rainbowrowell: I wanted to reblog this anonymous ask, answered by Simini Blocker — a NYC…
I wanted to reblog this anonymous ask, answered by Simini Blocker — a NYC illustrator, who has done some AMAZING Eleanor & Park fan art.
I think Simini is incredibly talented, and I got to meet her this spring in New York. (Unrelated: She is GORGEOUS.)
Anyway, this made me cry. Because Simini so eloquently puts into words something that I struggle to say myself. And because her Eleanor gets to me for all of these reasons …
I wanted to thank you for not trying to make eleanor look curvy instead of fat. There are few fat female protagonists who’s main goal is not to change their bodies and as a fat girl my self it was inspiring to read about a character like her. It was encouraging to see a fat person that some one is physically attracted to. Your illustrations really helped me visualize her having a body type similar to mine and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it and how great it was for my self esteem.
Anonymous
Ahh anon. Thank you for your note. It means a lot to me to have helped anyone in that way. It’s something I feel really strongly about. And one the reasons I loved Eleanor and Park so much as well. (warning, this is about to get long…)
I’m pretty sure I fell in love that book as soon as Eleanor walked on the bus and we get Park’s description of her, and then even more so when Eleanor describes herself “Too much of everything and too little height to hide it.” Bigger than her mother who had five kids. Because that’s exactly how I felt. And it IS rare to find a fat protagonist, especially female. I can only think of six-ish, maybe? And I read constantly. Even if I’m missing a bunch it’s a huge disparity. And of those few, 3 are about girls who are constantly dieting and the triumph is when they get thin, or realize that they were never “really” fat all along. Or it’s a comedy and the fact that she’s fat is part of the joke. So E&P was pretty amazing to read.
I spent a lot of years feeling that nothing I did or was would make up for the fact that I was/am fat. And I based a lot of my worth on being able to find someone to date/marry which rather compounded the problem. Even though intellectually I knew those were ridiculous ideas, it’s still in the end what I felt.
And the thing is, I think those ideas came partly, even largely, from the media I watched/ read/ saw. They came from a culture we’re all pretty immersed in, which is pretty fat phobic and generally treats women and their bodies like objects. And never seeing a protagonist who looked like me created this sort of feeling like I wasn’t the sort of person who could do the things my heroes did- fat people could only be sidekicks or villains or comic relief. It makes me now really passionate about doing my part to counteract those messages, even if it’s in seemingly small ways.
I hate that we live in a world where being physically attractive is still considered one of the highest virtues, and on top of that, has such a narrow vision of beauty. And I think I loved E&P so much because the important point isn’t “fat people can be attractive” or “she triumphed because someone found her attractive.” But you’re attractive, and you deserve love, and can be loved, because of your whole self, not just “because of” or “in spite of” your body. And you don’t owe it to anyone to look a certain way either.
Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/55621179371.
