Thanks to Mariellen/vesta44 at Big Fat Delicious for her post on the Blog Talk Radio show The Overweight Date - Fat or Phat?

The cultural and racial perceptions of body image and weight, and how such perceptions translate into romantic desirability for single men and women will be the focus of Sucka Free Dating – The Smart Relationship Talk Show (http://blogtalkradio.com/askheartbeat) with host Deborrah Cooper on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific. The live, call-in show will feature two guests active in the body acceptance movement; Dr. Lisa A. Breisch is a Licensed Clinical Psychotherapist who specializes in working with plus-size individuals. Breisch also owns Club Round, which sponsors activities such as speed dating nights for plus-size teens and adults and their admirers. Laurie Toby Edison is an internationally exhibited photographer “Women En Large: Images of Fat Nudes” and body image activist, who blogs at Body Impolitic (http://www.laurietobyedison.com).

Dr. Lisa A. Breisch and Laurie Toby Edison were phenomenal in their discussions on issues of weight and beauty. Of course, in the midst of all of this positivity, some guy just had to call in and play the “health” card–’Men don’t want to date fat women because we’re worried they’re unhealthy and will not be able to bear us unhealthy children.’ [Oh, please, the health of your future babies I'm sure is the foremost consideration in your mind when you offer to buy a girl a drink. She's got to present you with her cholesterol and BP before you f*%# her.] Once again, you can’t even hint at anything positive about “fat” without someone feeling compelled to point out that our cultural discrimination against fat people is because they’re unhealthy.

I was already a fan of Edison’s work, but I was also very impressed with the message and demeanor of Dr. Breisch. When she said that the motto of her size acceptance group, Club Round, is: Every Body is a Good Body - No Matter the Shape, Size, or Weight. I just wanted to cheer. She made me smile all day.

I love Edison’s book “Women En Large: Images of Fat Nudes,” but I had somehow missed one important story relevant to the creation of the project. She told of a respected male colleague who made the comment that he would never visit a nudist colony for fear of seeing ‘a 300-lb woman with an appendectomy scar.’ Even though I’ve been thinking/researching/writing about body image for years, I never made the connection that there is a fear of large naked female bodies (a disdain for, yes, but fear…). Edison determined that if culturally we could move past this fear and see large female nudes as beautiful, then we could embrace the greater beauty of all. This is why I love that book. She has a great blog that is worth checking out as well.