lindley: Thin privilege, rage and the spotlight
My friend P. asks, “It was a total shock to me to be told that I’m small fat. For me it was like being told I’m not really fat. My sense of myself is something very different. I struggle with self loathing every day. I’ve believed all the negative messages society feeds us. Thankfully I’m…
Bonny Chipman & Accessible Yoga at Yoga NW: Accessible Yoga | Small Business Branding & Visuals Photography in Portland, OR
It was a pleasure to pair up with Bonny Chipman and her studio at Yoga NW to create a collection of inclusive yoga stock photos featuring folks with a wide variety of body sizes, ethnic backgrounds, skin colors, and mobility needs. Here’s a little bit about Yoga NW: “At Yoga NW, our mission is to…
LISTEN: Everyday activism, using your power and fat admirers with Sara Stanizai (with transcript)
Think you can’t support a movement from your corner of the world? Think again! In this Instagram Live, Sara Stanizai, LMFT and I talk about capital-A activism (with hand gestures), using your power to change the world, what counts as activism and simple ways you can help the fat folks in your life. Listen to…
Ask a Fat Creator: Lisa Daughters
This is the Body Liberation Photos Ask a Fat Creator (and Allies) series, in which we find out more about the lives, work and breakfasts of all kinds of large-bodied and marginalized creators and their allies. Lisa Daughters (she/her) is a Licensed Professional Counselor, specializing in Expressive Arts Therapy. She has been counseling for 10…
It’s definitely the fat kids’ fault.
Image description: A fat white baby’s arm is partially seen between an overlapping floral blanket, blue onesie sleeve and the body and strap of a car’s seat and child safety seat. Image source: Al Soot on Unsplash It’s definitely the fat kids’ fault. That was the gist of a discussion I witnessed last week, in…
Magical Tea Party Session | Body-Positive Stock Photography in Renton, WA
One of the cooler aspects of my job is the privilege of not only capturing individual people’s bodies and lives, but their relationships. At this tea party-themed session, you can see the warm support of a circle of close friends shining through, accompanied by a gorgeous cake, lots of sweets and tea, and a beautiful…
Body Liberation Photography | Body Love Shop & Box | Changing the World | In the Media | Interviews & Podcasts | Living in a Fat Body
LISTEN: Lindley on the Rising Whole Podcast (with Transcript)
On this episode of the Rising Whole podcast, Prim Ormanovich and I talk about how coherency in your business comes from having an underlying ethical framework or cause, and how my own underlying framework led to me splintering my business into many separate parts — and then bringing it together again. The podcast is no…
LISTEN: Lindley on PowerPivot with Leela Sinha (with Transcript)
So many of the dynamics around bodies, weight and worth are really about power, and it was fascinating to dig into those power dynamics with Leela Sinha, host of the PowerPivot podcast. We talk about being unafraid of power, claiming your power, whether vulnerability offers or contains inherent power, and the power in anger. You…
How would you know?
When someone in a marginalized body shares a deep fear with you and your first answer is, “Well, I work in that field and I’ve never seen that,” you are in the wrong. Especially if you do not share that marginalization. Especially if you are a healthcare provider. Especially if that fear is well-founded, well-documented…
Eron Huenefeld & Amanda Underwood of Fat Face Feelings | Small Business Branding & Visuals Photography in Seattle, WA
Fat Face Feelings is made up of Eron Huenefeld and Amanda Underwood, two women on a journey toward fat liberation, and sharing that journey with the world via podcast. Their podcast is fun, funny and vulnerable, and they’re both a delight. For some sessions, my subjects come in with a firm idea of how they’d…
Ask a Fat Creator: Vanessa Ferreira
This is the Body Liberation Photos Ask a Fat Creator (and Allies) series, in which we find out more about the lives, work and breakfasts of all kinds of large-bodied and marginalized creators and their allies. Vanessa Chica is a NYC Educator, Writer, Poet, Playwright and Fat Activist. She has featured at various events such…
Are you not angry, too?
You can assign points to food and you can talk about calories in calories out and you can talk about willpower and you can talk about dietsand you can talk about fatand you can talk about loss but until you start talking about the way human bodies actually work in the real world you’re not…
The Fat Lady Sings: Die Lotosblume and Mondnacht
I prepared these two German pieces for an audition and they’re both so floating and lovely! “Die Lotosblume” (“The Lotus Flower”) is a poem written by Heinrich Heine, and published in his Buch der Lieder (The Book of Songs, 1827). Set to music by Robert Schumann in 1840, this Lied is part of Schumann’s Myrthen…
8 Body-Positive, Fat-Friendly and HAES-aligned Zines
Learn more about body acceptance, body positivity, fat acceptance, intuitive eating and health at every size (HAES) with these fat-positive zines! You might be thinking… what exactly is a zine?! A zine (pronounced ZEEN) is a self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images usually produced via a photocopier. Zines are great because they…
Let’s talk about the Renfrew Center, Harin Feibish and the persistent fear and hatred of fat and fatness in eating disorder treatment.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lindley Ashline (she/her) (@bodyliberationwithlindley) on Aug 26, 2020 at 9:29am PDT I never intended to get involved in the eating disorder community. I’ve never had an ED. But the prevalence of ED treatment clinicians and patients in the health at every size (#HAES) community forced me…
For the folks who are losing it
The first two paragraphs of the thought below deserve a content note for violence and fat hatred, though the rest doesn’t. Please protect yourself as needed. I got my first death wish this week. One of my anti-diet Facebook posts was apparently shared in a Facebook group for bodybuilders that spends some of their effort…
Fun Outdoor Portraits at Seattle’s Gasworks Park | Body-Positive Portrait Photography in the PNW
One vital skill I didn’t expect to develop so thoroughly as a photographer is the ability to read someone instantly upon meeting them and then tailor an entire session to not only their personal style, but their personality, the clothing they’ve brought, and any mobility needs or limitations they might have. It’s a process that…
The mental load of living in a fat body
Today I’m thinking about the mental load of living as a fat person and how it’s affected by one small example: this Renfrew newsletter mess. (Trigger warnings apply.) If you live in a smaller body, you can say, “Oh, that’s terrible” and move right along with your life. But if you live in a fat…
Intimate Portraits with Ms. J | Body-Positive Outdoor Boudoir Photography in Seattle, WA
One of the reasons my studio is located in my home: It gives me the ability to offer intimate, private spaces both indoors and outdoors. For Ms. J’s session, we took advantage of both kinds of spaces for lush, botanical photographs, starting with a sunny open space, then moving to leafy images that remind me…
“In The Grip Of Hunger” (probably the most triggering thing I’ll post in 2020)
Content note: Open bigotry; fatphobia in a medical and healthcare treatment setting. Image is Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” “As I sit across from my 5’ 8” 350-pound client, I am filled with discomfort and fear. In the grip of my terror, I want to fix her, to make her healthy and to protect her from…
When you speak, who listens?
Imagine a (pre-COVID) concert hall, filled with a cheering, applauding crowd. Imagine a stage full of performers in bright colors and full voice. Imagine a marquee on the front of the hall, flashing brilliantly in the darkness with the words, LET’S TALK ABOUT FAT! And imagine that, as you skim that concert hall again in…
The Fat Lady Sings: Lindley sings the Dew Fairy Aria
This was one of my most memorable recital songs! Not only is the composer’s name (Engelbert Humperdinck) fun to say, but playing the Dew Fairy in this scene was a delight. I will happily wear fairy wings any time. The Dew Fairy Aria is from the opera Hansel & Gretel, first performed in 1893 in…
Ask a Fat Ally: Dietitian Meghan Cichy
This is the Body Liberation Photos Ask a Fat Creator (and Allies) series, in which we find out more about the lives, work and breakfasts of all kinds of large-bodied and marginalized creators and their allies. Meghan (she/her) is a Registered Dietitian by training. She specializes in working with folks with eating disorders, disordered eating,…
11 High-Weight-Limit Chairs for Fat Folks and Their Hosts
Finding comfortable seating can be one of the biggest barriers that fat folx have to navigate on a daily basis. There is a constant worry as to whether the chairs at public spaces will be sturdy enough to fit our bodies or if we will have to squeeze into armrests or a booth that is…
Are you a fat admirer? If so, take these 10 steps immediately.
Dear fat admirers and chubby chasers: We don’t care whether you find us attractive. At all. Every time I talk about the innate desirability, attractiveness or sexuality of fat women, men roll up to let the world know that unlike the rabble, they like fat women. A lot. In fact, they even have a thing…
Should you set boundaries on your Facebook posts?
“All relationships need boundaries. A boundary is an imaginary line that separates me from you. They separate your physical space, your feelings, needs, and responsibilities from others. Your boundaries also tell other people how they can treat you – what’s acceptable and what isn’t.” – Sharon Martin I didn’t learn to start setting boundaries until…
How to be a Fat Ally: Clothing Store Edition
One of the more frustrating things about living in a fat body isn’t just finding something to wear — it’s warding off helpful advice that does more to help the suggestion-giver feel good than to help the suggestion-receiver. Clothing is both the classic and constant example. A couple of years ago, I mentioned — in…
Mermaids and Beach Babes Stock Photos at Seattle’s Alki Beach | Body-Positive Portrait Photography in the PNW
One of the factors of living in the Pacific Northwest is that the landscape tends to look like the Pacific Northwest — for better or worse. We tried three times (!) to have a sunny, summer beach photo shoot, and finally decided to roll with what Mother Nature gave us: low clouds, seaweed, chill, and…
Body Liberation Photography | Body Liberation Stock | Body Love Shop & Box | Changing the World | In the Media | Interviews & Podcasts | Living in a Fat Body
In the Media: Lindley on Real Health Radio
“But what I find so interesting about this whole conversation and about trolls in general is they’re so quick to put the onus on individuals. It could be really alleviating and lift all this fear – I guess except for the fear of change – but it really could alleviate a lot of fear to…
How to find your own body positive photographer
“Oh, I’d just rather be behind the camera.” Does that sound like you? Are you at the back of every photograph, making sure you’re hidden by as many other people as possible? Or simply refusing to be in photographs at all? For many, many years, that was me. In fact, one of the reasons I…
The Fat Lady Sings: Lindley sings Caledonia
I first heard the song Caledonia when it was covered by the group Celtic Woman (as it has been by many other performers), but Dougie MacLean’s original version (he wrote it in 1977) is enchanting, too, in a different way. MacLean says it only took him ten minutes to write this song, which sounds unbelievable,…
Ask a Fat Creator: Saya Collins of Art from the Heart
June’s Ask a Fat Creator interview is with sculptor and illustrator Saya Collins. For Saya, sculpture is more than an art form. It is a connection to their ancestry, to history, and to the earth itself. It is an extension of their mind, imagination and dreams. “The pieces I create are not perfect. They take…