Why I Love Beth Ditto, Vol. #1
This shall be the first post in an ongoing series about Beth Ditto, or namely, the reasons why I love her.
Beth Ditto, if you are unaware, is the lead singer of the band indie queercore band, The Gossip. She is a talented singer, an advocate for gay rights, and an atypical sex symbol. The woman is just fab.
So, reason #1:
Because she does stuff like this.
Dittoh no! Beth strips at show
May 18, 2007
HERE’S BETH DITTO giving a gutsy performance in just bra and pants.
THE GOSSIP singer stripped off during her set at North London’s The Barfly.
And the crowd loved it – except for one chap who was hit in the face by a flying sanitary towel.
Later sozzled Beth stole a camera from the paparazzi to snap them, but by the night’s end she was slumped on the floor.
The woman’s got chutzpah. I would never have the guts to ever show off my stomach in front of my friends, let alone at a music gig. Her middle doesn’t look that bad to me, but then again, I’m more used to seeing women who look like that because I was raised in a family of full of them. I say, more power to her.
And while the purpose of turning this relatively minor event into a story for Victoria Newton’s Bizarre section of The Sun was just this side of mean-spirited, the comments on the story were not nearly as mocking or hateful as I was expecting. I mean, you’re always going to get the “Slim-Fast works!”/”Keep your clothes on!”-type comments, but some were actually on the “You go, girl!” side, too.
More power to her. Bet those of you saying she needs slimfast are no supermodels. Live and let live. She’s up there as a musician not a model – a lot of artists today seem to confuse the two! Go BETH!
Posted_by: haleypaley
Posted_by: BrokenBritish
Posted_by: syllepsis
What got me, though, was this comment:
Posted_by: turkishdelight
I’m sorry, but I really don’t see how Beth taking off her shirt is an act of promoting obesity. I mean, why must everything be a political statement? I’m sure there was a sexual or defiant motive behind it, but how is this actively advocating obesity? What it’s advocating, if anything, (and I really hate to sound cliche and feminazi-ish) is that a woman should be able to do what she wants without having to mold herself to what society wants her to do. And if that means a fat woman is going to take off her shirt, then a fat woman takes off her shirt. Big whoop.
Yes, we all know obesity is a health problem, but it’s like saying that a photograph of someone eating a piece of candy promotes diabetes. This is a woman, people! She’s not a darn billboard!
So, enough ranting. For your entertainment, I suggest taking a look at one of The Gossip’s music videos so you can actually see Ms. Ditto in action. Here’s “Jealous Girls”:
Calculating the Curvature 
Maybe I’m oversimplifying this, but I see this basically as a larger woman doing what skinny toothpicks do on stage all the freaking time. And I welcome it, personally. It’s always a relief to see a big woman who’s proud of how she looks.
And it always irritates me when people who claim to be fat leave comments like that one woman did. I don’t get why someone would want to suppress the expression of a group they themselves belong to.
I think a lot of fat people agree with the idea that they are somehow at fault or shameful or bad or unhealthy because the idea is just so pervasive. It’s everywhere, especially if your family is in on it. Kind of like those conservative Christian (or other) women who believe (or say they believe) that women should obey their husbands and not be allowed to use birth control or have abortions, actively participating in their own oppression and the oppression of all women. When you have a lifelong emotional investment in something which is reinforced by everyone around you it’s hard to disagree.
I think you hit on it exactly. That one blurb shows you exactly how extreme the oppression towards fat has become. That a fat woman can earnestly articulate the view that showing a fat body is a threat to society – “promoting obesity.”
Because our very existence is dangerous and immoral, isn’t it? And if we must go out in public we should “cover our shame.” To protect the public. Should we wear burkas perhaps?
[…] So here’s reason number two in my ongoing series about Beth Ditto and the reasons why I adore her. […]
Why I Love Beth Ditto, Vol. #2 « Fat Feminism said this on May 30, 2007 at 3:55 AM |
[…] Why I love Beth Ditto – The Gossip are an average band at best (review), yet somehow singer Beth Ditto has been adopted as a feminist role model for non-size-zero women everywhere. All she really does though is make herself out to be a freak show. If image really matters so little, why not get on with playing music instead of posing naked on the cover of the NME? […]
I think alot of NME fans & musos were offended by Beth being naked on the cover but I think we’re missing the point. This was not a “stunt” for the mag. Beth is known for being confident & taking her gear off on stage. Maybe we should stop focussing on Beths’ size. I don’t think The Gossip are the best band in the world but I admire that they are doing what they luv & they are being themselves. That’s inspiring & that makes me like them!
she is an abxolute disgrace!
You’re an absolute disgrace ihatebethditto.
I have to admit that she is good at singing. But I don’t really like her lifestyle.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Beth, but we should remember that The Gossip are a band.
I think The Gossip are one of the few bands doing anything musically interesting at the moment. Anyone who would deny Beth’s, Brace’s or Hannah’s talent in a fool.
I might be a little biased because Beth is my role model, but personally…she’s the hottest woman on this planet! She’s obviously well off health wise…have you seen the girl sing and dance? At the same time? Without becoming out of breath before any other girl with amazing singing skills would? Even some of the little toothpick singers can’t do that. She doesn’t deny anything…she even once said that she has no excuse for being fat, she just likes food a lot. Not that she should need an excuse! She’s multitalented, beautiful, kind, funny, sweet…she’s an over all amazing person. A person that wonderful in general is pretty rare. I think the bottom line is that she likes her body and she doesn’t really care if anyone else does or not. When you like your body and you’re confident with it…you show it off!
I think she’s ballsy as hell and gorgeous..’nuff said:)
where can i obtain the sheer lightweight bra,s i had from her collection some 3 years ago , nothing exists in the markert place 46d , at the time, the undies were marketed through Evans,, please help.
I love any people do not because of his or her body,it’s ridiculous laughing at others just because of their look.Her talent，her works …all these things attract me.Even some big people can be kind of sensitive ,you just need to remember several tips（like this article says : http://www.bbwpeoplemeet.org/tips-for-dating-a-plus-sized-girl/）you can really make things act well