The big difference is in those who regard their attraction as morally superior or who view a lack of subjective physical attractiveness as a moral failing on the part of the gender they desire.

Opps — did you mean to say that “a lack of subjective physical attractiveness” is automatically assigned to fat people? Because your really good point seemed to get lost in that phrase, at least for me. (Even though you used the word subjective; your comment seems to place the lack with the person being viewed.)

The big difference is in those who regard their attraction as morally superior or who view a lack of subjective physical attractiveness as a moral failing on the part of the gender they desire. That’s a mistake that I’m afraid seems to be quite common among “Thin admirers” and I see no reason to respect or tolerate that. Everyone has a right to be attracted to what they will be attracted to, but no one has the right to condemn people for not being attractive to them.

You know what? You’re right in a lot of ways about that. And I have issues with the idea that, if I became thin, the men who would be attracted to me then wouldn’t have given me a second look if I were fat.

Another suggestion: Vanity Fat Carnival. (If you want to address the fat vs. appearance matrix more than the health issues.)

I dunno. I mean, personally, I’d be fine with someone who thought my ample belly was hott, even first gave me a second glance because of it. I just really wouldn’t want it to be, like, all she (or he, I suppose) talked about.

I rather like my misread of the title, “Carnival of Fatty Goddess”.

I’m looking forward to the Carnival.

It’s a fine line, sometimes, though. I know that as a fat woman who dates, I’ve run into guys who seem to be more focused on my fat than on me. As a result, I’m a bit wary of the whole dating thing.

Personally, I see fetishes as a sexual interest that is directed outwards towards an object. When this object of desire is part of another person’s body, I think there is a distinct danger of objectifying that other person. By this understanding, fat fetishists certainly can exist, but is a far different beast than someone who is just physically attracted (even unabashedly so) towards a fat partner. This is not to say that I think that fetishes are bad, but that when the object is another persons body, I think the standard we seem to apply for a fetish ought to be raised. Perhaps this is born out of interaction with communities where fat admiration and the objectifying and frankly dehumanizing interest in feederism is often confused and where feederists regard fat women’s bodies as little more than an end from their means and most severely objectify women.

Oh, and I concur with not being as much a fan of “Carnival of Fatty Goodness” as the other suggestions. Am quite a fan of the idea, however.

International size acceptance org:
http://size-acceptance.org/

National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA):
http://www.naafa.org/

No lose the national organization for lesbians of size
http://www.nolose.org/

Largesse the network for size esteem
http://www.eskimo.com/~largesse/

Has anyone else had some trouble tracking down actual fat acceptance groups in the midst of all the fat fetish, dieting, and singles dating groups? I read Big Fat Blog (found it through Amp’s links list) but I just have not had much luck finding others that see much regular traffic. Anybody have reccomendations?

TIA

This reminds me of something that has been on my mind for some time: I like the fact that you explicitly label weight-loss diets as such rather than just calling them “diets.”

Generally, most people assume that the default meaning for “diet” either is synonymous with “weight-loss diet” or that the default meaning of “diet” is “weight-loss diet.”

I generally consider the term “diet” to refer to any attempt to regulate one’s eating to achieve a particular end, which could also include regimens for weight-gain, or that are designed to relieve food-related conditions [e.g. more fiber for someone who is constantly constipated].

It would seem to me the automatic assumption that diet = weight-loss diet would tend to discourage people who want to eat healthier, but who are not interested in weight loss; and would cause people to give up on trying to eat healthy because they associate all attempts at regulating their diet with attempts [presumably unsuccessful, uncomfortable, or both] to lose weight. That is, they decide that eating healthy = weight loss, so they give up on any attempts at eating healthy either because they are not leading to weight loss or because they assume that they will be as uncomfortable as diets for weight loss tend to be.

It’s one thing to fetishise objects or activities, but fetishising something that’s part of a person as integrally as their size (or race or dis/ability) is downright creepy because it denies them their whole humanity. Discussion of fat fetishism would be fine with me, but plain old fat fetishism for the sake of fat fetishism I would not be okay with. I would not participate in a carnival where that was welcomed.