Protected: Supporter Exclusive: On Moving Through Resistance
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Behind the Scenes | Changing the World | End Weight Stigma | Living in a Fat Body | Noodlings | Thin Privilege
Marginalization and the cost of things
I’ve been thinking so much about the cost of things lately, and how they interact with cost of living and marginalization and capitalism and labor and psychology. Last week, I had the privilege of a behind-the-scenes chat with the organizer of Seattle Fat Con (affiliate link), an event happening in January here in town. I’d…
On the choice of “fatphobia”
Sometimes a stray comment or post on social media will spark something in my mind, and suddenly I have an opinion on it. This time it was a comment on a fat activist’s Instagram post informing the activist that they shouldn’t be using the term “fatphobia” because “people aren’t afraid of fat people, so it’s…
Body Image | Changing the World | End Weight Stigma | Health at Every Size | Living in a Fat Body | Noodlings | Thin Privilege
What fat liberation means to me: It’s not just about “all bodies”
This piece originally appeared over at the NAAFA blog. Loving, admiring, and respecting fat bodies can be really hard for people to grasp. We as a culture have been trained by: Centuries of sexism and racism that women are sexual objects 75 years of diet culture that thin is beautiful and sexy And decades of…
![[Image: A fat white woman with pink hair stands on the shore of a wooded lake in a purple sleeveless dress, with a wing-print scarf blowing in the wing behind her outstretched arms.]](https://bodyliberationphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2016-09-10_1015_x1200-768x512.jpg)
Exploitation cannot birth liberation
I want to follow up on my earlier piece about AI-generated artwork. People who are into AI art are telling me that this is a chance for fat people to see themselves represented and change their body image. But there’s a problem: exploitation will not create liberation. Here’s just one of the images that was…
What I’ve been up to lately | Seattle boudoir and portrait photography
What I’ve been up to lately, in no particular order: » My new Maya Kern and SergleShop skirt came in! » Twirling in this skirt. It has huge pockets and it’s comfy and I love it. » Was in a hit and run accident last week. Fun. » One advantage of cool PNW summers is…
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Your guide to Body Liberation Podcast Month 2021
For the month of December, enjoy these podcast episodes while I slow down, take a breath and plan for next year.
My body is good at any speed.
I wasn’t consciously thinking about @ragenchastain and her approach to running (slow and steady) when I climbed part of this trail in Mt. Baker National Forest, but I was thinking that I was tired. I’m so very tired of holding my breath when I’m exercising around other people, for fear of being the out-of-breath fat…
The Body Liberation Blanket Fort: Why Discord?
In which I talk about how and why I chose Discord for my body-positive, fat-positive community space. To get access, support my Patreon at any level. It starts at $1 USD per month (and if that’s a hardship for you, please let me know and I’ll be happy to give you free access). Once you…
💘 Is love enough to create a healthy relationship?
In which I talk about whether love is enough to salvage a relationship, whether people can change the direction of their relationships and whether you should keep giving people second chances.
Plant Chat: Tradescantia Day (Houseplants)
In which I demonstrate a) repotting tradescantias and b) why I’m not a plantfluencer. No apologies for the terrible video.
🌱 Now for something different: Plant chat
I’ve had a few requests to see my high-humidity plant setup. I am constitutionally incapable of making a short video, but here you go!
{daily life} A chatty gentleman
I had the pleasure of meeting this chatty gent last week and couldn’t resist capturing him enjoying some late afternoon sun! Sarah at @bodypositiveparenting is his chief servant. I love how dubious he looks on that chair; guess he wasn’t expecting the paparazzi to show.
How to maintain your own energy in the face of others’ negativity
There was an interesting discussion today in a Facebook group I’m in about how to keep from being sucked into and swallowed by other people’s energy when it’s negative or doesn’t align with your own. Here is my answer.
🏧 I am more than just a fat activist.
I wrote this in a moment of frustration recently and wanted to share it even though it’s not really meant for my folks here, because the very nature of a blog is to be consumed. To be clear, lurking is fine! No one owes me interactions or a relationship. But there are an awful lot…
What are you listening to?
I’m old-fashioned and still buy all my music, because I’m super picky about what I listen to and I like owning my mp3s. (I once managed to narrow a Pandora list down to exactly four songs because I couldn’t stop messing with it.) My playlists could use some fresh sound, so I bought some new…
Lindley’s Seattle photography office/studio tour
My Seattle photography office is where I spend most of my time. This is where some of my most precious things live, where my cat Blue hangs out, where I edit photos and post to social media and hold remote client photo reveals. Here’s a tour.
🐙 I don’t want to reclaim Ursula
I don’t want to reclaim Ursula. Released in 1989, Disney’s animated movie The Little Mermaid struck me at a formative time in my life. Ariel hit me right in the heart. Open and sunny and earnest and curious and longing, both of us. Both of us yearning for unexplored territory. Isolated in rural North Carolina…
A culture of compensation
I recently talked about how people who are privileged in a particular area often expect people who are marginalized in that area to educate them, give them ideas and even fix their organizations for free. I’m also thinking about people like Ragen Chastain, who answer literally thousands of emails per month to provide free labor…
Seattle, heat waves, weather and empathy
The Pacific Northwest is heading into an extraordinary weather event, where Seattle could reach 104 degrees for at least two days in a row, and Portland, 109 degrees. The dry eastern side of Washington state could reach 114 degrees. Like two-thirds of Seattle, we don’t have air conditioning, but we’re lucky and privileged enough to…
Stop saying that weight loss doesn’t solve anything.
Here’s one concrete action you can take to help end weight stigma: Stop saying that weight loss doesn’t solve anything. And I’m going to need you to read alllll the way to the end of this post before you @ me, because I am not jumping on the diet wagon here. Does intentional weight loss…
Why fat folks don’t want to help make your organization inclusive
Image description: A fat white woman in a short-sleeved red dress sits in front of a stone wall and shrugs. There’s a pattern I’ve seen displayed dozens of times by people and organizations who are asked to walk their talk about size inclusivity, and it goes something like this: Invalidation or gaslighting of the fat…
The exclusion of returning to the office is intended.
Image description: A low, tree-covered island is silhouetted against a bright sky and calm water. As the extreme pressure from employers to return to the office (for white-collar work) begins, remember: 1. Offices are designed to exclude minorities, particularly those who are neurodivergent and/or mobility limited. 2. When remote work primarily benefited those populations, companies…
Cuttings and quartz
Image description: A green glass bowl of smooth pebbles in soft red and green tones and mixed sizes, stones Lindley found in a river in Idaho. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the differences between the houseplant groups and the rockhounding groups that I’m in, and how they reflect larger patterns. (All the groups…
State of the sleep, May 11
When I developed sleep apnea suddenly in 2020 during a series of major dental work, I had no idea that getting diagnosis and treatment would become a many-months-long saga. I’m returning to, and sharing, some updates I wrote for friends and family along the way to help break down the stigma around sleep apnea and…
State of the sleep, May 4
When I developed sleep apnea suddenly in 2020 during a series of major dental work, I had no idea that getting diagnosis and treatment would become a many-months-long saga. I’m returning to, and sharing, some updates I wrote for friends and family along the way to help break down the stigma around sleep apnea and…
State of the sleep, April 28
When I developed sleep apnea suddenly in 2020 during a series of major dental work, I had no idea that getting diagnosis and treatment would become a many-months-long saga. I’m returning to, and sharing, some updates I wrote for friends and family along the way to help break down the stigma around sleep apnea and…
State of the sleep, April 22
When I developed sleep apnea suddenly in 2020 during a series of major dental work, I had no idea that getting diagnosis and treatment would become a many-months-long saga. I’m returning to, and sharing, some updates I wrote for friends and family along the way to help break down the stigma around sleep apnea and…
State of the sleep, April 17
Image description: An animation of small waves washing up on the sand behind a driftwood log. Deception Pass, Washington state. When I developed sleep apnea suddenly in 2020 during a series of major dental work, I had no idea that getting diagnosis and treatment would become a many-months-long saga. I’m returning to, and sharing, some…
State of the sleep, April 5
When I developed sleep apnea suddenly in 2020 during a series of major dental work, I had no idea that getting diagnosis and treatment would become a many-months-long saga. I’m returning to, and sharing, some updates I wrote for friends and family along the way to help break down the stigma around sleep apnea and…
Instant thin privilege
Bear with me for a moment while I get a bit nerdy. Trust, there are fat politics coming up, as usual. Especially during these pandemic times, I’ve been spending a great deal of my free time playing a video game called Final Fantasy XIV. It’s a massive multiplayer online game, or MMO, which means that…
An oasis
Image description: A nude fat woman with pale skin walks away down a garden path, a festival mask left discarded behind her. Real talk: I know that the activism component of my business pushes away potential photo session clients. Trust me, you don’t need to tell me. But I started out like almost every other…
It’s time we talked about Brené Brown.
Here’s one simple action you can take to help end discrimination against fat bodies this week: Believe fat people when we say something is fatphobic, specifically the works of Brené Brown, Anita Johnston, Geneen Roth and Bessel van der Kolk.
Five hundred thousand
Content note: COVID-19, weight discrimination in a healthcare setting I had a COVID scare last weekend. On Saturday, I woke up with a sore throat, cough and deep fatigue. My COVID test was negative, but I spent three days isolating in our home as much as possible, resting and contemplating my own mortality. Would this…
Plant Chat: Baby Plants
Image description: A set of small terra cotta pots in a cardboard box on a white desk, with a lamp, water bottle and plastic box behind. Potted up some propagations today! It’s so exciting to take what are essentially just pieces of plants and coaxing them into life of their own. Starting at the top…
Where are all the fat people?
Image description: A plus-size woman poses in front of a sunset-lit city skyline and water with one arm in the air and the other wrapped around it. She’s wearing blue jeans and a black crop top sweater. Once a friend of mine observed that in their daily life, they just felt like they didn’t see…
A space just for us
Image description: Three fat women stand back to back with hands entwined in a grassy park. In a fat-folks-only Zoom call last night, a friend looked around and said, “You know, this is the first time I’ve ever been in a space with only fat folks in it before. It’s wonderful.” It’s necessary and vital…
“Can’t we all just celebrate progress?”
One of the most common pieces of pushback I see against fat acceptance and the need to represent fat and very fat people is, “Why are you so negative? Can’t we all just celebrate all the progress that’s been made? You’re so divisive!” It’s often accompanied by more-enlightened-than-thou comments about wanting to focus on “the good,” as if those of us confronting oppression are somehow more negative than those who want to cover up and ignore it.
The 11 reasons why people hate fat people
Image description: The side rolls of a fat body are shown in a black-and-white photograph, with highly textured skin. An excellent question came up on the Body Liberation Photos Instagram this week: Why does fatphobia exist? Why do people hate and fear fat bodies? Fatphobia — also known as fatmisia, anti-fatness, weight stigma and fat…
These are the days your body was built for
Image description: A fat woman’s shoulder, side rolls and hip are shown in a black-and-white photograph. During this pandemic, so many people are finding that their bodies, for the first time, are now in the “plus size” or “fatter than I wanted” categories, and are finding it a pretty scary place to be. It’s scary…
One easy way to end weight stigma
Image description: An abstract light blue watercolor background with the words, “Stop appropriating the experiences and oppression of people who are fatter than you.” Lindley’s logo is at the bottom. Here’s one way you can help end weight stigma: Stop appropriating the experiences and oppression of people who are fatter than you. If you live…
Cracked
Image description: Small, messy bits of kitchen waste on a white background: orange, cucumber, onion, bread or cracker, a piece of packaging. Photo courtesy of Charlie Deets on Unsplash. There was an attempted coup in my country today. People with guns stormed the capitol building — for the first time in my country’s history —…
If we could opt out of oppression, would we still “deserve” it?
If we could opt out of oppression, would we still “deserve” it?
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…
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…
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…