Fat Girl

Fat Girl # 15

2010-09-26T05:05:00.002-04:00

excerpts: "I saw other women in my life forgetting their beauty, their worth--forgetting how to be loved, and to love without fear of rejection because of their size. I saw those women forgetting that a large part of being beautiful is attitude, and that no one, not even the women in magazines, really look like the caricature of feminine beauty on the covers."

"Sexy can have a double chin, thank you very much."

"FG is a validation, and a decree. FG is an attitude, and a reassurance--it is a battle cry. Sometimes, it is a soft whisper of reminder to women (and men) that to be happy is not to be thin, to be beautiful is not to weigh in at a lower number on a scale, and to be healthy isn’t to fit into single digit sized jeans."

"More than anything, it is important that we first accept ourselves so that we can begin to accept others. We accept others so that we can begin to accept ourselves."

FG#15 is a 1/4 size, 20pp zine. this zine is photocopied in black and white on text weight paper. It is hand sewn with a japanese stab binding.

fat art

2010-06-08T02:58:00.003-04:00

fat girl zine has been on hold in the last year, due to other pursuits! it's always in progress, just more slowly than i would like sometimes. in the mean time, i've been working on various projects, including a few collaborative art journals. body positive artwork goes into most of my projects, and here's a recent sketch:

some older work, from the same project (just a different part) is below, shown in watercolor and ink. it's a bit of journaling about childhood, and body image:

FG 1-14 are all available in my etsy shop if you're interested. keep your eyes out for other body positive things in the future. lots planned for the summer! xox nicci

Nicci on Sweet Candy Radio

2009-06-08T00:57:00.002-04:00

check out Nicci's conversation with Sage on Sweet Candy Radio!

fat girl # fourteen - guts (fat is bold)

2009-06-05T23:01:00.001-04:00

fat girl # fourteen - guts (fat is bold)
Originally uploaded by nicciwashere

just finished fat girl # fourteen!

fat girl is a 1/4 size zine dealing with body positive imagery and writing, specifically where fat is concerned. FG is a 1/4 size, 20pp zine. this zine is photocopied in black and white on text weight paper. it is hand sewn with a japanese stab binding, and a heavy weight thread.

FG#14 includes a personal essay by Patricia Amos about medications and weight gain, struggling with body image, and her own self acceptance, art by Ang West, art by Nicci (of course!) and some short pieces by Nicci such as body love, food love, and dispelling the 'if'.

Excerpt: "Representations of beauty differ depending on time and culture. What is considered beautiful and desireable changes. Define your own beauty. Defend it. Love your face; love your body."

for more images, please see: etsy or flickr.

Love, Rebirth, Healing

2008-08-12T15:13:00.001-04:00

Love,Rebirth,Healing
Originally uploaded by altermyworld2

fat girl # 14 is in progress still, along with # 15. in the mean time, i have been swanning around checking out various art by some wonderful artists. as it happens, Ang has some lovely ATCs in her flickr stream, so i thought i would post about it here!

beautiful bodies at her flickr.

she took a little inspiration from the beautiful woman project, and has been doing some pretty snazzy art along those lines:

http://www.beautifulwomenproject.com/

fat love & other beautiful things

2008-01-29T18:04:00.000-05:00

looking for some body love? check out not sorry! distro for issues of Fat Girl as well as other body positive zines. an excerpt from the catalog regarding FG (#11):

Fat Girl is a beautiful zine featuring personal experiences and musings on being a fat girl. Each issue is bound like a little art book and features loads of Nicci's drawings of fat girl bodies. Each page is clearly an artistic process to be savored. In this issue, Nicci blasts the media's new claims that fat is contagious; she questions the meaning of beauty; she breaks down her family's struggles with body-hatred whether they be fat or thin and lastly, she acknowledges the power of constant visibility and taking advantage of that.

thanks, jenny! xox.

you can also find a selection of buttons and patches over @ not sorry! distro on the crafts page, including an awesome button by kate black that reads "diets make you pissy." i know i'm going to have to pick that one up!

another friendly place on the internet to play is pony boy press, hosted by the awesome krissy. you can find her zines on etsy. if you haven't yet, please check out figure 8. you will not be disappointed by her informative body positive zine!

if you really want to find a zine, on a variety of topics including body image/body love, don't hesitate to check out sweet candy distro where you will find comics, crafts, buttons, perzines, art zines, literary zines, family friendly zines, diy zines, and just about anything else you can think of that's done well! sage writes a review for every zine in her catalogue, and keeps track of shipped orders & new/restocks to her catalog via a community on LJ called the candy cluster. she also has a presence on etsy.

as you may have noticed from the graphics accompanying this post, fat girl is available in a gift pack of issues #1-13, containing all the fatty goodness you could want, and then some. check it out over on etsy. be on the lookout for issues #14 and #15, and please consider submitting. there is an open and ongoing call for art and writing, should you feel inclined to answer it! submissions should be e-mailed.

if you're looking for a prompt before you submit, FG#15 is about throwing out our scales, and recognizing internal cues rather than external ones--literally throwing out that which shames/controls and/or negatively affects our personal space. #14 is still in process--it's not too late to submit! so far in this issue: artwork by nicci, artwork by ang, writing on food/food love and writing about medication and depression on body image and body size.

A brief fatty update!

2007-12-13T17:59:00.000-05:00

Craving some reading material for yourself or another fat positive and body positive person in your life? FG minizine is up to issue #13 as of this posting! Issue #14 is in the works, and will feature some artwork by Ang, as seen to the right (though, of course, it will black and white in the zine!), as well as the usual selection of art by Nicci.

An Excerpt from FG#12: "Make no apologies for your body, baby. You should be too busy living your life and doing cool things to angst over a scale. Go out and make some interesting friends--fat or not. Engage in body positive behaviors. Relax. Have fun. do something you always wanted to do. Do it now. Don't wait for that little black dress in the back of your closet. That dress is not invited!"

An Excerpt from FG#13: "When I think of fat women, I think of bounty and softness and comfort. I think of cookies and warm stew and nourishment. I think of full bodied beauty and generous arms. I think of the goddess and I aspire to remind others of these things."

If you are interested in submitting to FG, please send a document or .txt attachment to fatgirl (at) evematrix dot com with the name you wish to be credited as, your mailing address, email address, and what information (if any) you would like provided as a contact for you in the zine. If you'd like to submit artwork, please mail .jpgs to the same addy, and if the work is accepted, you may be asked for higher res ones.

You can purchase individual issues or sets of Fat Girl minizine @ our etsy.com shop.

Once we begin to feel committed to our lives, responsible to ourselves, we can never again be satisfied with the old passive way.
-Adrienne Rich

love me, love my belly

2007-10-04T14:11:00.001-04:00

love me, love my belly
Originally uploaded by anongrrl

shhh. i just finished binding fg#11. i'll be listing it within the next couple of days, but first i have some artwork to make!

entries are still being accepted for fg#12, the community issue. please consider submitting a piece about your fat community, fat friends, or ways in which you feel accepted and supported by other fat girls! (or boys!)

i had 2 sets of dog tags made, finally. i love these things. each has 2 tags on it. one reads love me, love my belly and the other reads don't hate me because you're hungry. these things are the coolest!

there's a new gift set of fg up, containing issues 1-10 + a YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL button.

@etsy.

Call for Submissions - Community

2007-09-22T14:51:00.000-04:00

Hey Fat Girls! FG # 12 is in the planning stages. Twelve is the Community issue--so write to FG about your friends and family, those Fat Influences in your life that you cherish and admire. Who was the first person to make you feel accepted, the first to prove that fat isn't the enemy? Who are your fat role models? Write about your personal fat community, and share!

fatgirl (at) evematrix . com

Prep Work - Sub Call - FG 11

2007-09-21T18:45:00.000-04:00

Fat Girl # 11 is in the works, since FG # 10 has just been bound and released into the wild. The artwork to the left, submitted by Ang, aka AlterMyWorld, will appear in FG#11. (Note: Ang's original line drawing didn't have checkered panties, but I couldn't resist. Yes, I asked her permission! To see the original, visit her blog.)

I encourage people to talk about all aspects of life and their bodies, their habits, their passions. And, if they want, their secrets and things that they used to be ashamed of. Talking things through is important. Sometimes expressing is transformative. I'm sure there are plenty of fancy theories on that (hey, isn't that what therapy is based on?), but all I know is it works. Whatever works, right? Right.

So. If you have anything to share, now is a good time! Art, writing, rants, letters, theories, essays, anecdotes, humor. Submit to fatgirl@evematrix.com ATTN: FG SUBMISSION. In the mean time, you might consider picking up some previous issues of FG to check out all the Fatty Stuff you've been missing! You can find FG in collections or individually over on etsy.com, a handmade marketplace.

Fat Girl miniZine

2007-09-17T09:32:00.001-04:00

fat girl #1
Originally uploaded by anongrrl

Calling all Fat Girls!

Fat Girl miniZine is a 1/4 size zine full of fatty goodness, positive body image words and art, size acceptance, HAES, and a healthy dose of attitude.

This little zine came about a little over two years ago. I started drawing and writing it, and I haven't looked back since! Why?

I am a Fat Girl. I’m a trained writer and artist, and I have been making zines for a few years, and one day I had a piece of paper in front of me, and I just decided it was time to start talking about Fat, and the various ways in which it is an influence in my life, which has been mostly positive except where external sources like magazines, media, and certain closed minded individuals have been involved. It is very difficult to maintain a healthy sense of self when one is constantly being told they are Other and outside the acceptable/beautiful/worthy. I have always been defiant, and I felt that, at age 27, I was ready to write FG, as I saw other women in my life forgetting their beauty, forgetting that a large part of beautiful is attitude. Sexy can have a double chin, thank you very much. FG is a validation, and a decree, and I am pleased to say I have received some feedback, mostly from women, who read the zine and tell me it gave them the courage to do something, even something as small as giving themselves permission to ask for the space they need to be comfortable.

This blog is a body-safe space. It's also a place where I can show off some writing and art by folks who submit to the zines, and some links to cool Fat Art on the 'net. Who knows, ultimately, what will pop up here?

As of this writing, Fat Girl's issue count is at 10!
Yes, we're accepting submissions at all times (digital & snail mail).

If you would like to query about submissions, topics, or just submit, please address your stuff to fatgirl (at) evematrix dot com.

xox