Big is Beautiful

[Density]

Ran across this on my newsfeed today and thought it would be a nice share. Big is beautiful.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nude-photos-prove-big-and-beautiful-people-have-big-and-beautiful-love-stories_us_56be10d2e4b08ffac124dff9?ir=Black+Voices&section=us_black-voices&utm_hp_ref=black-voices&


SUBSTANTIA JONES
"Romantic love, for me, is a most intoxicating state of being," photographer Substantia Jones told The Huffington Post. "So I appreciate it having its own holiday."

Jones is the brilliant mind -- and proudly fat body -- behind The Adipositivity Project, a photography series encouraging people to love their bodies, no matter its size or shape (adipose means "of or relating to fat"). With her Valentine's Series, Jones zooms in on couples in love, addressing the lack of representation when it comes to romance and non-conforming bodies.

In her words: "Fat people deserve love and sex and a good, deep hit of the happy, just like everyone else."


SUBSTANTIA JONES
On February 14, when your eyes will be bombarded with predictable, sugary sweet images of heteronormative couples expressing their love via expensive diamonds and mediocre fancy chocolates, Jones offers a radically different vision of love. Real, raw and big. Jones herself has always been a fan of the holiday.

"When I'm in a relationship, I'm cool with it," she explained. "When I'm not in a relationship, I'm cool with it. I've been to V-Day dinners for single friends. I've gotten candy and flowers from platonics. You make it what you want it to be. In fact, the finale of this year's 'Adipositivity Valentine Series' is all about celebrating whatever the day means to you, even if that doesn't include hot monkey love."


SUBSTANTIA JONES
The timely series features a diverse variety of couples getting their romance on -- whether posing cheekily in burlesque gear or cuddling gently in the nude. The images, as you might imagine, come with some pretty cute stories as well.

"My two most memorable shoots this year were both for the current 'Valentine Series,'" Jones explained. "I photographed 'The Adipositivity Project''s first ever male couple in their undies during a cold morning on the East River Esplanade. It earned us approving smiles, horn honks (admittedly of unknown sentiment), and thumbs-ups from passersby. And they didn't even know they were witnessing history being made(ish)."

The second memorable shoot ended not so romantically, with a surprise visit by the NYPD. "The other recent shoot I'll not soon forget was while photographing the couple with the giant wings painted on the wall behind them. It was under a rail bridge in Harlem, and we drew a small audience (not unusual), followed by police intervention (also not unusual). But this was the first time an Adipositivity shoot was interrupted by police sirens and flashing lights. The cop was cool about it, saying he appreciated our pursuit of 'artistic expression.' But we did have to move along."

Jones' work capture all the beauty of V-Day, sans the saccharin of Hallmark cards, stuffed animals and dinner reservations. Through the passion-filled photos, Jones hopes to show the world that, whether or not you're paying attention, fat people are getting some, thank you very much.

"For every kid whose parent insisted they’d never 'land' [eyeroll] a partner unless they lost weight, have a look," Jones said in an earlier interview with The Huffington Post. "For every fat person who’s let some nimrod convince them their relationship isn’t working because of a jiggly tummy, have a look."

The images capture pure, happy love, the kind of love that all humans deserve. Couples interested in dropping trou for next year's "Adipositivity Valentine Series," contact her at adipositivity@gmail.com. "I promise I'll be gentle," she assured. Happy Valentine's Day, lovers!

 

 

[rdfcguy]

Though I agree that no one should be shamed for their bodies, it isn't right to use this to justify unhealthy lifestyles that lead to obesity. I think this article is very near that thin line of body acceptance and thin-shaming/obesity-justification, or could easily be taken that way.

[Danee]

Though I agree that no one should be shamed for their bodies, it isn't right to use this to justify unhealthy lifestyles that lead to obesity. I think this article is very near that thin line of body acceptance and thin-shaming/obesity-justification, or could easily be taken that way.

I am on the same vein as Eric here.  The origin of FKK had as part of its philosophy, fitness and health and while everyone does not need to look like a run-way model or a Greek Adonis, the fitness aspect is important.

[NudeNathan]

Though I agree that no one should be shamed for their bodies, it isn't right to use this to justify unhealthy lifestyles that lead to obesity. I think this article is very near that thin line of body acceptance and thin-shaming/obesity-justification, or could easily be taken that way.

I am on the same vein as Eric here.  The origin of FKK had as part of its philosophy, fitness and health and while everyone does not need to look like a run-way model or a Greek Adonis, the fitness aspect is important.

  A healthy human is beautiful, no matter shape or size. 

[jay_p]

I agree

[Sunlover]

Though I agree that no one should be shamed for their bodies, it isn't right to use this to justify unhealthy lifestyles that lead to obesity. I think this article is very near that thin line of body acceptance and thin-shaming/obesity-justification, or could easily be taken that way.

I am on the same vein as Eric here.  The origin of FKK had as part of its philosophy, fitness and health and while everyone does not need to look like a run-way model or a Greek Adonis, the fitness aspect is important.

  A healthy human is beautiful, no matter shape or size. 

I agree with it, however it's a paradoxical sentence, since if the shape (or: size) gets too mad, you can't really call such a human healthy :P

[NudeNathan]

Though I agree that no one should be shamed for their bodies, it isn't right to use this to justify unhealthy lifestyles that lead to obesity. I think this article is very near that thin line of body acceptance and thin-shaming/obesity-justification, or could easily be taken that way.

However, obesity has crippling consequences, such as higher blood pressure and a higher risk of falling ill to certain diseases, such as heart disease.  We shouldn't be shaming fat people, of course.  However, we should treat obesity as a concern.  When an individual sees their friend is going through depression, they are expected, and it is encouraged, for that individual to help their friend in whatever ways they can.  Similarly, we should see obesity as a threat to our friends and loved ones, and help them, but obviously not belittle them.

Exactly! Couldn't have said it better. 

[Wildborn]

We should never judge others on there appearance, I've seen some rather large people at naturist resorts, but i don't look the other way or comment. We are all beautiful.

Having said that here in the UK child obesity is on the rise has has been for sometime.  Who's fault is this? The parents? Schools? The government's? I'd say all. Child obesity is more on the rise of single parent families and low income families. Some schools serve fatty foods instead of healthy foods due to lack of money.  A low income family is more likely to buy more unhealthy foods at the supermarket than fresh vegetables and fruit due to the unhealthy foods being way more cheap. The problem here is education and money and we can't turn a blind eye to this situation otherwise you will see more and more children in and out of hospital due to health problems.

[Sunlover]

@Wildborn well, if you, as a British citizen, blame [the lack of] money for the rising obesity among the society [especially among the youth], then I have no words. I mean, Britain is a wealthy society, one of the world's most wealthy in fact. If it was that way - the poorer the people, the more obese they become because they only eat fast-and-creepy-food - then Americans, Brits should be among the fittest, well-built body owners while people from Ukraine or North Korea or Cambodia should be the most obese. Well, it doesn't work.

I blame the greed of individuals (perhaps many Brits prefer spending money on expensive foreign trips or new cars than on proper food?), the greed of food corporations (if there's a penny available to cut, we cut the costs, simple) and the development of all this chemical stuff being used in food production - it's partly the fault of regulators that allow the chemistry to be used in food industry, that's how I see it. But for God's sake, not the low income!

[Wildborn]

@Wildborn well, if you, as a British citizen, blame [the lack of] money for the rising obesity among the society [especially among the youth], then I have no words. I mean, Britain is a wealthy society, one of the world's most wealthy in fact. If it was that way - the poorer the people, the more obese they become because they only eat fast-and-creepy-food - then Americans, Brits should be among the fittest, well-built body owners while people from Ukraine or North Korea or Cambodia should be the most obese. Well, it doesn't work.

I blame the greed of individuals (perhaps many Brits prefer spending money on expensive foreign trips or new cars than on proper food?), the greed of food corporations (if there's a penny available to cut, we cut the costs, simple) and the development of all this chemical stuff being used in food production - it's partly the fault of regulators that allow the chemistry to be used in food industry, that's how I see it. But for God's sake, not the low income!

Britain is not a wealthy society. Food banks in England, Wales and Scotland are full of families that are struggling on a daily basis. Child poverty has been on the rise for over 10 years or more.

[sevves]

Britain is not a wealthy society. Food banks in England, Wales and Scotland are full of families that are struggling on a daily basis. Child poverty has been on the rise for over 10 years or more.

@SunloverPL the gap is important, there are many rich people but there are a lot of poor people. the gap is widening and you see perverting stuff on both sides. and yes, i support the fact that more obesity means mostly less money to spend on good food. aldi is gaining a lot in the uk giving a really tesco a hard time.

there has been a recent study about wealth, london city west should be the richest region in the EU. now the surprise, prague and bratislava are among the leaders. because they include buying power, bratislava is very cheap.

[Sunlover]

Well @Wildborn if you say that Brits are not wealthy, it's a surprise for me. Why do millions of Poles go there, then? Because the salaries are from 3 to 5 times higher there, depending on job type. I really see no point in linking the obesity with low income because in general the citizens of every single sountry were much, much, much more poor 150 years ago than they are now. We're all super-rich compared to what we had back then. And obesity is obviously rather a new problem that hit us along with INCREASED wealt among societies. Plus, there's much more fat people in the rich countries than in the poor ones. Blame the lifestyle, blame the bad patterns kids follow (and parents don't react on time), especially blame the food industry and its weak regulators, but please don't blame low income for obesity.

[sevves]

@SunloverPL : i think you mix something here. why are millions of poles going there? if they go where salaries are the highest, they probably should come to switzerland.
BUT:
1. poles go there because there is already a strong community of poles like there is a strong community of turkish people in germany.
2. getting 10x the salary you earned in your home country hasnt told you anything about living costs in your new country.
3. cost of living is much higher here, i can tell you that for a classic small menu from mcdonalds you pay here in switzerland about 12CHF, this is today about 46 zloty. this is a rather cheap lunch in switzerland if you dont get supported like having a company restaurant. if you dont have the money to buy better food, because we have seen all what happens when you only eat burgers, you get fat. your low income doesnt allows you to invest money in healthy stuff when you are working full time and need to earn for your children. most parents know this but they dont have the power to care about this.

[Wildborn]

Well @Wildborn if you say that Brits are not wealthy, it's a surprise for me. Why do millions of Poles go there, then? Because the salaries are from 3 to 5 times higher there, depending on job type. I really see no point in linking the obesity with low income because in general the citizens of every single sountry were much, much, much more poor 150 years ago than they are now. We're all super-rich compared to what we had back then. And obesity is obviously rather a new problem that hit us along with INCREASED wealt among societies. Plus, there's much more fat people in the rich countries than in the poor ones. Blame the lifestyle, blame the bad patterns kids follow (and parents don't react on time), especially blame the food industry and its weak regulators, but please don't blame low income for obesity.

Yes I will blame it on low incomes, because that's a fact here in the UK. Have you not heard of the UK governments failed Austerity measures???? I always find it funny when people in different countries actually think the UK is some kinda booming economy country. Maybe you should come over here and go to one of the many food banks here in the UK. You'd soon change your tune.

[Sunlover]

Of course I am aware of the higher living costs in better developed economies, but still I doubt that those are as much higher as the salaries, compared to poorer countries.

There is something like the Purchasing Power Parity which tells you how a standardized basket of goods is afordable in particular countries. So after those adjustments, Switzerland performs 58000 US dollars per head, the UK makes almost 40000 USD and Poland 26000 USD (data from 2014 or 2015). So AFTER you adjust those number to cost of living, this is the comparison how rich those countries are.

Now, OK, I agree - ten times higher salary in Switzerland does not make a Polish worker 10 times richer when he moves there. But obviously an average Swiss citizen can afford more than double that much as an average Polish citizen. Also the gap between PL and GB is big. And that's why 'm surprised that @Wildborn thinks that low income leads the Brits to obesity being a bigger problem than, for example, in Poland.