the rebellyon

what a fatty! right? right? so NOT!!! purdy purdy afp takes one for the team.

nobody wants to be told they're fat. women really freak when they receive negative feedback about their physical appearance or weight. there's that little bit if me that feels guilty when i peek at the "worst dressed celebs" list, often because i totally disagree with the judgements, but mostly because i feel bad for the gals who get dissed on. can you imagine? i've gotten some mean comments on flickr before but i try not to let it bug me. but the whole amanda palmer belly thing is still bugging me, even though it happened months ago.

if you aren't familiar with this odd story, the condensed version is that miss afp's lame-o record label wanted to edit the video for "leeds united" as they felt her belly looked too fat. nope, i'm really serious. get the deets here.

so anyway, the fans got so riled up and aggro about it that this great site sprang up - enter the rebellyon. hundreds of fans sent in pictures of their imperfect tummies, many of them emblazoned with words of support for afp and angry messages for roadrunner records.

i love going on and peeking at the pics. some are trim and pretty, some are chubby, some have cellulite and folds, some have scars - but it feels good to know that every single one on there looks very different. the brit and xtina midriffs are indistinguishable from the paltrow tummy, the zellweger lack-o-gut, the kidman middle, etc. being bombarded with images like those make me hate my squishy sides, the fold in my middle, the paunch that creeps out over the top of my tights. i feel like a freak when i compare myself to the jessica albas and audrey tatous. am i?

i was told recently that i had a nice tummy. really? how sweet! and it wasn't even corseted and hidden and disguised by spanx or control top granny panties. i was flopped on my bed in my pajamas with my tummy hanging out over the top of my sweats. yay for bellies.

if it hadn't been for the rebellyon, i don't know if i would've let anyone see my tum. for years, thinking i was horribly obese or deformed or just plain gross i did everything i could to hide my gut. seeing so many tummies in so many different shapes sizes and all shows me what i claimed to already know - that everyone is different. i guess i'm not such a freak after all. and i also kinda suspect that celebs have a tummy double that fills in for everyone. how on earth could they all be so similar? thoughts?