Adipositivity 292 - The Ditto Rant Rant
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Dastardly Duds Are Coming to Light Your Puppies on Fire!
It's been a week since Beth Ditto's clothing line for Evans was introduced, and in the days since, I've heard it variously described with words normally reserved for the recounting of a genocide or a mass baby stomping. Or at least a decent sized plague of locusts. I've several times had to remind myself I was reading about clothes.
To those who say Ditto's line is a mistake (I'm milding down the language), or disrespects fat women, bear in mind, fat women who choose to dress with humor and irony are happy to have another source for fuckyouwear. I'd like for fatfolk to be able to wear what they damn well please, ideally without the judgment of their sisters. I think Beth Ditto has given uppity fatties a megaphone with which to more loudly shout 'step off' to those who'd prefer we 'hide the fat beneath an expanse of matte black.' (Actually heard that suggested on one of those dress-the-way-we-say shows.)
We need all the megaphones we can get. Even if some choose to adorn theirs with big, sequin-y Nagelheads.
'80s-esque ain't my thing, and yes, there are pieces in this collection I don't understand. But of the 21 items, there are three I like enough to buy (kinda fierce, actually), and another couplefew I wouldn't kick outta bed. Let's call that 25%. Is there another designer or retailer enjoying a 25% success rate with me? Not a one. Not even close. But my taste matters not. It's the freedom and ability to express that taste that's at question here. What a monochromatic world we'd live in if there weren't varied tastes or assorted sizes. Or Beth Dittos.
That, and I think the freak-eyed kitty shirt is hilarious.
Substantia Jones
Adipose: Of or relating to fat.
Positivity: Characterized by or displaying acceptance or affirmation.
MISSION:
The Adipositivity Project aims to promote size acceptance, not by listing the merits of big people, or detailing examples of excellence (these things are easily seen all around us), but rather, through a visual display of fat physicality. The sort that's normally unseen.
The hope is to widen definitions of physical beauty. Literally.
The photographs here are close details of the fat female form, without the inclusion of faces. One reason for this is to coax observers into imagining they're looking at the fat women in their own lives, ideally then accepting them as having aesthetic appeal which, for better or worse, often translates into more complete forms of acceptance.
The women you see in these images are educators, executives, mothers, musicians, professionals, performers, artists, activists, clerks, and writers. They are perhaps even the women you've clucked at on the subway, rolled your eyes at in the market, or joked about with your friends.
This is what they look like with their clothes off.
Some are showing you their bodies proudly. Others timidly. And some quite reluctantly. But they all share a determination in altering commonly accepted notions of a narrow and specific beauty ideal.
Bookmark adipositivity.com and check back often, as new photographs are added regularly(ish). And please help spread the message. The Adipositivity Project: Changing attitudes about the aesthetic validity of big women, one fat fanny at a time.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER:
Substantia Jones’ photography has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the US East Coast, and has appeared in The New York Times, Time Out New York, and some other publications she can’t recall at this time, but you probably haven’t heard of them anyway. She is biographied in the 2006 Who’s Who in America (though under the name her momma gave her), and back in the day, she won some photography awards which would sound somewhat Mayberry if listed here, but at the time, they damn near made her cry. Still kinda do.
She lives in Manhattan, where she also sometimes steps out (more like lays around) in front of the camera, and on some of those occasions, the snapping is done by her trusty sidekick, Dr. H, who also fetches her banana popsicles and maintains her muse, a certain pancake colored dog who’s asked that his name not be mentioned on the Internet.
Ms. Jones likes crispy calamari, Squidbillies, and the ika okonomiyaki from Otafuku in the East Village, if only the lines weren’t so long.
ANNOUNCING: TAP Shop is now open!
To mark the first 100 Adipositivity Project images and to answer those who've asked for T-shirts, calendars, and posters, a CafePress shop has been set up with the requested items, as well as mugs, bumper stickers, mousepads and greeting cards. Yeah. Went a little crazy there. So go get your merch on!
Visit TAP Shop
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