I have a pair of vintage track pants that I've worn for the last 10 years, and I've been anywhere from a size 8 to a size 16 during that time. These pants always fit, no matter what; the best part is that they were purchased for $5 at a street fair. While it's true that track pants and sweat pants and all kinds of stretchy, comfortable clothes can be dangerous, if you wear them all the time — it's hard to gauge if you're gaining weight when you do — there's definitely an upside to "magical" clothes. I like to think of these pieces as friends, who embrace you no matter what size you are.

Of course, the truth is that there isn't really any "magic" in magical clothes. There are just dresses with A-line shapes; straight-cut, elastic-waist pants, forgiving fabrics and deceptively roomy Halloween costumes stitched with love. But it's fun to imagine that a garment that's always there for you is infused with mystical, supernatural powers. It just sounds so much better than "stretch."

Johnna's doctor, Alan Wittgrove, is infuriated by this decision. "And all this is, is discrimination," Wittgrove tells ABC. "What they want her to do is to submit to a process that is known to fail, that is diets for morbidly obese individuals in lieu of having something that is known to be successful in a very high percentage of the population. No other place in medicine would they do that."

Johnna's husband does painting and drywall work, and her father is a school custodian. The only solution the family could come up with is for Johnna's dad, Skip Dove, to put the 30K surgery on a credit card that had a 22% interest rate, effectively delaying his retirement for the foreseeable future. Elizabeth Edwards says that the deplorable state of the health insurance industry and the plight of women like Johnna is to blame for the current economic crisis. This afternoon, the AP reports that "Elizabeth Edwards said during a conference call Tuesday that medical bills often lead to foreclosure, a primary factor in the lagging housing market that's led to the demise of several Wall Street firms."

What's more, Edwards pointed out earlier this year that under John McCain's aggressively deregulated, market-driven health care plan, both she and McCain would have trouble getting insured because of their pre-existing conditions (Edwards's cancer and McCain's melanoma). It's hard to believe that under a McCain regime, Johnna's situation would be any better, and it would likely be far worse, as a new study shows that women who pay for health insurance on the individual market pay up to 45% more than men on the individual market, depending on age.

Going Into Debt To Save A Life [ABC News]
Elizabeth Edwards Ties Health Care To Economy [AP]
Federal Money In Health Care Plan From McCain [NYT]
COVERAGE: I Am Woman... Hear Me Pay More [New Health Dialogue Blog]

Earlier: Weight Discrimination Is Rampant The World Over

Do you think a 500 lb. woman doesn't know that she's obese? Do you think that a woman gains 50 lbs. without noticing? The Post's Marina Vataj writes, "While friends tell friends and loved ones to stop smoking, drinking, shopping and even sleeping around, addressing a friend's weight remains taboo." Damn straight it does. Drinking and smoking are vices you can live without. Eating is required for survival. When does overeating become a problem? When is eating an addiction? Surely everyone is different and the tipping point is different for each individual. But with all of the weight-loss ads, hyperthin celebrities and calorie-cutting segments on the news, it's hard to believe that any woman would be oblivious about being overweight. Even if framed in the "I'm doing this because I care" context, the fact remains that ones body and what one puts in it is extremely personal. So isn't choosing to "discuss" a weight problem with a friend actually choosing to announce your problem with a friend's weight? Do you even go there? What do you say?

Who's Your Fatty [NY Post]

72% said there has never been a better time to be female. Maybe they haven't heard about the backlash? In any case, a separate study conducted by Dr. Eleanor Mackey of the Children's National Medical Center and her colleague Dr. Annette La Greca from the University of Miami showed that girls define their "normal" body weight by who they hang out with. "Jocks" are less concerned with their weight; "alternatives" are more likely to be appearance-oriented and actively trying to lose weight; burnouts just think thinness is something other people obsess about. Whether this is good or bad is kind of unclear.

Survey Says? Girls Today Are Happy, Anxious, Love Mom, And, Uh, Look Up To “Themselves” [Smart Television Alliance]
There's No Time Like The Present For Today's Girls, According To The N's New Research Study 'The Story of Girl' [PR Newswire]
Does This Make Me Look Fat? [EurekAlert]

Clearly, the effort being made to fight the obesity epidemic is resulting in what Parker-Pope calls "collateral" damage. From commercials to music videos and magazines, the pressure to be thin is all around us, and it would seem few of us are immune. And interestingly enough, when this topic came up via e-mail at the Jezebel virtual HQ, everyone had something to say. "The more weight I lose the fatter i feel," one editor sighed. One editor wrote: "I’ve often thought that when I think I’m thin I’m actually thinner – like it’s some psychological thing as in, if I think I’m thin my metabolism actually works harder. Which would explain why I’m so damn fat now after feeling so damn fat for months on end." Someone else added: "When I beat myself up for being gross and fat years ago I was actually 30 pounds thinner; now that I'm heavier I'm more forgiving of myself and less depressed." Someone else explained: "Getting super thin can fuck with your head. I'm naturally between 125-130. I was totally happy about that, until I got really depressed and got down to 117 without really trying. I was there for like, 9 months, and I realized, holy shit I can be skinny. Of course, when I was no longer depressed, I gained the ten pounds back. That's when I
started thinking I was fat."

It's no big secret that mental and physical health are linked. And as someone who has been thin and sad, fat and sad and fat and happy (never thin and happy) I often wonder about which is more important: Mental health or physical health? In a perfect world you wouldn't have to choose, of course. You'd reach optimal levels in both arenas and live happily ever after in a cottage under a rainbow. But if things keep going in this direction — where kids start dieting in middle school — aren't we going to have a mental health epidemic to go with the obesity one? (And, back to the earlier question: Which is worse? Feeling fat? Or being fat?)

'Feeling Fat' Is Worse Than Being It, German Study Finds [Science Daily]
Many Normal-Weight Teens Feel Fat [NY Times]
The danger of children who insist that they are fat [Times Of London]

Though Maria Callas famously ruined her voice when she lost a lot of weight, Voigt's voice, while changed, has not worsened. "Some opera buffs and critics detect a slight loss of warmth in her sound. Others counter that her voice has gained brightness and shimmer," the Times notes.

Voigt has said that she wanted the gastric bypass for health reasons (knee problems, high blood pressure), but before she lost the weight she was a longtime advocate "of the principle that body size does not determine whether an opera singer can be dramatically compelling," the Times says. In addition, she admits that she got the gastric bypass when she did because she was humiliated by her public dismissal from Ariadne. Knowing Voigt's history with the role, it's hard to feel that her return to Covent Garden is a complete triumph; it feels more like a prolonged case of Stockholm Syndrome.

Second Date With A Little Black Dress [New York Times]
Deborah Voigt: The Return Of The Little Black Dress [Youtube]
With Surgery, Soprano Sheds A Brünnhilde Body [New York Times]

British tabloids reported that one of I'd Do Anything's judges, producer Cameron Mackintosh, thought Jodie was,"a bit too big and has more or less said so." These people are ostensibly getting fame for their singing ability (Prenger) and their comedic strength (Gervais). Is anyone allowed to have their image televised these days without it getting ripped to shreds?

Fat, Fame And Rick Gervais [BFDBlog]
Noises Off: Oliver, Nancy And Some Weighty Issues [Guardian]

More on walking in the runway show:

"If people are only exposed to imagery of fat people as jokes in movies, TV, etc., then that limits our perception to degradation. So what then is the solution? Not to take the opportunity to proudly embrace my curves in a global venue? One must take advantage of these rare opportunities when presented by people who are willing to take the risk on you. I had utter confidence in both Galliano and Gaultier to represent me in a fashion inclusive of their impeccable style, and I knew their intent to be positive. I don’t think it is so ludicrous for people of such immense creativity and broadminded natures to witness beauty in what mainstream people may have blinders to."

On "regular" fashion models:

"Whilst models are esteemed by the general public to have it all, merely by the luck of the gene-pool, (and likewise, professed to have an attitude to accompany that), they more often than not grew up equally outcast by virtue of extreme height and thinness. Thus I find models tend to be quite sympathetic and kind/curious for the most part and this certainly held true backstage at the runway shows. Its an eclectic, buzzing atmosphere."

On the term "plus-size":

"I recall as a fat child having my Mom take me to the HUSKY store, and that seemed rather humiliating at the time. I had initially pictured some Alaskan dogsled hideaway, but soon found myself amidst frighteningly outdated décor, with racks of polyester knit bellbottoms in puke green, or ‘KICK ME HARD’ red, guaranteed to ensure a wedgie or two, in a era where you were nothing if you didn’t wear straight cut Levi’s. I am sure its origins were well intentioned though, and it’s certainly better then Negative-size, ay?"

Our Interview with Velvet D'Amour: Part I [5 Resolutions]

Related: Gaultier's Largesse Reply To Skinny Debate [Sydney Morning Herald]

But people being discriminated against because of their weight is not just specific to Japan. According to a new survey from Yale, 5% of men and twice as many women say they've faced weight discrimination, whether at the office or just generalized rude treatment. Reuters reports that "Women were particularly likely to perceive weight bias, with twice as many women as men reporting such discrimination."

It gets worse. Women who are only slightly overweight perceive comparable levels of discrimination as severely overweight men and are "particularly likely to perceive weight bias, with twice as many women as men reporting such discrimination." Says Yale researcher Dr. Rebecca M. Puhl, this is probably due to "the stringent and unrealistic ideals of thinness that are placed on women in North America."

Japan's Bulging Waistlines Trigger Flab Tests in Land of Sumo [Bloomberg, via Al Dente Blog via Andrew Sullivan]
Weight Discrimination Common, U.S. Survey Finds [Reuters]

Related: Would You Rather Be Fat Or Blank? [NBC News]

"I'm thinner at the top than the bottom, so I love a strapless dress or a big bubble skirt where you don't see my thighs. I'd love to wear jeans, but i don't feel comfortable...Of course, I want a boy. You always want that for your husband, to keep the family name. But Chihuahuas are girly dogs. My husband is so not girly and he loves them. He's so amazing with our little girl dog. I think he'd be a great girl dad...In the [Park Avenue Diet, a book to which she contributed] I talk about not having preconceived notions of people — of making them into two-dimensional characters. I'll pose in a picture, I'l have blonde curls and this girly look. But I'm a normal girl. I'm insecure."

According to the LAT, the Loser brass has been encouraging contestants to chew it because "gum can curb appetite, prevent snacking and provide an edge in the weight-loss game." It might be true to an extent, but the contestants on Loser are also exercising several hours a day and being fed incredibly healthy food in a controlled environment. The fact that they're losing a ton of weight? Yeah, it's not the gum.

Chewing gum is also a weight-loss strategy among some of the women interviewed by Allure for an article called, "Junk-food dieters fake their way to skinny." Kate, a 32-year-old advertising executive, chews an entire 18-piece pack of Extra a day to avoid snacking. Other women interviewed for the piece swear by Diet Coke, Starbucks, Tasti-D, and those apocalyptic 100-calorie snack packs as weight loss helpers. "Many believe ingesting a few artificial ingredients is a small price to pay for being able to eat the things they love while staying as thin as a Pringle," according to Allure. Um, no shit? Basically, these women are counting calories and sometimes rely on processed foods to do so. How is this newsworthy? Eating fewer calories will always make you lose weight, even if those calories are spent entirely on sugar-free Jell-O. When your paramount goal is to be skinny, not healthy, you're going to resort to whatever measures possible to reach your goal. That said, I will give up diet coke when they pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

Chew Gum To Lose Weight? [Los Angeles Times]
Junk-food Dieters Fake Their Way To Skinny [Allure via MSNBC]

Earlier: Annals Of Anorexia
100-Calorie Snacks Are The Downfall Of American Civilization

Now, surely the Daily Mail can argue that Lisa Marie's pregnancy may have occasioned her to consume an excess of food — indeed, that she was using pregnancy as an excuse to do so — but the truth is that for some time we have been watching a steady erosion in the customary grace period allotted to a female celebrity's figure maintenance to account for her part in the creation of a new human being. And while both Ms. Barberie-Reynolds and Ms. Presley stand to gain financially from the blurring of the lines between the two forms of weight gain — and that is to ignore the myriad other ways female celebrities have managed to line their own pockets, in addition to those of the celebrity-industrial complex, through the conception (or failure to conceive) children — I am beginning to wonder if the whole thing isn't a little, well, degrading to the very culture of human life the media is supposed to be celebrating when we fetishize fertility/eschew the subject of abortion in all consumer magazines and blockbuster movies/pay seven-figure ransoms for baby pictures.

No, seriously, actually, whatever. It's just this week's sign of the apocalypse etc. etc. But you know.

Related: Parents In Denial About Children's Weight Problems [Science Daily]

With the help of a therapist, she conquered her eating disorder. But now I was totally confused on what messages to send my kids about food. Of course I wanted Marcy healthy — but damn, she sure had looked good when she was thin. Except for the hair.

ake got big like a beanstalk, like a fairy-tale mushroom, big like Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. Jake got big overnight, went from boy to man in a twinkling, so quickly that I really thought if I sat by his bed, I could see him grow. His feet and hands turned massive. His forearms became immense.

Last summer, a few months before my dad died, Marcy and I went to visit him. As she settled in beside him on his sofa, he observed, with cruel accuracy, "You look like you're putting on some weight." Marcy burst into tears and ran out of the room. I wanted to run as well, from a rush of old memories: Dad tucking a slim sister on either side of me before snapping the picture for our Christmas card. Dad frowning at me at Thanksgiving dinner, scolding "Not so much pie!" in front of everyone. Dad offering to pay me a hundred bucks if I'd just lose 25 pounds ... He was a kind man, a good man, but he didn't understand about girls and size and shame. Though he did realize something was amiss, at least: On our next visit, he confided to me that he'd told a number of female friends about his remark to Marcy, and that every last one of them upbraided him for being a heartless pig. Jake happened to be along on this visit, and Dad took the opportunity to ask him: "So, what do you weigh these days?"

"Three hundred 20," Jake said.

My dad smiled indulgently. Then he turned and asked me, "How can two kids be so different?"

I hope she has sons someday. I hope they're big, too. I hope she gets the chance to revel in what otherwise has been a curse for her. It doesn't make up for society's scorn, not completely. But it's oddly, beautifully empowering, just the same.

Living Large [Philadelphia Magazine]

Some men go so far to ask for the dress size of the mother of the prospective bride, says Abraham Twerski, author of a book about eating disorders called The Thin You Within You. (You know, so a future husband can rest assure his wife-to-be will be able to shed the baby weight - and there will be many babies: Orthodox Jews don't always believe in birth control). The arranged marriages may be causing eating disorders for another reason as well: Orthodox women are encouraged to wed at a very young age, and some teens who are seeking to avoid marriage develop anorexia to avoid menstruation. No menses = no babies = no marriage.

As many experts note, eating disorders are often about control, and eating disorder specialist Dr. Ira Sacker told the Forward that Orthodox girls and women often want to control their food intake because in such a regimented and ritualized society, what they eat is the only thing they have any power over.

Anorexia remains a taboo subject in the Orthodox world, and as a result, according to Jewcy, "Married and middle-aged women are also susceptible to anorexia and bulimia, and are likely to pass their eating disorders on to their daughters." This is increasingly true everywhere, says the Independent. Apparently the pressure to "age beautifully" like Madonna or Sharon Stone has sent some older women into a shame spiral of disordered eating.

The Orthodox Union is trying to raise money to produce a documentary about eating disorders within the community, tentatively titled, "Dying To Be Thin." Jewcy points out that most mainstream eating disorder films focus on the media's influence on body image, but in TV-free Orthodox households, those messages don't resonate in the same way. Personally, I doubt many Orthodox Jews will be reading about up-and-coming model, willowy Ali Michael, who wasn't cast in almost any runway shows at Paris fashion week because the 17-year-old had gained a whopping five pounds from last year.

["Tefillin Barbie" Image via Jen Taylor Friedman's Official Website.]

Eating Disorders Plague the Orthodox World [Jewcy]
Film To Break Silence Around Anorexia [Jewish Daily Forward]

Related: Wasn't Skinny
Supposed To Be Out Of Fashion? [Wall Street Journal]
Pressure To Grow Old Beautifully Drives Over-50s To Anorexia [Independent]

At first, she explains, she felt great. She no longer had to have stupid conversations about carbs or compare dress sizes with friends. "It felt liberating," she admits. But as she gained more and more weight she realized all the downsides: Fitting in seats on airplanes, buses and movie theaters; the anxiety that accompanies folding chairs. "To be clear, I didn't hate myself — I've been depressed, I know what self-hate feels like, and this didn't come close — but I didn't feel completely comfortable in myself either," she explains. What's a girl who hates the weight-loss industry to do? She's going on a diet! And writing about it.

I won't be including updates on lost kilos (I don't weigh myself). I won't be providing fabulous tips for reducing the size of your behind (what do I know? I just plan to eat less and exercise more). I shall simply be charting some months in the life of a person who is, at best, reluctant about diets, and, at worst, disgusted by the very notion, but who knows, unfortunately, that something must be done. I warn you: there will be grumpiness.

Losing It [Guardian]
Related: Queen Latifah Signs On to Endorse Jenny Craig [People]

Oh, and about that obesity epidemic: Science Daily reports that, after examining the average population weight gain in the United States over the past 42 years, British doctors are arguing that claims about the problem "often exceed the scientific evidence" and that "the categories of normal, overweight and obese is entirely arbitrary and at odds with the underlying evidence about the association between body mass index and mortality." Health economists and epidemiologists counter that the associated health care problems associated with obesity — diabetes, heart disease, elevated blood pressure — are not only well-established but growing. Whatever the experts say, the least we can do today, if not get on a treadmill and eat a spinach salad with steamed chicken, is exercise our right to vote.

Actually, A Long Healthy Life Costs More [MSNBC]
Fat People Cheaper To Treat, Study Says [Breitbart]
Is The Obesity Epidemic Exaggerated? [ScienceDaily]

Dubious connection yes, but the premise of the book isn't even the problem, it's the way Walsh encourages readers to clean up their lives and their stomachs through guilt and humiliation.

There are a lot of delicious, fattening foods out there. Resisting them might be something you have to do whenever you're hungry, at every meal, for the rest of your life. Sounds daunting, but the only other option is making bad choices that go against the life you want... well, it's your call.

Hmm, Walsh's real talk sounds suspiciously like Mike "No Chubbies" Koralchyk, the asshole gym owner (sample slogan: "Too chubby, never find a hubby") in Denver. Remember: he fancied himself a "truth-teller," too.

Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? [Amazon]
Earlier: Mike "No Chubbies" Koralchyk: Portrait Of The New American Hyperasshole

According to the article, fat bloggers "Celebrate their full figures and call on readers to accept their bodies, quit dieting and get on with life." There's no focus on diets, but there's no encouragement to pig out, either: "One of the first obstacles to fat acceptance is breaking down the question of whether being fat is a choice," says Shapely Prose blogger Kate Harding. "No fat acceptance advocate is saying you should sit around and wildly overeat. What we're saying is that exercise and a balanced diet do not make everyone thin."

Of course, thin people have blogs as well (the pro-ana presence on the Web has been well-documented). But while Hollywood and fashion magazines continue to promote an extremely-skinny woman as the ideal, the reality is that most chicks are not under a size 6. Isn't it okay to be proud of that fact? Plus, in a recent survey, women were asked if they'd rather have Jennifer Aniston's body or be a millionaire and 78% said they'd take the money. Cash buys you a trainer if you want it — or more Haägen-Dazs. Call it "extroverted" or whatever you like: In contrast to how skinny girls are nervous about staying that way, these writers make being "fat" seem like fun.

Sociable People Get Fat, Worriers Thin: Japan Study [Reuters]
In the Fatosphere, Big Is in, or at Least Accepted [NY Times]
Have Bod Like Jennifer Aniston, Or $1M [CBS News]
Earlier: Teen Vogue Message Boards: "I Gained Alot Of Weight Over The Summer. Its Disgusting."
Dying To Be Thin

According to Campos, "We blame individuals too much for circumstances that are not entirely within their control. We know people living in unsafe neighborhoods are much less likely to exercise. And fast food is cheap compared to fresh fruit and vegetables. To tell a poor person that they made a bad choice because they couldn't afford the salad fixings raises some ethical concerns."

The researchers also found that the ads in Ebony, Jet, and Essence were "primarily for foods high in calories but low in nutritional value." The study's authors put an emphasis on communities creating recreational opportunities and making farmers market goods available to those living in poorer neighborhoods. "The study clearly points to a need for public-health advocates and advocates of the African-American community to push their media to increase coverage of overweight and obesity health issues," according to Campos. Considering three quarters of African American women are considered overweight or obese, is it the job of the government, the community, or the magazine industry to help fix the problem?

Study: Weight-loss Tips Differ In African-American, Mainstream Magazines [University of Iowa]

While it's true that women can be obsessed and concerned with their weight as compared to other women (my shameful secret is that I am a dutiful reader of theskinnywebsite.com — where an insane woman tracks the weight gain and loss of every starlet down to the ounce), isn't the implication that all women want to be thin as a bid for alpha female control a vast overstatement? Isn't our collective weight obsession a fraught and complex issue, with so many societal factors that oversimplifying it into mere catfighting is downright insulting? All the same, Bilmes isn't completely off the mark. Who among us has not mentally denigrated another, more successful woman by thinking, "Well at least I'm thinner"? (I'm not at all proud of it, but it's happened. But it's not just about weight — I've mentally denigrated other people in all manners of pettiness! i.e., at least I'm cuter/younger/etc.) Are you dismissive of those pleasure-seeking, beta-females? Or do you think Bilmes deserves an arse-kicking via one of those women with the "unappealing" musculature?

Vogue UK

Miss Kate, 19, and from the Pacific Northwest, posted: "I think if anyone wants to go into modeling they should be healthy. I never liked models until I started watching America's Next Top Model hosted by Tyra Banks. She supports skinny and plus sized models. But she wants all her girls to be in the best shape possible. Tyra is an amazing person and I think she pushes models to be healthy and fit. I agree with Nancy and I disagree with her. It is important to love yourself but at the same time its not healthy to be obese." But our fave comment came from 22-year-old Countess Sexy Socks, who wrote of Nancy Hayssen, "I do believe she is trusting her gut." LOL! Atoosa's Space [MySpace]

Lowri's experiences in non-televised "slimming clubs" weren't much better:

We were pitted against one another, albeit more subtly. Forget the idea that it's a communal effort — this is dog eat dog (even if that is all you get to eat all week). At the center of a slimming club meeting is the weigh-in. This involves queuing up for either a pat on the head by the group leader or a disapproving click of the tongue...As you inch towards the scales...you feel yourself metamorphosing from an adult with a job, a family and a life into a pathetic five-year-old begging for a "well done" from the teacher. There is usually a "slimmer of the week" prize for the most well-behaved dieter, and although stories about forcing those who have "failed" to wear piggie masks may be apocryphal, these days at least, those slimmers who have gained flab do not get to stand up and take a bow.

Big Losers, But Can Viewers Keep the Pace? [New York Times]
Friends, Dignity, Self Respect ... Weight Wasn't All I Lost At My Slimming Club [Daily Mail]
Earlier: Your Coworker With The Candy And Cookies Is Trying To Make You Fat
Related: Why do women Feel OK About Their Bodies Until Other Women Show Up? [Psychology Today]

Hooke claims she has suffered from anorexia since she was 11 years old. "The prospect of an adult life ahead terrified me. I was afraid of responsibility, of a time when I would have to face the world without my parents' hands to hold. But most of all I was scared of men and sex." Models and the fashion industry had nothing to do with her problems, she argues.

Anorexia has often been perceived as a quest for model-like beauty, as a teenage fad or as a diet gone wrong. It has even been described as a lifestyle choice. Seldom is anorexia acknowledged as the life-threatening medical condition that it is... I, like many of the eating disorder patients I have met, never sought beauty; instead, I spent years trying to make myself look as ill as possible in order to avoid male attention.

Surely you can respect that this is one girl's story. But while she may not feel pressure to be thin from the fashion industry, what about the rest of us? What about the models, the celebrities? Doesn't the desirable air of "glamour" held up by magazines, runway shows and red carpets seem reserved for the thin?

Understanding Anorexia: A Thin Excuse [The Independent]

Mice engineered to have efficient versions of the adipose gene were much sleeker than normal counterparts. In fact, they had one-third the body fat of wild mice.

"That would be a big difference in humans," explains [the scientist]. "The average woman has about 25 percent body fat. Reducing that by a third would take her down to about 9 percent. That's super lean — a supermodel kind of thin."

Scientists Discover 'Skinny' Gene [MSNBC]