The Elfcat Report: NAAFA Covention 2005, San Mateo, CA
Note: Apologies for being so late. of course as I finish writing toward the end of September, tragic events have unfolded and NAAFA itself has turned its efforts to seeking donations of clothes for the plus-sized population of the Gulf Coast, of which there are many, who will undoubtedly be in need of them. But it is at such troubling times that it helps to take a break and think of more festive memories. In that spirit, here is one story from the convention, hopefully only one among many.
Links to my own collections of pics and clips are included.
Wednesday August 10:
Kat, Marsha and I ended an hour drive from my house in Bay Point, arriving at the San Mateo Marriott at about 11:00AM to check in. Some people arrived earlier and had gone on the Early Bird tour the previous day, as NAAFA has traditionally done and as I did last year while in New York, partly to scope out Liberty Island, the final destination of Marsha's cross-country walk. The time we thought we would be relaxing and getting ready for the convocation was instead taken scrambling for a room with two beds as I'd reserved. They had evidently overbooked, but eventually we got one. It wasn't the suite we'd hoped for, and the fridge we thought would be there would have been useful, but at least we got it pretty much resolved.
The convocation was basically time to chat and to get a rundown of the different events and types of workshops. The workshops were arranged by Carla Denhartog in tracks. The politically-oriented track was called "Body Liberators' Camp". The sociological track was called "Fat Studies". Many exercise types and health tips were covered in the fitness track. And various workshops on artistic expression and sexuality would round out the offerings. First timers and veterans split up for a time. In the veterans group I was happy to see quite a few people I hadn't seen in a long time, and it was good to see them still as energetic as ever. We went around for introductions and sharing our past experiences. This is the third convention I've been to in recent memory, having had a huge gap between 1991 and 2003. That is a long stretch of time, in which many significant things have happened within NAAFA and in its offshoots, especially given that this interval saw the military/academic ARPANET system opened up to the general public, and the resulting drive to improve computers and modems from what to a present-day user was a painfully slow and eye-numbingly text-only experience, as John Halbig would later relate from the bad old days of single-dial-in bulletin board systems.
Our first workshop was the opener of the body liberators' track. Entrants into this workshop had sashes cut for them from wide ribbons colored red or purple, to be festooned with pins bearing different symbols for each of the workshops in the track. Marilyn had put up quotes from different people up on the wall, from Eleanor Roosevelt to Antonio Gramsci to the baleful prognostications of Surgeon General Satcher, and we took turns reading. Then we danced to a round of "Body Liberation", a slight variation on the hokey-pokey.
After that it was time for Kat and I, along with Marsha and Kwame, to head for the meeting for the fashion show models. This reporter will not be able to tell you of all the workshops we would have attended had we not opted for the modeling, but I knew it would be a heady experience especially for Kat, whom Charity from Honunui had been encouraging us all to model her tropical wares. We were given all the information and some non-staining antiperspirant, and set times to meet different vendors. Two other vendors, Big Girl Gear and Daisy Plus, asked Kat to model.
Kat and I then made our way to "Do Your Knees Hurt". Kat wanted to see what exercises she could do to take stress off her knees, and Cinder Ernst was ready with the information. Kat was so impressed with Cinder, she decided to go for Cinder's convention deal to do an in-person consultation, which will be used to construct a custom home exercise DVD.
Another hour after this workshop, the Meet and Greet was our first event sharing a meal and learning about the different mini-stickers we could place on our name badges to indicate whether one was a newcomer, looking for friends, single, attached, activist, and so on.
While the official event after this was a private pool party, we didn't make it out to the pool, as Kat and I went to our appointments with Charity and Monique regarding the clothes we'd be modeling.
We then turned in to get some sleep for the night, sensing that we might go short as the week went on.
Thursday August 11:
Having left the item Kat was going to donate to the auction at home, I had to forego the first workshop block of the day to head back home to retrieve it.
I did manage to get back in time to join Kat at the luncheon with the keynote speaker, Laura Frater, author of Fat Chicks Rule, who read from her book, mainly a treatise on developing a positive attitude.
The next session was one of the most well-attended, the sex workshop. John Halbig held forth on his own history as a computer system operator from the distant past, and watching the discussion rage and blossom over several means of communication. Sex has always been a hot topic in the fat-acceptance community, as it is one of the most vicious modes of prejudice, and also because to fully enjoy sexuality, fat people need to be willing to experiment far more than do the thinner people who are used to seeing themselves in the standard images. There was a lot of laughter, but also in some cases tears as challenges were related. Certainly this is a topic which promises to remain at the core of any agenda for empowerment.
I love seeing Board meetings, political type that I am. I had to miss it this time however, and hopefully others who were there can relate what matters were discussed and what actions taken. Kat and I, meanwhile, were at the fashion show rehearsal, taking a test run down the catwalk.
With an hour to spare, we went back to shower and make ready for the event. It was very exciting, especially for Kat, who wasn't sure how she'd feel about showing herself off in front of everyone, but who found true cameraderie behind the curtain as the lady models made ready, while the handful of male models headed off to the men's restroom for their changes.
As always, the fashion show is one of the centerpieces of the convention. The cameras clicked and filmed away as women and a few men took to the stage in clothes, lingerie and swimwear by the show's vendors. Sparkle was big in a number of the dresses, and there was one bride to be who showed off her own wedding dress. After seeing Kat come out in a colorful dress and then in a fuzzy sky-blue sweater, I waited for my call. Actually, as it happened, there was an intermission before that, for which Kat later said she was thankful because it gave her more time to get into her third outfit. That was what I call a "tropical wedding dress lite". I meanwhile was in a black dress shirt with bamboo imprints with a black-painted kapui nut necklace. When the action continued I made ready again, put my camera down and headed for the side step. I strode to the center stair where my bride to be emerged. I took her hand and we began our stroll. Of course, flirt that I am, I made sure many hugs and kisses intermingled with the poses showing off the fashions. I led Kat back to the steps and as she descended, I bid her farewell with a bow.
Back to my seat I went, to take my camera and record as much as I could, including the finale and a surprise performance by Charlie Biscuits, who belted out his own hip hop celebration of the big girls.
Fashion Show Picture ZIP
Fashion Show Video
Fashion Show Finale Video
Charlie Biscuits Video
It seemed that the on-stage announcement of our engagement made Kat and I the fairytale couple in the media's eyes from that point on. We were tapped for several interviews, the longest by a Japanese-American woman from Long Beach who asked many questions about love and relationships for a Japanese magazine. Actually, who am I kidding, it was Kat they all wanted a piece of.
Note: Apologies for being so late. of course as I finish writing toward the end of September, tragic events have unfolded and NAAFA itself has turned its efforts to seeking donations of clothes for the plus-sized population of the Gulf Coast, of which there are many, who will undoubtedly be in need of them. But it is at such troubling times that it helps to take a break and think of more festive memories. In that spirit, here is one story from the convention, hopefully only one among many.
Links to my own collections of pics and clips are included.
Wednesday August 10:
Kat, Marsha and I ended an hour drive from my house in Bay Point, arriving at the San Mateo Marriott at about 11:00AM to check in. Some people arrived earlier and had gone on the Early Bird tour the previous day, as NAAFA has traditionally done and as I did last year while in New York, partly to scope out Liberty Island, the final destination of Marsha's cross-country walk. The time we thought we would be relaxing and getting ready for the convocation was instead taken scrambling for a room with two beds as I'd reserved. They had evidently overbooked, but eventually we got one. It wasn't the suite we'd hoped for, and the fridge we thought would be there would have been useful, but at least we got it pretty much resolved.
The convocation was basically time to chat and to get a rundown of the different events and types of workshops. The workshops were arranged by Carla Denhartog in tracks. The politically-oriented track was called "Body Liberators' Camp". The sociological track was called "Fat Studies". Many exercise types and health tips were covered in the fitness track. And various workshops on artistic expression and sexuality would round out the offerings. First timers and veterans split up for a time. In the veterans group I was happy to see quite a few people I hadn't seen in a long time, and it was good to see them still as energetic as ever. We went around for introductions and sharing our past experiences. This is the third convention I've been to in recent memory, having had a huge gap between 1991 and 2003. That is a long stretch of time, in which many significant things have happened within NAAFA and in its offshoots, especially given that this interval saw the military/academic ARPANET system opened up to the general public, and the resulting drive to improve computers and modems from what to a present-day user was a painfully slow and eye-numbingly text-only experience, as John Halbig would later relate from the bad old days of single-dial-in bulletin board systems.
Our first workshop was the opener of the body liberators' track. Entrants into this workshop had sashes cut for them from wide ribbons colored red or purple, to be festooned with pins bearing different symbols for each of the workshops in the track. Marilyn had put up quotes from different people up on the wall, from Eleanor Roosevelt to Antonio Gramsci to the baleful prognostications of Surgeon General Satcher, and we took turns reading. Then we danced to a round of "Body Liberation", a slight variation on the hokey-pokey.
After that it was time for Kat and I, along with Marsha and Kwame, to head for the meeting for the fashion show models. This reporter will not be able to tell you of all the workshops we would have attended had we not opted for the modeling, but I knew it would be a heady experience especially for Kat, whom Charity from Honunui had been encouraging us all to model her tropical wares. We were given all the information and some non-staining antiperspirant, and set times to meet different vendors. Two other vendors, Big Girl Gear and Daisy Plus, asked Kat to model.
Kat and I then made our way to "Do Your Knees Hurt". Kat wanted to see what exercises she could do to take stress off her knees, and Cinder Ernst was ready with the information. Kat was so impressed with Cinder, she decided to go for Cinder's convention deal to do an in-person consultation, which will be used to construct a custom home exercise DVD.
Another hour after this workshop, the Meet and Greet was our first event sharing a meal and learning about the different mini-stickers we could place on our name badges to indicate whether one was a newcomer, looking for friends, single, attached, activist, and so on.
While the official event after this was a private pool party, we didn't make it out to the pool, as Kat and I went to our appointments with Charity and Monique regarding the clothes we'd be modeling.
We then turned in to get some sleep for the night, sensing that we might go short as the week went on.
Thursday August 11:
Having left the item Kat was going to donate to the auction at home, I had to forego the first workshop block of the day to head back home to retrieve it.
I did manage to get back in time to join Kat at the luncheon with the keynote speaker, Laura Frater, author of Fat Chicks Rule, who read from her book, mainly a treatise on developing a positive attitude.
The next session was one of the most well-attended, the sex workshop. John Halbig held forth on his own history as a computer system operator from the distant past, and watching the discussion rage and blossom over several means of communication. Sex has always been a hot topic in the fat-acceptance community, as it is one of the most vicious modes of prejudice, and also because to fully enjoy sexuality, fat people need to be willing to experiment far more than do the thinner people who are used to seeing themselves in the standard images. There was a lot of laughter, but also in some cases tears as challenges were related. Certainly this is a topic which promises to remain at the core of any agenda for empowerment.
I love seeing Board meetings, political type that I am. I had to miss it this time however, and hopefully others who were there can relate what matters were discussed and what actions taken. Kat and I, meanwhile, were at the fashion show rehearsal, taking a test run down the catwalk.
With an hour to spare, we went back to shower and make ready for the event. It was very exciting, especially for Kat, who wasn't sure how she'd feel about showing herself off in front of everyone, but who found true cameraderie behind the curtain as the lady models made ready, while the handful of male models headed off to the men's restroom for their changes.
As always, the fashion show is one of the centerpieces of the convention. The cameras clicked and filmed away as women and a few men took to the stage in clothes, lingerie and swimwear by the show's vendors. Sparkle was big in a number of the dresses, and there was one bride to be who showed off her own wedding dress. After seeing Kat come out in a colorful dress and then in a fuzzy sky-blue sweater, I waited for my call. Actually, as it happened, there was an intermission before that, for which Kat later said she was thankful because it gave her more time to get into her third outfit. That was what I call a "tropical wedding dress lite". I meanwhile was in a black dress shirt with bamboo imprints with a black-painted kapui nut necklace. When the action continued I made ready again, put my camera down and headed for the side step. I strode to the center stair where my bride to be emerged. I took her hand and we began our stroll. Of course, flirt that I am, I made sure many hugs and kisses intermingled with the poses showing off the fashions. I led Kat back to the steps and as she descended, I bid her farewell with a bow.
Back to my seat I went, to take my camera and record as much as I could, including the finale and a surprise performance by Charlie Biscuits, who belted out his own hip hop celebration of the big girls.
Fashion Show Picture ZIP
Fashion Show Video
Fashion Show Finale Video
Charlie Biscuits Video
It seemed that the on-stage announcement of our engagement made Kat and I the fairytale couple in the media's eyes from that point on. We were tapped for several interviews, the longest by a Japanese-American woman from Long Beach who asked many questions about love and relationships for a Japanese magazine. Actually, who am I kidding, it was Kat they all wanted a piece of.
