NOLOSE is not a traditional academic conference in any way, though for those of us interested in fat studies and intersectionality, it's a great way to put our activism into practice. From the NOLOSE website:
NOLOSE started out as the National Organization for Lesbians of SizE. As the years passed and the organization grew, we changed our mission to include not only a broader community of queer women—dykes, lesbians and bisexual women, including transgender women—but also transgender people overall.
After a while, it became clear that this identity-based attendance rule was no longer working for the majority of the NOLOSE community. After much facilitated discussion and careful thought, the NOLOSE Board of Directors decided that participation in the NOLOSE community and attendance at the annual NOLOSE Conference would no longer be identity-based; we now welcome all who share an ideological and activist commitment to fat and queer liberation, as well as anti-oppression politics in general. For more information, please see our gender policy, announced and posted in July 2011. In effect, this policy means that all genders and identities will be welcome at future NOLOSE conferences.
For me, NOLOSe is one of the only places I feel like I can be my whole self--fat, queer, genderqueer, disabled, a poet, an academic, sexy, struggling. It isn't a completely safe space, but it is the safest one I've found, and it is in that spirit that I'm going to share my experiences at the conference, knowing that many of our new readers are folks I met at the conference this year. And I want to remind you that we are eager for submissions from everyone, so just email asktippet at gmail.
I didn't get photos of all my outfits. I wanted to bring my dSLR camera, but ultimately, I had to admit that I couldn't take everything I wanted. I was low on spoons all weekend, but managed to rally in a way I'm not usually able to. I really think that the combination of having a dog who MUST go outside by 6 in the morning every day no matter what and the discipline of going to bed at 10 and getting up at 6 almost every day for the past year has given me the ability to get up and go in ways I couldn't (or wouldn't) when I was younger. I was so impressed by my reserves of energy this weekend!
I have to be honest and tell you that I am not quite sure how to talk about NOLOSE. I'm still processing everything I experience this weekend. It was by far one of the best experiences of my life, allowing me space to struggle with my own demons, from disordered eating, to letting go of being a "good white person" as I do the difficult anti-racist work required of me. NOLOSE is a very special place I feel grateful to have in my life, most of all because of the connections forged.
And, of course, for the fashion.
I feel free to wear things at NOLOSE that I would not wear elsewhere, and each year I push my boundaries a bit, and carry home with me some of those shifting boundaries I can bring to my every day life. For example, today I wore the same blue maxi dress I've worn before, but without anything over it, meaning my tattoos showed. And when one student asked me what my female symbol heart tattoo meant, I told them it meant I'm a lesbian. It was strange to come out so casually, but it also felt right.
Anyway, on to the outfits. For the first day of the conference, I wore this gem:
I apologize for the low quality of the photo. I'm wearing a red t-shirt that says "I'm Fat Let's Party" (purchased from here), a black ruffly skirt from Old Navy a year ago, and yellow teggings. I got so many compliments on this shirt, and saw several other folks wearing the shirt, too. It was fun to wear a skirt I'd normally think was too short, and a shirt that would invite unwelcome comments outside of NOLOSE. I've actually had this shirt for a year, but never worn it.
Another big outfit moment for me was wearing a fatkini for the first time. It felt so much better to swim in fewer clothes, and I'm so glad it was warmer this year, since last year it was way too cold to swim.
The bikini is from ByRoDesigns on Etsy. I'd never worn it before. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd have the courage to wear it anywhere else, but it is empowering to explicitly, purposefully transgress when it comes to the rules of fashion. "No one want to see that," we are told, but my body is not there for others to stare at, but for me to enjoy. Wearing clothes intentionally feels like an act of radical subversion.
At Margitte's Fatshion panel, we discussed a lot of great issues involved in fashion for fatties, like the trouble we have once we size out of even plus size stores, as well as differing opinions of what it means to be Femme and what responsibility we have to be "on" all the time. That's a topic I'll get back to later.
I ended up bringing way two many clothes. At one point, I couldn't decide what to wear, so I put on all my clothes on top of each other and made my roommate help me decide which layer looked best. It was pretty hilarious. Mostly, I feel like NOLOSE was an amazing array of gorgeous fat folks sporting incredible fashions, a really affirming place for me--it feels good to be complimented by someone who understands 1) how hard you worked to find that outfit that fits you and 2) how dangerous it feels to wear it in public and 3) is hot, fat, and queer themselves. I got to model in the fashion show on Friday night, and ended up buying the dress. It felt like it was made for me, and I plan to wear it to my exam on Wednesday.
The truth is, I have so many things I want to say and explain and process and explore about NOLOSE, but a lot of it doesn't feel ready for a blog, and moreover, I have no time to blog until after my exams. But I do have some exciting news for when I return. I plan to take a photo of myself the day of my exam, to show what I wore for the big test, and then expect some radio silence until a week later.
Thanks to all the rad fatties I met who are reading this. Please don't forget to submit your own posts!
2 comments:
I am so glad you had a wonderful time at your conference. I am interested in something you said, and I hope you could address it sometime in the future. " to letting go of being a "good white person" as I do the difficult anti-racist work required of me". What does that mean? to you? and to all white people? I am not being aggressive, I too need to work on my behaviours. I had an incident yesterday, that I am disheartened by, and I it became even more apparent that I have lots of struggles ahead of me with my own actions.
But...the bikini shot, WOW! You looked really good, I mean good! I know it is hard to be fat and out there, but you look divine. Fat never even blipped on my radar. I wish I could do the same thing.
Anyway, glad to have you back, and I hope your exams go wonderfully.
Mama Pants: I'm definitely still figuring out what this means to me. I know that I was unconsciously patting myself on the back for NOT being a racist and being able to recognize racism in others, but at the workshop I attended, we talked about the dangers of taking on "anti-racist" as an identity for ourselves as white people, because it often leads to laziness and unawareness of our own misdeeds. I was also disheartened when I realized how much racism at NOLOSE my friend of color experienced that I didn't even pick up on. I still have a lot to do.
Thanks, as always, for your great comments!
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