Beth Ditto, the accidental fashion icon

She is amazing. She has the confidence that other people strive for - and never achieve. She's unapologetic of her size - in fact, she's proud of it. I love her an Gossip rocks!

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I saw them perform at Webster Hall last year and she was AMAZING!!! I love that she is proud of who she is and that she pushes us to all think "what the hell is the right way anyway?" I would love to party with her sometime ;)

Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there

I hope she didn't stage dive onto one of the skinny models. they probably break easily :P

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I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say I still think it's trashy...

On the other hand, it's not often that you see a woman with her figure able to exude such confidence.  So in a way, it's kind of inspiring, because if Betto Ditto can strip down to her undergarments in front of an entire crowd of people, then there's a whole lot of us who could learn from her ability to say, "screw you, I love the way I look and I don't care what anyone has to say about it."  Yes, it's a double standard.  Yes, it's kinda trashy.  But there is a little something to learn there, too, I think.  Maybe that's why the blog was posted.  For us.  To learn.  Just a little.  In a trashy sort of way. ;o)

I am sure the thin models/celebrities are really suffering from the waves of hate since plus size Beth Ditto started taking her clothes off. The double standard. Oh how they suffer on a daily basis. This is exactly what this article is about. How thin women really suffer and are called skanky when they take their clothes off.

I first want to say I have anything against some one who is thin, I used to be obsessed with thinness and its inherent beauty. Even now I see the obvious beauty of a waifish frame. I love the word svelt. I suddenly wish I was a thinner person so it wouldn't seem like I am just a angry fat bisexual when I write this. I am not. Not angry that is. Bisexual and fat, check and check.

I think this article has more to do with someone her size feeling comfortable enough to dance and strip and be a rock star and be plus size.

There is a double standard for body sizes too. "Fat" girls aren't supposed to strut around in bikinis or adorable yoga pants. Or tank tops tube tops or miniskirts. Or fish nets I long for the days where I could wear a minskirt high heels and fish nets (when they were in).

Nope thin girls may get flack for the way they dress or UNDRESS, and that sucks, but at least you aren't told that you are unhealthy and going to die from being so morbidly obese. Or how no one wants to see that. Well maybe thin girls get that too. Nobody should be criticized for their body.

I wish it was just about a great performer living it up as a lesbian and loving life regardless of size but I guess things haven't progressed that much.

I am also saying a lot this because of some of the negatives comments that have been made about Beth Ditto when she has been the feature of articles on afterellen.com including:

http://www.afterellen.com/blog/trishbendix/beth-ditto-bares-all-for-anot...

Comments ranged from: "Just... No." or calling her unhealthy and promoting an extremely unhealthy lifestyle (yeah I am sure her nude magazine covers and new icon status is going to cause a wave of young women to start binge eating and stapling their pants to the couch to prevent them from going outside and god forbid exercising *I am being sarcastic*) to claiming that it is a fact that obesity is bad for the healtH: "it IS! So go and play with your health if you want to. It doesn't matter to me" but then hypocritically saying that the comment discussion was really about "double standards of praising and demonising people for how they look like...". So it is ok to basically assume a "fat" person is intrinsically unhealthy and is just playing russian roulette with their life, but then saying the person defending beth ditto has double standards.

I agree completely that a starlet should be free to pose nude if she is thin without being called slutty, skanky, trashy or anything. The body is a beautiful thing to be celebrated as you see fit. Plus size or thin. Or whatever the shape your body may be.

That was the topic.

Before transforming it was reasonable discussion talking about the double standard of plus size women being celebrated for posing nude while thin women are being given flack.

But then women who were defending thin women and some women who weren't started saying negative things about Beth Ditto's body in the often used guise of medical concern.

I.e. She is unhealthy or saying her obesity is as unhealthy as anorexia. I can only say that while binge eating is an eating disorder too there is no evidence beyond ditto's size that would indicate she is a binge eater. Wouldn't that be the same thing as saying beth is anorexic if she was naturally svelt? Being big doesn't mean you are unhealthy.There are myriad of different body types you canbe and be healthy.

God, I am ranting, *sigh*

But mainly there were positive comments and a good discussion about double standards I agreed with until a few people started making the same ridiculous comments about how Beth is a bad role model because of her weight and how she is unhealthy. A nice way of saying she is unattractive and not worthy of being on a magazine cover naked.

it's so amazing to see how far beth ditto (and her band of course) have gone! a couple years ago i wouldn't have imagined to see her going to big red carpet events and being photographed by paparazzi, showing up on the covers of mainstream magazines, and even being called a fashion icon of sorts. it feels crazy and unreal, but there she is. 

she's the booomb. she walks the way she talks, man. that's saying a lot.  thank youuu  bethhh!

Whenever the topic is about someone like Ditto or someone like Lohan(as far as weight) that people can discuss other things about them instead of the tired weight debate.(not trying to be rude, just saying)

That song is unbelievably sexy. Ditto's pipes never cease to amaze me. 

Regardless of what I think of her fashion sense (or lack thereof), I'm willing to bet that runways will be full of larger women next January. Fashion iconography changes with cultural moods at the drop of a hat. When thin first hit runways, it was because it was different. Something once seen as being undesirable in women, thanks to Nigel Davies' vision, became what we now know as Mod and Twiggy.

Later, of course it became a staple of a self-loathing western society, and wound up completely out of hand. It still is, but I'd argue that something has happened in recent months that (once again) made slender women the scapegoat, and fuller figures more culturally acceptable.

It's funny. If you sit there long enough, alternating between photographs of Beth and Aggy like I've been doing for the past few minutes now...is there really an aesthetic difference between a dimpled-in midsection, and a visible ribcage?

I think that moment was the day that ET, rather than blasting Jessica Simpson for gaining weight, featured celebrity interviews embracing Simpson's fuller figure. Finally, a news program was actually catering to a Big America. That got the ball rolling. Things are about to get turned upside down once more, our mentalities about "fat" and "thin" getting stretched like silly putty.

Sorry for the length. I'm just a bit amused by the endless mob mentality, whether it be in favor of rubenesque or slender. We tend to seek out people who resemble/behave like us, so I'm all in favor of things changing for a bit. It's just a shame we live in a society where "average" will never be mainstream.

Inkblots

You know what, *sigh* the "weight issue" is tired, but also sadly relevant.

Thinking about it really wasn't my goal to turn the conversation in the direction of Beth Ditto's weight, I totally agree that it shouldn't be the issue. It should be a non-issue. Just something that is accepted and not a factor when people discuss her.

I agreee with you "average" should be catered too, but Beth also should be considered as a part of the average spectrum.

I have to think about this a bit more and I will respond more.

I made my point I am not going to harp on it. I don't think I was playing the overweight card. I was responding to statements made about her weight being something negative.

I really hope I didn't come across as "thin girls are bashing her because she's fat".

You are right it is wrong of me too assume that people saying she was a poor role model because of her weight were also saying she wasn't attractive and worthy of being on an magazine cover naked. I shouldn't assume.