General Discussion Board

The Heart of a Fat Woman

Posted By: Kris <ChubbyChef2K@aol.com> (152.163.204.31)
Date: Sunday, 11 June 2000, at 8:29 p.m.

In Response To: Who are you envious of and why? (Brynda)

This is tough, what with envy being one of the seven deadly sins and all. Let's see if I can weasel my way around it.

Respect. Yeah, that's what I will go with. It bestows upon the respect-ee the honor they are due, and makes me look really good in the meanwhile.

So, who do I respect, and why?

Prepared for cop-out number two?

I am not going to pick. Why? Because there are things about every single person here that I respect, even those I am just beginning to know.

And because I am one of the oldest women on the board and my memory flat out sucks, if I tried to think of something to say about each individual, I would forget someone and then beat myself up for a year and a day...and who basically needs the stress?

So instead of opening myself up for grief trying to cover my ass, I think I will just tell the truth.

My heart wells up as I think of each of you, so loving and open, with gifts of the soul that exceed your knowing. You have deeply touched me (and my family) in the past year, and I am changed because of you.

I am so proud to be allowed to visit here.

Now, to the question of the hour:

I respect, admire, and honor the heart and the spirit in any woman of size who gets up in the morning, looks at herself in the mirror, and smiles. I look up to my you, my fat sisters, who by merely living your lives take on the world one prejudice at a time, in the face of nearly insurmountable odds.

I respect every woman here, and elsewhere, who looks with forgiveness and wisdom upon the countenance of judgement. And I applaud each effort made, even the seemingly small ones, to increase compassion and understanding in a world which seeks to cast us out.

I admire the women here who, although deeply affected by illness, fatigue, and the silent pain of daily life, hold their heads high and continue to aspire to greatness. Your courage is an inspiration, your character humbling.

I honor the journey each of us has made, often at a snails pace, along a path we carved for ourselves through a wilderness of ignorance. There is a common thread in our journies, diverse as they may be. In each of us there is a seed of pain that lesser sized woman cannot know. For while each woman, large or small, may doubt herself in some small measure, no "average" woman can comprehend the pain of those of us who face a world of ridicule, of places we can't go, things we are told we can't do, eye contact never made, and love never offered.

And so, my regard, my highest praise, goes to each woman here at Abundance, those who present themselves daily in posts and those who lurk unseen in the shadows. The women you are and the lives you live are an an inspiration to me.

And the men...those who stand up in a world where your preference is deemed a perversion, to you I offer appreciation, affection, and gracious welcome. What a revelation to know you exist !!!

Yours is not an easy lot. Yet you seem to have an extra helping of goodness in you, a certain integrity, that makes you so dear.

When you stand up for us, recognize our beauty both inside and out, and ultimately when you offer us your heart for a lifetime, we give to you in return that which only you deserve - our trust. We come to you sometimes deeply scarred, often bruised and aching, but you help us heal, you fill us with joy and laughter, you treat us as ladies of value, people of worth. And you mean it.

But above all -- you give us hope. Hope that the women of tomorrow who may live their lives in fat bodies will know the treasures that they are, and settle for no less than men like you.

Thank you for joining us, for supporting us, for facing ridicule and mockery by loving us. Thank you dear men, for touching the heart of a fat woman.

Kris

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