Time, I think, for an open thread. And while I’m being good to you, I’ll throw in one of these, as a bonus.

Because, yes, it’s time to remind patrons that this rickety barge, on whose seating your arses rest, is kept afloat by the kindness of strangers. If you’d like to help it remain buoyant a while longer, and remain ad-free, there’s an orange button below with which to monetise any love. Debit and credit cards are accepted. For those wishing to express their love regularly, there’s a monthly subscription option top left. And if one-click haste is called for, my PalPay.Me page can be found here. Additionally, any Amazon UK shopping done via this link or the search widget top right, or for Amazon US via this link, results in a small fee for your host at no extra cost to you.

For newcomers wishing to know more about what’s been going on here for the last fourteen years, in over 3,000 posts and over 100,000 comments, the reheated series is a pretty good place to start – in particular, the end-of-year-summaries, which convey the fullest flavour of what it is we do. A sort of blog concentrate. If you like what you find there… well, there’s lots more of that.

If you can, do take a moment to poke through the discussion threads too. The posts are intended as starting points, not full stops, and the comments are where much of the good stuff is waiting to be found. And do please join in.

As always, thanks for the support, the comments, and the company.

Now share ye links and bicker.

Speaking, as we were, of rotundity, here’s a hot intersectional take, delivered with beaming certainty:

Actively not wanting to be fat is fatphobia, and therefore you’re fatphobic. 

You see, while “literally nobody is saying” that you must want to be fat, you should do nothing to avoid it or to delay the unsightly expansion of any body parts. Readers who find this a slim distinction must learn that “there is little to no evidence that we have any control over our size” and must therefore “just stop wanting size changes in general.” Readers who regard weight gain as a “size change,” and not a welcome one, should presumably say nothing and act casual. 

Your ignorance and wickedness thus identified, you must,

Commit to unlearning your fatphobia.

Now just stand there and be scolded, damn you.

Mr William Hornby, whose ponderings are shared above and whose pronouns are announced, is an “advocate, TikToker, actor and singer,” and is soon to graduate from Temple University with a degree in musical theatre. He is, of course, “raising awareness,” a mission that entails steering his followers to a Fat Liberation Syllabus For Revolutionary Leftists, where we learn that,

Fat liberation is a radical anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, anti-state movement that was started by fat Black and Brown disabled queer and trans people.

And where we’re told, quite emphatically, that a reluctance to become fat is,

intrinsically entangled with white supremacy, anti-Blackness, settler colonialism, and capitalism.

And therefore, obviously, really, really bad. The goal, then, for all chubby-and-enlightened people, is to “abolish capitalism and settler colonial states like the US,” along with “abolishing prisons and police,” and dismantling the “fatphobic logic of productivity, discipline, and personal responsibility.” One can only hope that this revolutionary project doesn’t involve stairs or significant exertion.  

Mr Hornby’s list of relevant resources also includes a therapist search engine. Though whether that’s for the weight issues or the revolutionary leftism, I couldn’t say.

“The teacher did not appear to know she was being recorded.”

The inclusive, caring world of sixth grade education.

More here. 

Also, open thread. Share ye links and bicker. 

The concept of sideways. || The scene of the crime. || At last, high-speed hover cars. (h/t, STG) || “Social justice publishing.” || Related. || Perverse and insatiable, there is no cure. || Rolling with it. || Beer vortex. || If the Moon were a disco ball. A giant, somewhat terrifying disco ball. (h/t, Elephants Gerald) || Ladies at large. || Felt lemonade. || “A deadly presence.” (Or, when you’re being bullied and you don’t even realise it.) || When hypocrisy is a default. || Seeing-eye shoes. || I laughed and I’m not sorry. || Simpler times. || “Black people can’t be racist,” says big black racist. || Balloon versus orange peel. || A boy and his dog. || Suboptimal translation. || And finally, relaxingly, a foot massage of note.

Ms Kelly’s outlook, seen below, seems rather fraught and a tad contrived.

And so, if a friend or colleague is trying to lose weight, which isn’t always easy, and this friend or colleague makes visible progress, then, naturally, you shouldn’t encourage them. Lest they press on and become happy. You see, according to Ms Kelly, our expert in such matters, “anti-fatness” – i.e., complimenting a friend or colleague for losing weight and achieving a goal – is “a perpetuation and enforcement of white supremacist beauty standards.” Sheer beastliness. If you must acknowledge the accomplishment at all, it seems you’re only allowed to do it in a curiously roundabout way – say, by talking about their shoes. 

Other, perhaps more obvious approaches are of course available. 

Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.