Without Measure (WOM) Beta

Mississippi House Bill 282, full text, was introduced in the 2008 Mississippi legislative session on Friday by Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr., a retired pharmaceutical salesman with DuPont-Merk. Its co-authors are Bobby Shows, a businessman, and John Read, a pharmacist.

This proposed bill would make discrimination and segregation based on a person’s body size and composition legal in the state of Mississippi and needs to be addressed by any and all Americans who value their own liberties and rights.

Of course, whenever there is a contact made with a legislator or any other public official, politeness is very important to the message. 

As a disclaimer, neither ISAA nor I are advocating hate mail, vandalism, or anything else illegal or ethically questionable in posting this info. Again, please be polite, informative, and as brief as possible when contacting these honorable, albeit misguided in this proposed bill, legislators. Thank you.

So, the contact information is as follows:

Lead Author: Representative W. T. Mayhall, Jr. (R)
Capitol:
P. O. Box 1018
Jackson, MS 39215
tmayhall@house.ms.gov

Co-Author: Representative Bobby Shows (D)
Capitol:
P. O. Box 1018
Jackson, MS 39215
bshows@house.ms.gov

Co-Author: Representative John Read (R)
Capitol:
P. O. Box 1018
Jackson, MS 39215
jread@house.ms.gov

 My personal email to these honorable legislators:

Mississippi HB 282

PODWOM - Podcast Without Measure
http://www.podwom.com

RSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/Podwom

The theme of this PODWOM Show is “An Hour With Paul Delacroix.” This show is 57 minutes long (54 MB download) and covers everything from Paul’s founding of the Middlefaire Renaissance Festival (now in it’s second year) to his now famous art of BBWs and upcoming comic book art to size acceptance and discrimination to the future role of the internet in society!

Some may wonder, what is a podcast? Essentially, it is an internet-based broadcast using the MP3 format. Podcasts can also be subscribed to and downloaded to portable MP3 players like iPods.

PODWOM is the abbreviation for Podcast Without Measure, the podcast edition of Without Measure (WOM), the official electronic magazine for the International Size Acceptance Association (ISAA).

Like WOM, each segment will reflect a different element of interest concerning size acceptance, Respect Fitness Health, science, fashion, current events and much more.

PODWOM’s aim is to present each segment in an entertaining and informative way, made available in downloadable MP3 format.

I hope you enjoy the show and please give us feedback via the website at http://www.podwom.com

One of the regular features of WOM has been “Speak Your Peace (SYP).” SYP has been submissions from the public about a variety of size-related topics, ranging from personal experiences to poetry to prose. We would like to transition SYP into WOM Beta, thus the title SYP Beta.

Here’s the basic submission guidelines

1. All writing will be accepted via e-mail (preferably in MS Word format (.doc), text or rich text). Send your submission to womeasure@gmail.com

2. All text submitted for consideration will be edited and become the property of WITHOUT MEASURE.

3. Text should be between 250 - 750 words in length. Exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis.

4. The submission email should include your name (or pseudonym) in order to attribute proper credit to the article.

5. Contributors are not paid.

6. No pornography or sexually explicit materials accepted.

7. Please keep a copy of all submitted materials.

That’s it! We’re really looking forward to seeing your submissions.

PODWOM - Podcast Without Measure
http://www.podwom.com

RSS Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/Podwom

The theme of this week’s show is “Starting A Conversation With The World.” This show is 24 minutes long (22 MB download) and covers everything from the custody case of the 8-year UK boy to ISAA’s new “Bring Kayla Home” campaign to size acceptance legislation in Massachusetts, WOM Beta and more!

Some may wonder, what is a podcast? Essentially, it is an internet-based broadcast using the MP3 format. Podcasts can also be subscribed to and downloaded to portable MP3 players like iPods.

PODWOM is the abbreviation for Podcast Without Measure, the podcast edition of Without Measure (WOM), the official electronic magazine for the International Size Acceptance Association (ISAA).

Like WOM, each segment will reflect a different element of interest concerning size acceptance, Respect Fitness Health, science, fashion, current events and much more.

PODWOM’s aim is to present each segment in an entertaining and informative way, made available in downloadable MP3 format.

I hope you enjoy the show and please give us feedback via the website at http://www.podwom.com

AUSTIN, TX - The International Size Acceptance Association (ISAA) would like to thank Yahoo for responding to public feedback and creating plus-size apparel and appearance for their male and female “avatars” (cute, customizable graphical representations of people) for their Yahoo Messenger instant messaging software. In 2005, ISAA made a short campaign to encourage the public to contact Yahoo to encourage the company to make avatars which represent all segments of the population, including the plus-sized.

As of today, Yahoo has made “plus-size” a category to choose from their “apparel” customization screen on the Avatar section of their website. To use Yahoo Messenger and create an avatar, one must have a free Yahoo account. Yahoo offers a variety of free and for-pay services, including e-mail, blogging, music, news, classified ads, maps and much more!

ISAA encourages the public to contact Yahoo at the link provided below and thank them for responding to what you asked for and make suggestions for even better fashion choices for males and females. We have made an impression, so let’s build on it. Thanks for continuing to be involved in size acceptance. As you can see, we are accomplishing more than we know sometimes.

Contact Yahoo at the link below to offer them positive, productive and encouraging feedback. Please do not attack or flame them if you think they’re not doing enough, just let them know how you think they could improve. Thanks!

Yahoo Avatar Feedback Form

We know Yahoo reads your feedback, so offer it today.

Best Wishes,
Allen Steadham, Director
International Size Acceptance Association

We all know the scenario: the end-of-year holidays have come and gone and now the diet marketing goes into effect. People are guilt-tripped because they supposedly ate too much during the holidays, make New Years’ resolutions to lose weight this year and will try just about anything to accomplish this goal. Ah, but this year, we also have weight loss surgery being pushed by bariatric corporations, whether gastric banding or the full shebang, gastric bypass.

I’m pretty passionate in my disapproval of weight loss surgery (See ISAA’s Position on Weight Loss Surgery). I’ve had friends die from it, I’ve seen numerous lives ruined by it and I learn more not to like about it almost daily.

My outlook is not all gloom and doom, however. Actually, I have seen a lot of positive changes in recent years. Modern teens and young adults do not make weight loss as high a priority as their parents. Some do not make it a priority at all. In the United States, at least, this is the first generation of people to be raised with some awareness of size acceptance and the scientific proof that diets do not work. I believe this will eventually happen in other countries where word about size acceptance and healthy body esteem is beginning to spread, slowly but surely.

As we continue to work to get information about size acceptance, Respect Fitness Health and the pitfalls of the junk science being used to promote weight loss is dispensed in person and over the internet, the more information people will have to make informed choices concerning their health.

Even new studies are clearly showing that weight loss is not necessary to be healthy while making improved food choices and being active is. I believe we will see more research in this area and more conclusive proof but of course, time will tell.

Best Wishes,

Allen

It seems like “obesity” is still the freakshow topic of many media outlets. It’s the mutant menace of our day, the thing that will bankrupt all healthcare systems and devour our children. Why, it’s a wonder we’re not all fat already — oh, wait, we almost are, according to most studies! Then there’s the news stories that are basically infomercials for weight loss methods, especially surgery. Very little is reported about the dangers of these procedures, the death rates, the complication rates or repeat surgery rates. Now, to their credit, some media outlets do some reporting on it but most do not. If it’s medical and it causes weight loss, it’s A-OK in the media.

It really would be nice to see some objective journalism when it comes to size- and weight-related topics. Occasionally, it happens. Recently, a few Health At Every Size (HAES) articles have seen publication but they are few and far between. Also, over the years, I’ve met some really nice media personalities who are sympathetic to the cause of size acceptance and who don’t like size discrimination. At the very least, while some may not agree with us, they at least hear us out, which is more than I can say for others.

More commonly what we see is biased reporting such as the tabloid-like headlines of some of the UK papers (the Daily Mail has had a lot of them recently). Since when is a suggestion from a professor considered newsworthy? Noone is even considering this idea, no government or legislative body at least. And yet, it makes it all the way to the Drudge Report and other international media outlets.

I guess I take some personal offense, not as a size acceptance activist and educator, but as a former journalist who was trained in the fundamentals of journalism. And those fundamentals are pretty simple:

1. The only place you put your opinion is in an editorial;

2. Report the facts and report what people say about the facts;

3. Don’t make up the news, report it; and

4. Try to show both sides of any issue, if it’s possible.

Instead of these standards, what we tend to get in “obesity reporting” is either an entirely one-sided story with a focus on how obesity will supposedly kill you if you don’t submit to surgery or at least dieting in order to lose weight — or it projects the writer’s fears about obesity, which can include insulting fat people or writing things like “why can’t you just put the plate of food down?” In other words, generalizing without any factual backup whatsoever.

Sometimes there are “sympathy” pieces, written by people who agree that discrimination against fat people is wrong but also fear the heralded medical ills of obesity. And then there are plus-size fashion pieces, which even come under attack now and then, like this week.

If the headline has “obesity” in it, 9 times out of 10, it will ultimately be about weight loss…which means, it’s ultimately a self-defeating article that won’t help anyone. So why do we see so many of these headlines? It’s been known for a long time that the media is a great advertising medium in the guise of supposed “news.” Are you a scientist that made a mouse lose 0.0075% of its body mass in a poorly controlled environment with a drug you’re trying to sell? Nevermind that it writhed in agony the whole time or grew an additional leg, publish the results in a press release claiming the “potential” cure to obesity! Have a position of some prominence and an outrageous opinion that would impede the rights of fat people “for their own good?” Tell the news all about it, it will sell!

So where does ISAA come into all of this? Well, ISAA works with the media whenever we can. We respond to legitimate inquiries from the media, give our positions, try to clear up misperceptions and engage in dialogues. ISAA distributes press releases also and we try to communicate using our own media capabilities (email lists, podcasts, e-zines and now blogging). We know we can reach people with information they can use to help themselves.

ISAA also encourages you to contact any media outlet that publicizes anything biased or factually inaccurate and let them know what you think. Just as we want to know what you think about us, most media outlets welcome public feedback, even if the public doesn’t agree with them. They may not change their stance on the matter but if enough public pressure builds, they will respond. It’s definitely worth the effort. We’ve seen many successes over the years because of public input caused businesses to reconsider their position on a size- or weight-related matter. It can happen.

It will take time and it will take perserverence in the face of all obstacles. But ISAA is more than just its volunteers. ISAA has become a concept, a size acceptance idea that has begun to take root all over the world. It may not be evident immediately upon review right now, but give us time. We may surprise you. And you might surprise yourself!

Press Release - For Immediate Release

LONDON - The United Kingdom Branch of the International Size Acceptance Association (ISAA UK) is very concerned about the recent series of media articles on cosmetic/weight loss surgery for plus-sized children and even the contemplation of the idea of “health warnings” on plus-size clothing. ISAA as an organization has a firm stance against bariatric weight loss surgery of any kind.

“The thought of it being used on growing children is unconscionable to ISAA,” said Fatima Parker, President of the ISAA UK branch. “It will invariably deny them the nutrients they need to grow into healthy adults and could result in death or extremely poor quality of life.”

Also, the suggestion that plus-size clothing needs health warnings is abhorrent to ISAA UK, which sees it as an attack on the plus-size fashion industry. It is also potentially the first step in a slippery slope of separating fat people from society in order to further discriminate against them and profit from the weight-cycling caused by failed weight loss efforts.

“One would not be safe from the fat police, even in their own clothes,” said Parker. “Would they put health warnings on size 0 clothes as well? How about on the show clothing that the extremely thin models wear in fashion shows? If you open that Pandora’s box, where does it end? The whole notion of health warnings on plus-size clothing is biased against the fat and indicative of the prejudice we face daily. ISAA exists to combat such discrimination.”

ISAA’s mission is to promote size acceptance and to help end weight-based discrimination throughout the world by means of advocacy and visible, lawful actions. ISAA has branches in the U.S., Brazil, Canada, France, Middle East and Africa, New Zealand, the Philippines and the UK. ISAA also has several virtual chapters online. ISAA was founded in 1997.

Contact Information:
Fatima Parker
President, ISAA UK
Email: redah888@yahoo.com
WWW: http://www.size-acceptance.org/uk

- 30 -