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You may be reading this

because you’ve been

struggling with body im-

age or fitting in. I care a

lot about how kids feel

about their bodies, so I’d

like to tell you a little

about me.

I’m a pretty big girl, I am

a fat activist, and I study

fat people and ideas about

fatness. I don’t use the

word fat in a bad way, but

in a way that means, “So

what if I’m bigger than

you? Who cares?”

I have always been heavi-

er than other people my

age. When I was a kid, I

heard the same kinds of comments might hear

around school. Many kids

are really insecure and

because of that, they try

to enforce ideas about

how people should be.

That means that people

who are different stand

out and sometimes we are

a target because we don’t

fit how people think we

should be. Some people

think the best way to feel

better about themselves,

to fit in, is to put other

people down. That’s not

the way I think it should

be.

My Story

You’re Fantastic

People will tell you not to

care about what other

people think or say. And

they are right. Really, they

are right. But when peo-

ple say mean things it is

hard not to let it affect

you. We get so many neg-

ative messages about our

bodies, especially as girls

and women.

Trying to ignore it isn’t

enough. We have to fight

off those negative mes-

sages with positive ones.

You are beautiful. If I met

you, I’d probably tell you

that you’re pretty fantas-

tic. People at school, they

may not stop to realize

how fantastic you are…so

you have to listen to peo-

ple who know you, people

who care about you.

I used to have a prettyhard time believing in

myself because I always

got the message that I

wasn’t as good and that I

couldn’t do things other

people did. But that was

all wrong. The message I

got growing up was that I

wasn’t lovable, but that

was all wrong too. I haveso many people who love

me and think I am bril-

liant, beautiful, and fabu-

lous, no matter what I

weigh. People of all sizes

are worthy of love and

friendship and fulfilling

lives.

Links for you!

http://www.hardygirlshealthywomen.org/

http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/

http://www.about -face.org/

http://www.about -face.org/mc/actions/

http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/

what_we_do.aspx?id=197 Listen Here!

A Body Imag

e Newsletter for Kids and Tee

ns

Volume 1, Issue 1

March 7, 2011

Michaela A. Null



fantasy was always that some day I’d

be thin and beautiful and no one

could deny me any longer. But I’mnot thin at all. I’m much fatter, in

fact. But despite that, I’mmuch more awesome than I

ever thought I’d be. I’m con-

fident and fashionable andaccomplished and people

will have a hard time deny-

ing how awesome I am.What’s moreI’m awesome because

of my experiences as a fat girl.

I learned early that when people told

me I couldn’t do something, it was

only a matter of time before I wouldprove them wrong. I’ve even proven

myself wrong, because I never knewI could be fat and awesome at the

same time.

Well, I’m notperfect, but I

am awesome.

See?

I have thin friends who I can dance

circles around. I surprise people with

how well and how long I can dance.This only surprises them because

they make falseassumptions

about me because

of my weight.They think I can’t

do some things

because I’m big.

But, of course, they are wrong.

This year is my ten year high schoolreunion. When I was in school, my

I used to want so badly to be thin.I thought, for so long, that I’d getthin and I’d be beautiful…and

most of all, I’d show everyone,

everyone who looked down onme. It would feel so good to get

that redemption, wouldn’t it?

I did a lot of bad things to mybody trying to be thin. When we

don’t like something, we don’ttend to treat it very nicely, andthat goes for our bodies too. At

some point, after being made to

feel so bad about my body, Istopped enjoying it. It was some-thing I wanted to escape. I learned

that my body was my enemy.

I discovered too late in my lifethat my body was not my enemyafter all. When I loved my body, I

could enjoy life so much more,

and I didn’t have to be thin to dothat. Now I move my bodynotin an attempt to work against it

but because I like to move it and

because I deserve to treat my body

well.

Myth: You will never have cute

clothes/be fashionable.

Reality: Girls of all sizes can be

fashionable, though sometimes itcan be more difficult to find

clothes. Recently, ladies dolled

it up for Fatshion February and

posted their outfits online:

fatshionfebruary.tumblr.com

Myth: No one will ever love

you/date you.

Reality: People of all shapes and

sizes find significant others, goon plenty of dates, etc. Blogger,

Lesley Kinzel, created a website

to show that people of all shapes

and sizes are loved:

love.twowholecakes.org/

index.php?album=fat-love

Myth: You will never be

healthy.

Reality: Health is not about how

much you weigh. Studies showthat women who diet end up less

healthy than women who move

their bodies and eat good thingswithout attention to how much

they weigh.

http://www.lindabacon.org/

Your Weight Doesn’t Dictate Your Worth:Don’t Let it Hold You Back

Loving Your Body

Myths vs. Reality

I learned early that when people

told me I couldn’t do something, it

was only a matter of time before I

would prove them wrong.

LIST E N HE RE !



VOLUM E 1 , ISSUE 1

Meghan Tonjes is a

singer/songwriter ,who created the

Youtube show Project

Lifesize

Watch her on Ellen:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrS94NW5UBw

Kathy Cano-Murillo is

an author and she has her

own crafting business and

blog, where she talks about

doing crafts at CraftyChi-

ca.com

Deb Malkin and Susan Stinson

Deb owns Re/

Dress in Brooklyn,NY, a premiere

vintage & resale

clothing boutique

specializing in

sizes 14 and up

(vintage 10 + up).

Susan is a writer and poet, and Writer

in Residence at Forbes Library in

Northhampton, MA.

Sarah, owner of Carrots, Coffee, and

Tea in San Bruno, California.

Sarah is a great

friend of mine

who owns her

own café where

she encourages

people of all

sizes to love

their bodies

and treat themselves well.

Chenese Lewis is

President of the

Hollywood chap-

ter of the National

Organization for

Women (NOW)

and made “Love

Your Body Day” a NOW event. She is a

sought out speaker regarding body image

and tells girls they do not have to con-

form to beauty ideals to be successful.

Golda Poretsky is a counselor who

helps women learn

healt their relation-

ship with their bod-

ies. She runs a web-

site and has a pod-

cast called BodyLove Wellness.

Cheryl Haworth is an Olympic weight

lifter, who tells girls, “It’s fun to be

strong.”

Joy Nash is a plus-sized actress, model,

and comedienne. She

is known online for

her video “A Fat

Rant” where she

speaks out about the

way larger women

are treated in society.

Nicci Mechler is an artist and mak-

er of zineswhich are hand-made

magazines. She created a zine

called “Fat Girl”

in which she pub-

lished some of

her writing and

photography and

also collaborated

with others.

Anna Guest-Jelley

is an Assistant Di-rector of Women’s

Studies at Vander-

bilt University, but

she also does yoga

and blogs about yoga at CurvyYo-

ga.com, encouraging people of every

size to do yoga!

Michelle Murphy is a

nutritionist, who helps

people of all sizes and

promotes Health At Eve-

ry Size. She also has a

blog called The Fat Nu-

tritionist and has writtena column about her work

for Newsweek.

Dr. Regina Benjamin

is our 18th Surgeon

General. She is founder

and CEO of Bayou La

Batre Rural Health

Clinic in Alabama,

where she helps poor rural Americans

receive health care. Among the numer-

ous awards received by Dr. Benjamin is

the MacArthur Genius Award Fellow-

ship.

Watch her video about how people of

all sizes can be healthy:http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=fvUYWms8P3w

Latoya Peterson is an

author, blogger, and me-

dia consultant. Latoya

blogs about race, and pop

culture, and gaming. Sheis long-time editor of the

blog Racialicious.

Jennifer Portnick is a personal trainer.

Once, she trained to be a Jazzercise in-

structor. When the Jazzercise company

agreed that while she was a great instruc-

tor, they wouldn’t hire her because she

“wasn’t the image of what people wanted

to be” she

was able to

sue for dis-

criminationbecause of a

law in San

Francisco

that says

weight dis-

crimination

is illegal. And she won! She was not

about to be held back because of her size.

Awesome At Any Size! Check these ladies out!



Read the chorus from Pink’s

“Perfect.” When I hear this song,

I think about kids like you. Pretty, pretty please

Don’t you ever, ever feel

Like you’re less than

less than perfect

Pretty, pretty please

If you ever, ever feel

Like you’re nothing

You are perfect to me

BODY LOVE CHALLENGES

Watch Jessica’s Daily Affirmation http://www.youtube.com/watch?

Make a Zine! A zine is a great way to be creative

and express yourself

I have included a Zine called “What is

a Grrrl Zine?” as an example. Really,

you can make it however you want….

But here are a couple of links just in

case:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=Xh1W15BWCUk

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Zine

List 10 Things that You Like About You

Then list 20 more!

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