I made a slideshow movie with the recording of my talk in Bradford on 11 May 2013. I spoke about The Fattylympics in some depth, describing how and why it came to be, what it looked like, some of the problems we encountered, and what activists and cultural producers might learn from it. Beware, there is some swearing.
Contact me if you are interested in booking me for a talk.
I’m really pleased to announce that DIVA magazine have invited me to write a regular column about how queer plays out in my life. The first one will be out in the July edition.
For those who don’t know, DIVA was first published in 1994 as a title that would reflect the lesbian community in the UK. More than 150 issues later, the magazine has become a platform for diverse queer voices, including my own. DIVA is available from all the main magazine retailers, as well as online.
I’m excited to have been given this opportunity to further expand ideas of identity and sexuality, and to share parts of my life with readers.
My band, Homosexual Death Drive, has a track on the wonderful new compilation album: Carry on Rioting. It’s brought to you by our friends at Riots Not Diets, a Brighton-based queer/ riot grrrl/ DIY night on their own Tuff Enuff label. the album is available on green vinyl and as downloads, and comes with a zine.
Our track, ‘The Temple of the Butthole,’ is an homage to Gayle Rubin’s excellent essay about The Catacombs, bibliographic details below. I sent her a link to our unsettling video, and she gave us her blessing.
This is our first outing on vinyl, hopefully not our last. An EP is also on its way. Get in touch if you would like to book us.
Rubin, G. (1991) ‘The Catacombs: A temple of the butthole’ in Thompson, M., ed. Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, And Practice, Los Angeles: Daedalus Publishing, 119-141.
I’m absolutely thrilled to bits to see my work referenced in the new award-winning Aquaporko documentary, about fat activism and synchronised swimming in Australia. This joyous and uplifting film should be coming to a screen near you soon.
More about Aquaporko – the phenomenon and the film – over on Obesity Timebomb: Aquaporko is the future of fat public health.
The final Hamburger Queen therapy video is now online. If this kind of therapy is something you would like to do, or know more about, please get in touch.
The third Hamburger Queen therapy video is now online. Scottee has a revelation and Amy talks about Celebrity Fit Club in more depth.
This is what face-to-face therapy with me looks like, sort of, though I don’t film regular sessions, it’s not shared with anyone, and you won’t have a light shining in your face. Get in touch if it looks like something you’d like to do.
Catch me at the following events:
6 April 2013
Riots Not Diets#2
My band, Homosexual Death Drive, are playing in London at the launch of Carry On Rioting. We’re on the album too, with our song The Temple of the Butthole, inspired by Gayle Rubin’s spectacular essay about The Catacombs, a gay fisting club in San Francisco that was decimated by AIDS and AIDS policy. Rubin, G. (1991) ‘The Catacombs: A temple of the butthole’ in Thompson, M., ed. Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, And Practice, Los Angeles: Daedalus Publishing, 119-141.
11 May 2013
Just Do(ing) It, Again: The Politics of DIY and Self-Organised Culture
I’m doing a presentation in Bradford about the Fattylympics at The 1 in 12 Club, the legendary autonomous DIY space. The talk is part of a day-long event exploring DIY culture and is supported by Bradford University. More details are on their way.
16 May 2013
Weight Stigma Conference 2013
I’m giving a presentation at this conference at Birmingham University. My initial abstract is pasted below, but the speaking time has changed and so it might be a little different. This is sort of what it’s about though.
Nothing About Us Without Us: Fat People and Research Justice
Research justice is a concept emerging from activist communities in the US, and has roots in disability activism. It proposes that research subjects should have a voice in the research undertaken about them; it also treats research as a tool to support social change. Research justice really excites me because it adds a practical dimension to the discussion about the failings of obesity research, and proposes measures for building research projects that have more direct benefit to fat people. In this presentation I will outline some of the problems that obesity research raises; introduce research justice as an alternative model for undertaking research around fat; and suggest some ways in which it could be adopted.
The second Hamburger Queen 2013 therapy video is now online. That’s me in the other chair saying “Oh my god!”
Here’s a blog post about what happened during the screening: Why do you laugh at the fat people?
Our session at the WOW festival was a rip-roaring success! Thank you to everybody who came and participated. Read my report and follow the links for more media.
Like this? Book me for a talk!
Dr Geneva Murray, the Director of the Womens Center at the University of Wisconsin in Oshkosh, invited a bunch of us to talk about our feminism, research and activism for International Women’s Day via a Google Hangout. This was the first time I’d worked like this, there were some technical hiccups, but it was also really exciting and rad. Thanks to everyone who took part!