NOLOSE 2008 Conference
September 26-28
Clarion Hotel, Northampton, Mass.
2008 Final Program
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Welcome!
Welcome to NOLOSE 2008! More Than Just Fat*: The Intersection of All of Our Identities
So what does the "intersection" of our identities mean?
We are all more than just fat. We all occupy multiple places in the spectrum of humanity, and each one of our different identities shapes and impacts all of the others. At this year's conference, we want to focus on how we bring our fat to our other identities and how we bring our other identities to our fat. How do we embrace and find value in the multiple perspectives and backgrounds that we bring to the table? How do we make space for those who are different from ourselves in the fat liberation movement? And how do we get others to make space for us? How do we stand as allies to those who are marginalized and discriminated against in ways that we are not? How do we link fat activism to other movements for social and economic justice?
This weekend, several caucuses and workshops will be speaking to this theme. However, we don't want the conversations to stop there. We encourage you to continue talking over meals, on breaks, in your room, at the pool and throughout the weekend?and beyond the conference, into your daily life! We are only one conference with a limited amount of programming time, but want to keep the conversation going. We want NOLOSE to be a place where we can bring all of who we are to the table and talk about our differences and how they impact the ways in which we experience fat. Where we figure out together how to continue to build a dynamic, nuanced movement that addresses fat phobia as fundamentally connected to other oppressions and to the broader movement for social and economic justice. In order to make this happen, we need all of our voices.
We encourage everyone to give this good thought throughout the weekend, and to you lend your voice. We're also here to feed each other. We're here to learn from each other and swap our amazing resources. We're here to celebrate, to dance and flirt and debate and organize. To sex it up and frolic and eat great food and be silly and push our own limits and make mistakes and get it on. We're here to figure some things out about ourselves, what we want from each other, where we fall short, what we have to offer to the communities we're a part of, and the communities that we're trying to build. So let's get started!
Thanks for being here. And for all you do, every day.
Big fat love,
The NOLOSE Board
* More than just fat is the official tagline of Phat Camp, an innovative, body empowerment project for youth.
Click to view:
This year, we'll have 24/7 exclusive access to a private, tented, heated outdoor pool for clothing-optional swimming throughout the weekend! Come enjoy whenever you'd like! Please note that we also have two workshops and planned swim parties scheduled.
Unique shopping opps: bring extra cash if you want to participate in our silent auction with some kick-ass prizes. This year, we'll also have Re/Dress and Cupcake and Cuddlebunny vending clothing and wares, as well as Happy Fish, Smiling Star jewelry!
All meals, activities and materials are included in your registration fee, unless specified.
Friday, Sept. 26:
4:00 - 9:00 - Registration and check-in
4:00 - 6:30 - Ice-breakers and workshops:
Drop-in Crafting - (Sondra Solovay and Jodi Longobardo)
Are you crafty?? Join us Friday after registration to stretch your creative muscles and meet fellow attendees. We'll have 3 stations for your crafting pleasure: a beading station, where you can make bracelets and necklaces to wear, to give away, or to donate to the nolose silent auction; a card-making station, where you can make your own calling cards to hand out to all the hotties you meet during the weekend; and an anarchist's diet book, where the group will have the opportunity to deface and decorate a diet book, which will then be auctioned off to benefit nolose. Come join us!
Pool time - The pool will be available all afternoon for frolicking and socializing. Clothing optional.
The Fattest Movie EVER Workshop, Part I - (Naima Lowe)
I would like to make a short documentary about NOLOSE and fat activism. Interested people can come talk to me on camera about the conference, their experiences, and their approaches to fat activism and fat-positive living. My interest is in creating a safe environment for people to talk about these experiences, so I WON'T be walking around the conference shoving a camera in people's faces. Instead, those who voluntarily come to the workshop will be asked to share their experiences and interests. There will be two session times: one at the beginning of the conference where people can talk about expectations and hopes and one at the end where people can reflect.
Shabbat Candle Lighting - (Nehirim: GLBT Jewish Culture and Spirituality)
Come say hello and meet the other Jews at NOLOSE with a brief candle lighting on Friday night. Non-Jewish partners welcome!
Single…for Now - (Vanessa Lowe)
Let's try a new take on the old "Singles Meet & Greet." This will be a gathering of single women getting to know one another by talking about what the single life is like; the highs and the not so highs; as well as how we build community, how we spend our single weekday evenings, what dating's like, etc.
6:30 - 8:30 - Dinner
8:30 - 10:00 - Welcome & Opening ceremonies
10:00 - late -
Pool Party
Movie watching: Fat on Celluloid – (curated by Allyson Mitchell)
A program of short animation, experimental film and music video, ranging from sweet to difficult, but always political. The screening will be followed by a salon-style discussion that will touch on issues of representation, celebration, shame and the body & autobiography.
Saturday, Sept. 27:
8:15 – 9:30 – Water Aerobics (Elena Escalera): Come check out a no-impact exercise that is fun, good for your body, and easy on the joints: Aqua Aerobics! We will meet in the pool to strengthen our muscles and improve cardiovascular fitness. You need to be able to swim (since this is in the deep end of the pool), and able to get in and out of the pool. You don?t need any fancy equipment; water resistance will be all we need. Movements can be modified to accommodate individual needs.
8:45 - 10:15 - Breakfast
10:15 - 11:30 - Announcements, Keynote Speaker: Geleni Fontaine
12:00 - 1:15 - Concurrent activities:
People of Color Caucus (Tara Shuai and Miasia)
A supportive space for people of color at NOLOSE to mobilize, strategize, debrief, and discuss the intersections of race, fat, and other oppressions. During this session, we will examine such topics as:
* Identifying both successes and failures/challenges within the larger Fat Acceptance/Activist (FA) movement around its relevance and attention to POC experiences and needs.
* Identifying the strategic directions where we would like to see NOLOSE head and concrete suggestions or plans for how to get there.
* Identifying the strategic directions where we would like to see the FA movement head and concrete suggestions or plans for how to get there.
This session is open to self-identified People of Color only.
Unlearning Racism (Cristy Cardinal)
This ain't no picnic. While it may be irreverent at times, this workshop will be a no-holds-barred discussion of what white people can do to work toward an end to racism, as well as other issues of oppression.
If people of color could end it on their own, racism would be a sidebar in our history textbooks by now. This isn't a theory class, though some nuts and bolts will be discussed. Some basic concepts like privilege and oppression will be defined and discussed. The hope is to leave the workshop with some very practical ideas about ways to be not only personally working toward unlearning racism, but spending our white privilege in ways that are beneficial rather than harmful or marginalizing. I am not going to lie; there may be parts of this that are uncomfortable or painful. That isn't any reason to stay away. I can also tell a good joke.
Fat As Disability/Fat Ass Disability - (Jeanette Beal)
Disability refracts much of what it means to be fat. It is often viewed as the result of being fat or fatness itself. The ultimate fear factor, it inhabits a fault line in the size-acceptance movement. So what does it mean to be fat and disabled? What does it mean to be fat and also happen to be disabled? This interactive, art-driven workshop will ask those questions and attempt to answer them in poetry, prose, non-fiction, and participant-led performances.
Intergenerational Fat Voices - An Interview With My Grandmother- Discussion and Writing (Genne Murphy)
In May of 2008 I recorded an audio interview/discussion with my 80 year-old Grandmother about her experiences growing up as a fat woman and Italian-American in a small, white working-class American town in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. We explored our experiences and unique relationships to one another around fatness, specific family dynamics, our Italian-American heritage, class, and relationships between fat and gender. My Grandmother does not speak as a fat activist, or use the language of radical fat or identity politics; yet her experiences were and are important, and she has not had the avenue to discuss these in such a specific way prior to our interview. During this workshop I will play audio excerpts of this interview to 1) Provide an opportunity to share intergenerational voices of fat experiences, and 2) Prompt guided discussion and writing exercises for workshop attendees around the unique intersections of family and fatness (and as informed by our other race/class/ethnic/queer identities). This workshop aims to create a safe space for attendees to talk, write and share - particularly personal, anecdotal observations about their own familial relationships/dynamics around fat identities.
1:30 - 2:00 - Boxed lunches available for purchase
2:15 - 3:30 - Concurrent activities:
Fat Boy Modeling School – Butch and masculine fashion (Sasha and Melanie)
Sasha is built like a Bulldog, and Melanie is built like a Saint Bernard. Sasha wears the same motorcycle boots every day, and Mel has an advanced degree in Fluevogs. Sasha has a pompadour, and Mel sports a schoolboy cut. Together, they range from L to XXXXL, and they always agree on two aesthetic points: 1) A classic never dies, and 2) Butches should always look and feel their best. This workshop will cover the fine art of finding masculine attire that fits our bodies well, including date clothes, work clothes and play clothes...and the wisdom to know the difference. Come chat about Butchness, size, shape, style, and how to wear it like you stole it. (This space intended for Butches and other masculine-identified folks only, please.)
Politics, Performance, and Play - (‘becca w.)
Maybe you've heard talk of performing gender. Maybe you've included street theatre in your fat liberation activities. Maybe you've worked as an ally to use more respectful language in your day-to-day life. All of these activities are about performance. Developing our performance and improvisation skills can be both political and (shhhhhh...) FUN! Come play some pointless improv games with a serious activist and maybe we'll talk about why the two great tastes taste great together.
Spilling Over Onto Paper – Writing Workshop (Jess Giusti)
Want to find out more about the first fat, queer anthology? This workshop will encourage interested contributors to learn about the development of Spilling Over: A Fat, Queer Anthology and have their questions answered! Together, we'll workshop ideas through group writing exercises and discuss the beginning stages of writing a piece for possible submission. If you've already planned on submitting something, feel free to bring your draft, no matter how rough, or just a few ideas! Both personal narratives, as well as scholarly contributions, will be considered for potential publication. Writers of all levels welcome!
Fat and…Disabled: Over Looked or Overlooked? - Disability Caucus (Maura Kelly)
In this caucus, we will address some of the following questions:
* Intersectionality and Community: Do we feel we have a place in the Fat Community? The Disability/Crip Community? How do we work toward making inroads? Or, do we make our own roads (creating Fat/Disabled Space)?
* Our Individual Bodies Our Individual Selves: What does it mean for each of us to be fat and disabled? Do we even identify with either? Does it play a part in our core identity? Do others (strangers, friends, lovers, medical community) identify us in ways in which we do not agree and without our consent? If so, how do we combat that?
* Negotiating Ain't Just for Breakfast Anymore: How do we view our own sexuality? Does it seem to more or less coincide with what others seem to think? Is there a difference between feeling welcomed, appreciated, desired? How do we negotiate sexual activity, from the mellowest of vanilla to the roughest of kink, when we need to consider our physical realities? Does non-sexual, physical affection get lost in the mix?
3:45 - 5:00 - Concurrent activities:
Nuts and Bolts of Healthcare Self-Advocacy (Kelli Dunham)
What does a successful world wrestling federation tag team match and a successful interaction with the health care system for a fat person have in common? No, not a sleeper hold (at least not usually) but rather teamwork. In this workshop participants will share either examples they've had of interactions with the health care system that had a less than ideal outcome and/or situations they can anticipate being in. The gathered participants will then use equal parts improv, brainstorming, and cheerleading to role play positive and creative tactics to help health-care consumers take back power in the described situations.
Who Says Bigger is Not Better: Guide to Sexual Pleasure (Lexi Linden)
This workshop will cover the basics about pleasure and safer sex practices from a queer, fat perspective as well as the really important stuff, like which positions are the most size-friendly and your guide for moving from self-hatred to self-love in the bedroom.
Silver Fox: Over 40 Caucus (Holly Hessinger)
We'll talk about aging in our fat bodies, how it feels different to move through the world as we get older, and how we might respond to ageism, sizeism and ableism in our communities. Got aches and pains? Bring 'em. Got creative adaptive strategies, tools and skills? Bring them, too!
Play With Your Life - (Sondra Solovay)
This workshop uses the writing technique Sondra developed that was employed in creating Fat Fuck. Using this fun and fast technique, we will generate material that will later be crafted into a new theater piece focusing on our lives, stories, concerns and experiences. You will learn the collaborative writing process, do some quick writing and get to know each other a lot better. Writing skill is absolutely not needed! Don't let shyness or fear of writing discourage you. Seriously. You will be listed as a participant in the play that is ultimately created (if you want to be) and may even see pieces of your story on the stage in 2010/2011!
More than Just Fashion: The Politics, Play and Performance of Dressing Up and Looking Good (Zoë Femmetastica and Cristy Cardinal)
We don't leave mainstream hierarchies and oppressive social dynamics at the door when we get to NOLOSE, so a critical look at fat and fashion compels us to also examine the ways in which our attempts to celebrate and adorn our bodies can lead to a competitive and exclusionary environment for some NOLOSE goers, even if this is not our intention. Up for discussion: How do various mainstream oppressive forces inform the choices we can or cannot make, how we are read and received and how we experience/perform ourselves at NOLOSE? In what ways are some people practically excluded from the get-go from what has been jokingly referred to as the "NOLOSE Fashion Olympics" because of size/shape/class/gender/race/age and other identity markers? Given this, is it an expression of privilege to engage? How do the "Fashion Olympics" and sexuality intersect? Does the undercurrent of competitiveness and pressure to look fabulous (and in what particular ways?) create an environment where the 'ultimate successful outcome' of looking good is getting hit on or hooking up at NOLOSE?
In this discussion we seek to look critically at the social environment we create together, make explicit those pink elephants in the room and also work together to imagine and create a more open and welcoming environment where dressing up and having a sexual vibe at NOLOSE provides opportunities for liberation, transformation, self expression, fun and celebration for all who wish to participate.
Fat Water Aerobics (Leah Strock)
Get strong and fit in the pool and don't worry about your knees! Fat people exercising? What better place to do it than in the water? We are buoyant, so let's take advantage of it!
5:15 - 6:30 - Concurrent activities:
Make it Work - (Rachel Cupcake)
A how-to workshop on easy ways to alter smaller clothing into fitting larger bodies. We will also cover different ways to transform old articles of clothing into completely brand new garments! This will be a hands-on workshop; we will make old t-shirts into comfy, cute pairs of undies. Bring a t-shirt you want to alter, or one will be provided. Great for beginners or intermediate-level sewers looking for new ideas!
Trans Caucus (Joe Libin)
This caucus is open to everyone and anyone who is interested in discussion and dialogue around the identities of transgender, transsexual, gender variant, gender queer, andro, butch, femme, and any and all other gender expressions and experiences. We will look at the way our fatness intersects with and influences our gender identity and presentation. This is not intended as a Trans 101 workshop.
Fat Lesbians of Age Caucus (Dianne Rubenstein)
This caucus is a space for FAT LESBIANS OF AGE (50, 60 AND BEYOND.) Many of us feel left out, or pushed out, by the fat community (for example by folks who resist or resent use of the word LESBIAN, a designation of pride for which many of our elders fought hard). This caucus might help reverse the trend of our dropping out of NOLOSE.
MASTER OF DANCE Prep - (Tiny and Petunia)
MASTER OF DANCE is a chance to flaunt your fattest, freakiest, most creative dance moves. In this competition, you must DANCE WITH YOUR HEAD! How well can you "master" specific dances associated with hits of the eras? How smoothly can you move from one song to the next, on the fly? Tiny and Petunia are complete non-experts willing to make asses of themselves to find out! Come join them!
MASTER OF DANCE demands as many ages, bodies, sizes and abilities as we can cram in. Chair-dancers are especially urged to BRING IT. The challenge is to show us your best moves for the sheer joy of it. No dance experience necessary! Don't worry about endurance! The emphasis is on creativity, trying new moves out, and taking personal risks in an extremely supportive environment. Where better than at NOLOSE?
The dance-off will lead off the Sat. night dance, but all contestants should first attend this workshop with Tiny and Petunia to cover the basics and practice to the actual songs that will be used in the contest. Celebrity guest judges will rate on creative zeal. Everybody wins, but only one can win the title of MASTER OF DANCE.
6:30 - 7:30 – Break
7:30 – 9:00 - Dinner
9:00 - 12:00 – Master of Dance Dance-off and Dance Party! This year's dance will open with the strangest dance-off you ever saw, spawned by the afternoon's Master of Dance workshop. After that, enjoy the DJ stylings of music afficionado Joe Libin.
9:00 - ? – Pool Party (clothing optional)
Sunday, Sept. 28:
8:15 – 9:30 – Making Space for Your Belly and Beyond – Yoga (Tracy Tidgwell)
Explore how it feels to be in your body with meditative breath & movement. Relaxing, energizing and gentle stretching for Every Body. Based on Yogic practices. Please wear loose-fitting, comfortable clothing.
9:30 - 11:15 – Brunch and Fat Art Live!
11:45 - 1:00 - Concurrent activities:
Fat and the Media: Visual Representations and Solutions (Bevin Branlandingham, Elizabeth Hay, Sarah Titmuss)
This workshop will explore fat activists making media in order to advance a body-positive agenda and make a space for media relevant to the experience of non-normative bodies, abilities, gender, race and sexuality. This workshop will function both as a discussion of the importance of creating the culture you want to see and a how-to guide for new forms of media and old stand-bys.
Supersize Caucus (Max Airborne, Elena Escalera, Sondra Solovay)
OK, so last NOLOSE was kind of fucked up for some of us supersize folks. So much so that some of us were thinking of not coming back. How do we make NOLOSE a supportive space for supersize people in the face of community support for WLS for supersize people? Or is NOLOSE a community that values only midsize fat queers and fears the fattest? This caucus is a time for supersize queers to meet and discuss (1) what we need and expect from our friends, allies, people with weight loss goals, and the fat community, (2) how to make NOLOSE a welcoming space for people bigger and smaller than us, and (3) what we can share regarding the beauty of size diversity and what we can give to the community as examples that fat acceptance and activism can lead to full and rich lives at any size. This caucus will be artsy, gutsy, hard and lovely. This caucus is open to supersize queers only.
Supersize: For the purpose of this caucus, we are defining supersize as describing a person who fits at least one of the following:
1) A person who has a significant ongoing or daily experience in which their size interferes with equal access to seating or mobility, or who wears sizes not carried at "fat stores" like Torrid, Lane Bryant, etc.
2) A person who wears a size 5X or larger
3) A person who weighs over 400 lbs.
Belly Dance for All Bodies (Miasia)
Middle Eastern Dance (known best in this country as Belly Dance) utilizes all parts of the body from the head, neck, and shoulders to the hips, knees and feet. This workshop is accessible to people of nearly all abilities. Miasia has broken down the movements of the dance, separating upper body from lower body to enable each person to take advantage of their unique bodily strengths to perform movements that express their personal connection to the music.
Vision, Plan, Save, Achieve (Vanessa Lowe)
What do you want your life to look like five years from now? How about 3? I used to think visioning was pretty "out there" until I participated in a visioning workshop. But now, my vision is coming true. In this workshop I'll share some of the tools from that workshop combined with some financial planning tools from my past NOLOSE workshops. Bring your biggest life goals and fat enthusiasm as we support each other in living the life we dream of.
The Fattest Movie EVER Workshop, Part II – In the interest of making of short documentary about NOLOSE and fat activism, interested people can come to this workshop to talk on camera about the conference. [Conference not otherwise being filmed.] (Naima Lowe)
1:15 - 3:30 - Town Meeting - everyone's presence requested. Please join in!
Closing ceremonies & activities - come prepared for the finish of the silent auction
Allyson Mitchell is an artist, filmmaker, writer, educator and activist based in Toronto, Canada. Her roots are in Pretty Porky and Pissed Off and she is currently pushing Deep Lez.
'becca w. is a former NOLOSE board member, independent voter and organizer, civil servant, data geek, and zaftig queer postmodern Marxist radical welfare advocate. And people say she's got a great laugh.
Bevin Branlandingham is the host and producer of FemmeCast: The Queer Fat Femme Podcast Guide to Life. She is a flamboyant femmecee, queer high femme, drag king, burlesque and comedy performer. www.femme-cast.com
Cristy "Masculine Lady " Cardinal is an anti-oppression educator from way back. She cut her teeth in the movement to end violence against women and girls, and has a personal commitment to letting her fellow white people know that they need to sit their asses down and figure out how to end racism, both on interpersonal and societal levels. She is also fat, butch and very, very gay. And quite handsome and modest too.
Dianne Rubenstein has been a fat activist since the 1970s. She was a Member of the Board of Directors, and National Treasurer of both NAAFA and NOLOSE, and wrote her MBA thesis on NAAFA.
Elena Andrea Escalera, PhD is a queer, fat, bald, disabled, mestiza badass who loves to play in the water. By day she works as a health psychologist and professor, and is a true believer in Health at Every Size. She lives with her sister/brotherwives in their collective home, Thermalia, in Oakland, California.
Geleni Fontaine is a fat, queer, Latina/o transperson living, learning, and working in Brooklyn, New York.ÿ This summer Geleni completed a three-year program in acupuncture and East-Asian medicine, and will soon be licensed as an acupuncturist in New York State. Former Board member of both NOLOSE and the Audre Lorde Project (the first queer people-of-color community center in the U.S.), Geleni is working to integrate a background in human rights and anti-violence activism with hands-on healing and empowerment work. A poet and martial artist, Geleni is also a former registered nurse, and has led trainings on violence-prevention and mind / body / spirit connection with youth, survivors of violence; and fat, queer, people-of-color, elder, disabled, and transgender communities. Geleni is thrilled and honored to be keynote, and to belong to this fabulous and multi-layered community!
Genne Murphy is a queer fat femme, playwright, native Philadelphian, and non-profit arts education person. She's passionate about changing the world through the classroom, theatre, or the collective power of community building.
Holly Hessinger is a silver fox who lives in the Bay Area, and is happy to note that life really does begin at 40!
Jeanette Beal is an unrepentantly fat, blind, first-generation American, poor, hyper-educated, queer cyborg and not unpleased about it. Ze contributes to Breath and Shadow - an online disability publication, Fatshionista! - an online fat/fashion/culture site, and co/moderates several disability-related communities on livejournal. Ze also published Restricted Zine: voices on sexuality and disability in 2005.
Jessica Giusti is a fourth-year Feminist Studies Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota where her work focuses mainly on topics in queer studies and its intersections with fat studies, new media, and performance. Outside of class, Jessica spends her time attending cake decorating classes, teaching butches how to slow dance, and causing queer upheaval with the Twin Cities' Femme Mafia.
Jodi Longobardo is a 37 year old fat queer kinky femme. She has always enjoyed crafting and loves converting others to the way of the glue gun.
Joe Libin is so excited to have been part of the NoLose community over all these years. He is a fat, Canadian trans guy in his mid 30s and he lives in California with his lovely wife; they laugh a lot and love a lot and would be happy to show you around the Bay Area if you ever make it over there.
Kelli Dunham is a nurse, comedian and general trouble maker, but she usually does it kind of quietly.
Leah Strock is an old-time NOLOSE fattie who is NOT a water aerobics instructor, but has become a water aerobics enthusiast and wants to share her enthusiasm with her fellow fatties.
Lexi Linden is queer activist, sexual health educator and fat scholar. Currently she is an intern at a queer not-for-profit and working on her thesis that shows the interconnections between fat and sexuality.
Maura Kelly has lived in Philadelphia for 15 years and currently works for an international nonprofit. She was a founding member of the Philly Dyke March in 1998 and has been a Planner or Core Worker for Sisterspace in Philadelphia for the last 8 years. And, she would like to admit here that really agreed to facilitate this caucus so she can soak up some solidarity and get some of her own questions addressed!
Max Airborne is interested in learning how we can be good allies to one another in all our delicious difference, complexity, mystery and oneness.
Melanie is a fat, faggy butch with strong nerd tendencies. She loves argyle, shoes (especially Fluevogs), crossword puzzles, fancy bed linens, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She is completely devoted to her little tiny dog (and also life partner), Frances McDormutt.
Miasia has been black and fat all her life. She, however, didn't know it until she was 10. She has had 32 years (this weekend! Woohoo!) of experience being a fat person of color, but only 22 being a conscious fat person of color.? She's excited to explore that consciousness at NOLOSE. Miasia is a formally trained, professional Middle Eastern Belly Dancer who has performed all over the US from DC to SF, as well as Canada, Turkey and Egypt. Miasia's goal as a teacher and performer is to continue opening the doorway of dance to include all bodies, sizes and abilities.
Naima Lowe is an artist in many forms including writing, film and video and performance. She lives in Philadelphia.
Rachel Cupcake hails from the Midwestern fatlands of Cleveland, Ohio and is owner and head designer/seamstress of Cupcake and Cuddlebunny (www.cupcakeandcuddlebunny.com), an online store that specializes in reconstructed vintage clothing, as well as custom designs and couture made to fit sizes 12-28+. In her spare time she works in non-profit fund raising, is a crisis counselor, plays vibraphone, and makes pastries.
Sasha is a Bulldagger, pound for pound. She's also a big Jew, an old man, a mid-century design enthusiast, an avid coffee seeker, and a say yes to seconds pie eater.
Sondra Solovay lives in Oakland, CA, with her sweetie, Joe. She is an educator, diversity trainer, crafty lawyer and co-author of the play Fat Fuck. She wrote Tipping the Scales of Justice and is co-editor of the upcoming Fat Studies Reader. She's a vegetarian and she's actually kinda shy. Sondra is a lover and a fighter who is responsible for a wide variety of delicious trouble-making.
Tara Shuai is a twenty-something biracial high femme New Yorker by way of DC and Richmond, VA. She is a lover of fatshion, social justice, blogging, and figuring out ways to live fabulously on a dime. Tara blogs regularly for fatshionista.com and her personal blog, contributes to Racialicious, and is the fatshion and beauty correspondent for FemmeCast.
Chubsters Tiny and Petunia are the conjoined twin daughters of Edith "Cuddles" Massey. After being served phen-fen-laced pierogis they torched their circus and fled their home town of Łódź, Poland.
Tracy Tidgwell is a lover and a dreamer. She lives in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
Vanessa Lowe is living at least part of her visioning exercise -- perfect job, working from home, and living debt-free. She works for the government and offers financial planning workshops to further satisfy her economic justice fetish.
Zoë Femmetastica is a 4th-year PhD student in Sociology in New York studying late 20th-century discourse around the "obesity epidemic." A long-time anarchist and social justice activist, she also sits on the board of NOLOSE and is the "social justice correspondent and consigliore" on FemmeCast: The Queer Fat Femme Podcast Guide to Life.
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