Well hell-oooo Axis of Fat!

I'm Omega. Yeah, as in Ω ..

I'm a goth. I'm a steampunk. I'm a DJ. I'm a feminist. I'm a mother. I'm a geek. I'm poly.

Oh - and I'm fat.

I have been gifted by the fates with a classic hourglass figure. Regardless of my weight, my waist is always 10-15 inches smaller than my bust and hips, which are always the same size. It was true when I was a size 8, it was true when I was a size 20, and it's true now, when I am a size 16.Omega, being a poser despite the signs..

I have bright, bright, BRIGHT red hair. It's been this way well over a decade. A lot less people freak out and point since I moved to Melbourne from Brisbane a year ago.

I have two amazing partners, and a wonderful nearly-teenage daughter, and a cat, and two rabbits, and a vege garden... I have a job in Communications that I enjoy, and I have enough hobbies to sink a battleship. My world is filled with love and laughter. Life is good.

And that's exactly the mantra I was repeating to myself while listening to two of my co-workers talk about me. Our office bathroom is right next to the tea-room. You can hear through the wall. They didn't realise I was in there.. and were saying..

(for clarity, let's call them Office Bimbo 1 & 2.)

OB1 = Omega's jacket is nice.

OB2 = Yeah.

OB1 = It's such a shame. She obviously spends a lot of time on her appearance. But still she's just..

OB2 = Fat?

OB1 = Yeah. I mean, no matter what she does, you know...

OB2 = Yeah. I know. I'd rather die than be fat.

OB1 = Yeah, me too.

Now I'd like to be able to tell you that I burst out of the ladies loo, enjoying their stunned mortification for a moment, and then said something blistering and witty and wonderful that rocked their skinny little bodies back against the wall with its sheer awesomeness.. and then I sauntered my sassy large ass right out of there with a triumphant wiggle.

But.. I didn't. I just sat there. Till they went back to their desks. And then I went back to mine.

I have to work with them, you see. And - as much as their opinion annoys me, they have a right to it. No matter how stupid and ignorant it is, they're entitled to it. I mean, I'd rather DIE than be that stupid, know what I am saying?

But gaaah.. they'd rather DIE than look like me? That's pretty harsh.

Can you blame them, though? I mean, the range of "acceptable" if you listen to our media is pretty slim. narrow. not much wriggle room. (ha - see what I did there?)

Take this for example. This ad is currently holding pride-of-place on a huuuuuge billboard outside Flinders St station at the moment. I have seen it on buses and plenty of other places too. It's for Kayser Lingere..

It's selling underwear for different shapes of women. Great idea! But the models they have chosen...

Well, look for yourself:

Kayser ad - pear

Kayser ad - hourglass

Kayser ad - column

Kayser ad - apple

Now.. if you are anything like me - you will ask yourself.. are these the same girl?? (I dont think so..but they are so similar, it's hard to tell)  Is this photoshopped? (to within an inch of its life).. why oh why do people still think it's okay to chop off the heads/faces of people in ads?!?

Their slogan? Perfect Fit. Whatever your size. (so long as it's not more than an 18, or you're fresh out of luck.) Sorry. I added that last bit myself. Told you I worked in Communications.

Don't get me wrong. These women are gorgeous. Toned and terrific, every one. And now that the pixel wizards have waved their wand.. utterly flawless... but they are very, very similar. There are as many variations of smaller women as there are of bigger ones. Why, then, did Kayser choose these four, almost indistinguishable models when demonstrating different shapes?

Thank heavens they 'shopped in cute little props to signify what "shape" they are meant to be, because otherwise I would find it very hard to tell.

Is it any wonder that young women would "rather die" than deviate from this "norm?" Not that is the norm anywhere outside the magazine ads. and the billboards. and the bus ads. Is this the message we want to be sending?

All right, let's look what our friends at Kayser have to say about MY shape. The aforementioned hourglass. Here's the description from their website. The brackets are mine.

THE HOURGLASS SHAPE

The hourglass woman is considered the most feminie. With an ample bust and bottom she attracts a lot of attention. The hourglass woman must make the most of her curves, which are in all the right places.

(Now that doesn't sound so bad, does it.. no siree!)

ARE YOU AN HOURGLASS?

Think tiny waist, voluptuous hips & generous thighs....

(In what alternate reality could the model they have chosen be described as "voluptuous". We fatties have been using that word to avoid THE EFF WORD for years. And generous? If this is their idea of "generous" I wouldn't want to work there come Xmas bonus time, that's for sure...)

.....the shape that most women want to be.

(Really? Can someone tell the girls in my office that, please??)

Tubby. I remember that's what my grandfather used to call me as a child. My family would spend every Christmas and Easter holidays with him, and whenever he saw me it would be "nice to see you've lost some weight, tubby!" in a very sarcastic tone.

The good stories outweigh (hah) the bad with my grandfather, but he did bring to light from a very early age that I was different to other children.  I was "tubby" or "chunky" or one of the many other synonyms for fat that is used so frequently. And that was very quickly pointed out to me to be BAD. If I questioned as to WHY it was bad i was given the "oh well, it's so unhealthy!" schtick. It's a pity I didn't think about it more critically and asked for some unbiased studies to back it up, but hey, I was about eight at the time.

My journey (hate that term) into Fat Acceptance is still relatively new.  In the short time I have been involved with the movement however, my happiness has increased exponentially. I hope that as Fat Acceptance becomes more commonplace, more people begin asking questions. That people increase questioning the media, businesses and their government as to why its okay to openly discriminate against fats. As to why businesses are allowed to profit from diet plans that are clearly risking people's health. And how come fat people aren't catered to more in the fashion marketplace? (Especially if the OBESITY EPIDEMIC OOGABOOGA is KILLING US ALLLLLL! )

The  biggest question more people need to ask however, is why is it more important having people be thin than having them love themselves? If you're naturally thin then good for you, but people come in all shapes and sizes - and that's perfectly okay. Beauty should be in the eye of the beholder, not what the media tells us beauty should be.