Every book has an introduction, a preface to its contents. So does BBW Shrine. A short story, why I started this project and an overview of the topics which will be covered in the site.
It’s early June, 2008. Summer’s just around the corner. Pleasant fragrances of flowers, whose names I can only guess, infuse a scene of abundant life and atmosphere. The streets are filled with people, young and old, tall and short, slim and curvy.
Walking downtown, I am gazing at crowds walking by. And beautiful women, everywhere I look. Not the kind of day to go out with a friend and talk while you walk. Distractions at every corner, every passage, every shop I walk by. Several blocks later, the time seems good for a refreshment.
As I order my drink, in a small restaurant filled with people, a lady walks in. She’s beautiful, very. Long golden blond hair just past her shoulders, an hourglass outline defined by the sun’s rays reaching through the entrance. Not a presence to go unnoticed, as this curvy, voluptuous and beautiful woman just walked in.
Stunning as she looks, I’m reading a slight discomfort on her face. Hoping she finds her way to the seat next to me, which was luckily just abandoned by a customer, she hastily moves past tables and chairs. At last she finds a seat in a shadow-filled corner. “Why did she sit there?”, I wonder.
Several tables away, I hear laughs. At first, seemingly part of the crowd’s chatter. Then, after some time, the unmistakable signature of ridicule and insult distort that perception. “My God she’s big!”, I hear. “Why is she wearing all those clothes with this heat?”, says the other.
Luckily, the lady doesn’t seem to hear them. She thankfully takes a first sip from a glass of icy sparkling mineral water. I’m briefly moved by this most pleasant sight, until my attention is diverted to the two at the table again, across from her, as they continue their slanderous comments, now with increased pitch.
Struggling between detaching myself from the lady’s beautiful sight, and a simultaneous buildup of anger towards the two at the table, at long last I get up from my seat. Walking into the lady’s direction, I ignore the two idiots at my three ‘o clock. I wish to pay the curvy lady a compliment, but my focus is abruptly steered away. I catch myself giving in to my anger.
An old lady moves in front of me, forcing me to halt my pace. I realize it’s a fortunate thing, as I reflect on what I should best do next; Giving the two at the table a taste of their own medicine, or giving a beautiful woman a compliment that may make her day.
As the old lady moves out of my way, I turn to the two at the table, pause, look at them (my face must’ve been one of tremendous frustration) and notice they appear to realize why I am looking at them. Appearing as only in their early twenties, my much older age – together with my apparent aggravated look – has an intimidating effect on them. A good thing, at least in this situation. And while I am refraining from using vocals, they turn their heads in shame and cease their disturbance.
As I continue my way towards the table, somewhat bashful, I finally utter the words, “Madame, I just wanted to pay you a compliment. I think you are very beautiful and I just wanted to tell you that.”. She looks up, somewhat surprised. A visible radiance can be read from her face. Then she replies “Well thank you! That is very kind of you.”.
With some courage left and a slight hesitation, I say “You are such a fine example of the perfect hourglass plus-size shape!”. Only now she responds somewhat irritated, and asks me if I say this to women regularly. She begged to differ that being a plus-size woman wasn’t exactly playing a positive role in her life. That she worked out regularly in the gym to “get rid of the extra pounds”. I replied “Extra? Extra where? Maybe this is just part of you. “Well…” she says, “…unfortunately this world doesn’t feel the same way as you do.”.
After that day, I decided to step up to the plate and not just be a Fat Admirer, but also a Fat Activist!
This website is as much about educating the masses about the giant corporate machine that is behind much of our present-day misconceptions about women, as it is a tool to help people get active. And in between about what it means to be the way women of larger sizes are, and the world of women and men who love them who are out there.
Why get vocal? Because famous people in the past have and although some of them had to pay the highest price for this, it has lead to revolutions, which did eventually change minds. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
BBW Shrine contains a storyline. It is an ever-evolving storyline, but there are four major parts to it. These parts are called ‘Volumes’. Each volume covers a different subject and contains ‘topics’ and ‘sub-topics’ several levels deep.
For example, ‘Volume II – Beautiful Woman’ will contain chapters like ‘Self-esteem’, ‘Food’, ‘BBW Clothing’, Etc; The latter is divided up into the sub-chapters ‘Special Sizes’, ‘Manufacturers’, ‘How Sizes are determined’, Etc. In turn the latter is divided into ‘Hips’, ‘Waist’, ‘Bust’, Etc. Each of these may be divided into smaller sub-chapters again.
What follows is a brief summary of the four volumes in BBW Shrine. Note that only the most significant topics are mentioned and mostly the sub-chapters have been left out.
‘Propaganda Matrix’ talks about the conglomerate of industries, corporations, institutions and the like, which have co-engineered society’s present-day ‘beauty’ paradigm. Each one’s history and influence is covered. It exposes the continuous propaganda campaign evangelized through its media outlets and eventually picked up by society.
The first volume’s question is; “Should beauty be defined by capitalism?”.
Where in ‘Propaganda Matrix’ the question posed to the reader covered a capitalistic approach to beauty, ‘Beautiful Woman’ covers the other side of the coin. It talks about ‘natural beauty’, as opposed to a ‘beauty’ portrayed in the first volume. It goes in-depth into how that looks, including many illustrations, photographs and interviews with brave men and women that ignore the paradigm evangelized by the media.
Also covered are the different size classifications, shape terms, substitute and urban terms, food, metabolism, myths versus facts, WLS (Weight Loss Surgery), self-esteem, BBW clothing, BBW media such as art, books, music, magazines and TV shows, among other topics.
The second volume’s question is: “What is true beauty?”.
Having answered the question of what ‘true beauty’ is, ‘Big Life’ takes the reader on a journey across BBW communities, meetup groups, Fat Acceptance networks & organizations, BBW nightclubs, parties, dating web sites and more.
Also covered are tips like how to create an online profile, how to take good photographs of yourself, travel advice such as how to save on air plane fares, meeting advice, pitfalls of dating, what things to avoid and how to protect yourself from people with harmful intentions and tips for healthy relationships, among other topics.
The third volume’s question is: “Does being big justify being lonely?”.
Lone ranger, or a marching crowd, ‘Fat (In-)Activism’ offers each BBW and admirer a chance to take the information covered in the first three volumes and use it to become Fat Activists (Fat Acceptance Activists) themselves, to shift society’s present-day beauty paradigm. Covered in this volume are prominent Fat Activists who fight for fat people’s (and thus BBW as well) rights, but also the opposite side of Fat Activism – Fat In-activism. That which perhaps plagues BBW even more so than the propaganda matrix; Mostly men who secretly admire BBW but in public cease to openly show that admiration when under the scrutiny of family, friends and relatives.
Also covered are tips for starting your own Fat Acceptance web site, topic ideas, how to get advice from web design professionals and online resources, how to expand your site and make it social and a plethora of other useful tips and advice.
The fourth and last volume’s question is: “When do we say enough is enough?!”.