Debbie says: When I was in high school in the 1960s, we were very concerned about periods. What class did you have in third period? Were you in study hall in sixth period? What could be worse than having math in first period? I don’t know if “period” for a class session is still current [...]

Debbie says: Kay Olson at The Gimp Parade links, without much comment, to this fascinating article from this summer’s issue of Dissent. In this article, author Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow takes on the issue that she calls “designer babies”: basically, the point that parents choosing IVF can right now make a lot of choices about what genetic [...]

Debbie says: (Apologies for the delay in posting. The Jewish holidays intervened when this was 3/4 written.) Shapely Prose gave time and space to guest-blogger Heidi to talk about why she hates weight-loss surgery, and why she’s having it. I urge everyone to read this powerful and moving piece. I believe weight loss surgery (WLS) [...]

Debbie says: If junk science is equivalent to, say, potato chips or Hershey bars (both of which I am perfectly capable of enjoying), then what do we call pseudoscience made up out of whole cloth? No, really. Science so bad it would embarrass the Bush administration. Laurie and I are familiar with the movement to [...]

Laurie says: I’m still in Kyoto. This seems to be my “typhoon season” trip to Japan – first one in Tokyo last week and now today in Okinawa. So, my trip to Okinawa is canceled and I’ll be in Kyoto or Kobe till I leave. I’m really sorry to be missing seeing Hanashiro-san and attending [...]

Debbie says Something delightful, something solid, something intriguing, and something disgusting. Let’s start with delight: the cutest singing group I’ve seen in a long time. The group is called Qian Jin Zu He (a complex play on several meanings, one of which calculates to “over 1,000 pounds”) and their leader is Xiao Yang. The article [...]

Laurie says: Finally a computer and time–but it’s a Japanese computer and I can’t find the exclamation point. The trip to Japan was pleasant and easy. The air time (from Honolulu) was shorter then I remembered. Once I got to Narita I had to get me and the world’s largest and heaviest suitcase (filled with [...]

Debbie says: What happens when a fat acceptance activist decides to try to lose some weight? She might decide to do so in secret, and (should she succeed, even in the short term) look puzzled and surprised if she is asked if she’s lost weight. Or she might decide to go public. Going public is [...]

Debbie says: Let’s start with a quiz: Why was this woman almost denied the right to use her paid airline ticket a couple of months ago? Hint: You can see the answer in the picture. She has no concealed weapons, no history of terrorism, and she’s not on the no-fly lists. Answer: Her outfit could [...]

Debbie says: I haven’t heard much yet about how the show went, but Laurie did send me these pictures: Don’t they look fabulous? Both photographs were taken by A*3 (Andrew A. Adams, head of the exhibits division for the convention). Women of Japan, photography, Japan, Nippon 2007, feminism, Body Impolitic