Tag: representation matters

+Size Matters : Fat Monica & the Reformed Fat Friend Trope

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When I started my blog back in January of 2015 I did so with half of a notebook full of  potential post titles, and blog topics I wanted to cover. These topics included race, fashion, life in NYC, beauty routines and dating, however, even with all those note-filled pages only only one item was underlined, and highlighted under a section I had entitled “+Size Matters” — Fat Monica. It was a blog topic that I had been pushing back discussing because it is a problematic aspect of a popular character from a beloved 90’s sitcom. However, once 2018 started I decided to start the year with another entry to the +Size Matters series. Why? Well we are just finishing off the third week of January which traditionally is when the pressures of diet culture reaches its zenith due to the  weight loss resolutions pushed at the start of the new year. So its basically the perfect time to look at  the very damaging  trope that Fat Monica embodies, that  of the “reformed fat friend” which perpetuates diet culture and the “value” that is attached to thinness especially when it comes to women’s bodies.

To be clear, I know that this particular “Friends” character has pretty much been analyzed to death and for good reason. “Friends” was and still remains to be a popular series, even with its problematic lack of a diverse cast though set in New York City, but it is definitely gaining some strong criticisms  at the moment since it is now streaming on Netflix. People are doing a double take at the sexism, homophobia, stereotyping and fat-phobia/fat shaming that is present in almost every episode. Continue reading →

Disney Fangirl Fashion feat. Little Petal

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Being plus size and a huge Disney, Harry Potter, Anime, J-rock, and Marvel fangirl is really not easy. For one thing, when it comes to shopping for geek/nerdy tees, and cosplay apparel it is rare to find pieces in sizes larger than an XL for women.  Then there is the expectation that one should only choose characters that are of your same race. As I mentioned before in an earlier post,  cosplaying is often seen as something that should only be done by those that “can truly emulate a character as depicted in comics, film and video games.” This obviously leaves people of color as well as plus size women like myself out or at risk of getting highly criticized by the geek community.

For this reason, when it came time to order my  Little Petal convertible dress, I had originally chose the Korra dress because I figured that that was a character I could get away with cosplaying, but when I started communicating with designer, Danielle Ward I changed my mind.  As a body positive designer and business owner, she doesn’t believe in things like size limiting who you can dress up as, rather you should think of who you see yourself as. For me that made the decision easy – Esmeralda from Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

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+Size Matters: Valiant’s Faith Mini-Series Review & Giveaway

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Its been a while since my last installment of the +Size Matters series. I know I promised the internet that I would be posting regular videos, that clearly has not been a thing I could actually do. So while I am not going to promise anything else, I am just going to do my best to post videos when I can. Another promise I had made was that my next video was going to be a +Size Matters review of Shrek and that’s turned out to be very difficult because of what I want to present with that video but it is in the works. I am still editing and trying to find usable footage so keep a look out for that because it will hopefully be done by the end of the summer.

If you follow me on Instagram you know that I’ve been talking about Faith for a while. I have been happy and excited about it since it was announced last year. I even went as far as visiting the  Valiant Booth at NYCC last year for some Faith news and possibly merch. Until this point I didn’t see a plus size superhero unless it was on deviant-art. It is highly unlikely that Faith will be the first and the last plus size superhero. Faith is probably not going to be the last plus sized super hero. While most people don’t see the need for such a hero, I do.  I grew up watching X-men the Animated Series, and as much as  I loved the characters Jubliee and Rogue, I would have liked someone in the cast be someone that looked like me. I have never been hourglass and thin like those characters were so to see someone with a more realistic body shape would have been very empowering. I am more of a Marvel fan and I hadn’t heard about Valiant until recently, though considering the fact that they announced that Faith is getting a full story run beginning in July, they definitely have a new fan. Check out my review below!

Disclaimer: I don’t give much of a plot summary because I wanted to make sure that this review was spoiler free for those who haven’t had the chance to read the mini-series, but basically the series follows Faith as she tries to have a life away from her former crime fighting team while saving the innocent when a new threat arrives. The series does reference the Harbingers comics, though just enough to remind the reader where this character is from and where Faith’s story began.

I am very happy to announce  that this video includes my first giveaway ever!  To learn more about it, watch until the end of the video. Originally i was going to hold off on this giveaway and video because I wanted to get these signed at comic con but for the first time in six years I will not be able to go because I can’t afford a ticket. (Those are the realities of being unemployed.)

Visit my Rafflecopter page here for a chance to win this complete set of comics.  Winner will be announced on Wednesday, June 15th at 12 pm EST. Good luck!

+Size Matters: Glee

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I’ll be honest, I didn’t get into Glee until I heard that Darren Criss of YouTube/StarKid fame was cast to play a new character during Season 2. (As of today I still haven’t completed season one, mostly because I can’t stand the character of Terri, Will Schuster’s first wife.) An American musical dramedy, Glee aired on Fox from 2009 to 2015. The series initially focused on performing arts-loving Spanish teacher William Schuster reinventing the McKinley High School Glee Club, the New Directions, challenging outcast students to follow their dreams by taking part of the show choir competition circuit. While they work on their performances the members of the New Directions struggle with low self-esteem, relationships, race, sexuality, bulling, eating disorders and other social issues. Though working to present show had a lot of flaws (many of the serious issues and problems are resolved in a very ridiculous, unrealistic way) though that still doesn’t take away from much of the positive representation it brought on. Glee is rare in that it made a point to have racial, gender and size diversity with its protagonists, antagonists and supporting cast. They weren’t completely left in the side lines, and even better was the fact that the story lines of these characters rarely dealt with the fact that they were different. Note that I said RARELY, and I will get to that in a minute. As always we will start with the good by looking at four of the plus size characters of Glee. Continue reading →