Rebellyon

This topic came to my attention via other dance forums and blogs, so I can't take any credit for it. British cab-punk singer Amanda Palmer was recently told by her record label to edit a fantastic music video because they felt she looked too fat and needed to expose less of her belly.

No one in their right mind would call Amanda Palmer fat. The costume wasn't lewd or overly exposing (actually, it may have well adhered to near-Victorian prudishness, considering what most pop tartlets are wearing in their music videos), her belly looked nice and toned...the idiocy of their comment has to be witnessed to be believed. It is a class A example of the media perpetuating ridiculously unhealthy stereotypes about women, as well as the pressure that women are under to appear impossibly thin and perfect.

We need to be proud of our bellies and proud of the fact that we are trying to keep them healthy. This is a difficult thing for most women to do (I certainly struggle with my belly self-image), and this incident between Amanda Palmer and Roadrunner Records highlights what we are faced with.

Absurdabsurd over at the Drestin Doll's website The Shadowbox has written up a fantastic release concerning this whole incident. She says it much better than I could and has requested the people spread the word about this. Click on the links. Watch the videos. Investigate this issue.

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AMANDA PALMER AND THE REBELLYON

Earlier this year, Amanda Palmer of Brechtian punk cabaret duo 'the Dresden Dolls' released her first solo album, 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer' through label Roadrunner Records.

Recent relations with her label may be called 'strained' at best, but the conflict has just taken on a new dimension:

In October, Amanda filmed a video for the first single "Leeds United" , directed by Alex De Campi.
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYSULkXcVYw ) .

Upon seeing the final product, Roadrunner Records responded by telling her she was fat, and to re-cut the video to show less of her belly.

Amanda refused to make the changes demanded. Instead, she sent out a mailer about the issue and later blogged about it here:

http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/61263444/home-the-leeds-video-more-belly-solidarity

Since the release, Amanda Palmer fans have been flooding the online Dresden Dolls/Amanda Palmer forum with responses here:

http://www.theshadowbox.net/forum/index.php?topic=6054.0

They have begun posting pictures of their bellies in support of Amanda and in protest against Roadrunner Records' actions and policies, as well as sending their pictures and personal stories to one of the forum members who has volunteered to collate, print and send all received bellies to the Roadrunner Records HQ. At the time of writing this, over 100 photos have been collected in less than 48 hours. Roadrunner Records attempted to appease fans by initiating a contest for the 'best belly photo', a move that provoked a cascade of angry replies from fans. The contest has since been removed from the Roadrunner website.

This issue is not just about Amanda Palmer's belly. This issue is about all the bellies of the world: big, small, hairy, stretch-marked, scarred, pregnant; every single belly. The aim is to reclaim the belly, to promote a healthy body image for everyone (not just females) and to protest against the "barbie dolling" of artists by record companies and the media.

For more information on Amanda Palmer:
http://www.myspace.com/whokilledamandapalmer
http://www.amandapalmer.net/
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/artists/AmandaPalmer/

So JOIN THE REBELLYON. Take a picture of your beautiful belly, send it to Jordan (doritojoe89 [at] gmail [dot] com), make it your default myspace/facebook picture, do anything to promote the cause. Help spread a healthy body image for everyone. Just do it.


(retrieved from http://www.theshadowbox.net/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=9b497066b8edde1e6ae46c15d23b274a&topic=6054.525 )