FAQs

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

From: sasha@cs.cmu.edu (Sasha Wood)
Archive-name: big-folks-faq
Posting-Frequency: monthly to *.answers, bi-weekly to alt.support.big-folks
Last-modified: April 8, 1995
Version: 1.8


        Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for alt.support.big-folks


This document contains information relevant to the newsgroup
alt.support.big-folks.  There are several related FAQs:

  fat-acceptance-faq/clothing/canada
	information about clothing for large people in Canada
  fat-acceptance-faq/clothing/uk-europe
        information about clothing for large people in Europe (and in
	the United Kingdom in particular)
  fat-acceptance-faq/clothing/us
	information about clothing for large people in the U.S.
  fat-acceptance-faq/health
        information about health issues affecting large people
  fat-acceptance-faq/resources/organizations
	information about organizations for large people
  fat-acceptance-faq/resources/other
	information about resources for large people (that aren't 
	covered in the other resources FAQs)
  fat-acceptance-faq/resources/physical
	information about resources for dealing with the physical
	aspects of being large
  fat-acceptance-faq/resources/publications
	information about publications for large people
  fat-acceptance-faq/size-acceptance
        information about size-acceptance

There is some overlap in the topics covered by the FAQs.  If you don't
find what you're looking for here, try the other FAQs.

If you have information you think should be here (either in response
to an existing question or in response to a new question), send it to
the maintainers.  If you think another question should be addressed
here, and you do not have the information for it, post the question to
a.s.b-f and drop a note to the maintainers suggesting that it be in
the FAQ.  Also, please let us know if any of this material is
incorrect or out-of-date.


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Changes from Last Version

* Modified list of other FAQs.

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Contents

SECTION A:  FAQ about alt.support.big-folks

A1)	What is a.s.b-f for?
A2)	How did a.s.b-f start?
A3)	What are the acronyms?
A4)	What are some related newsgroups?

SECTION B: Information about this FAQ

B1)	Posting information
B2)	Availability of the FAQ
B3)	Contributors


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SECTION A: FAQ about alt.support.big-folks

A1)	What is a.s.b-f for?

This group is for fat people and their friends.  It provides a
supportive space to talk about issues affecting fat people; it is
explicitly in favor of size acceptance and living well as a fat person.
The group addresses political issues (such as how fat people are
discriminated against) as well as daily life issues (such as where to
find nice clothes and how to handle rude remarks).

a.s.b-f is not a good place for the discussion of dieting or surgery
for the purposes of weight loss or weight gain.  As fat people, we
deal all the time with the assumption that we should be dieting.  We
hope that a.s.b-f can be one place that is free of this pressure.
That said, we often discuss diet and exercise, with the idea that all
people (fat and thin) benefit from eating better and becoming fitter.
We dispute the idea that one must be thin to be fit.  We disupte the
idea that the "right" food and exercise choices will necessarily lead
to being thin.

We try to avoid generalizations and stereotyping of fat people.  For
the most part, the fact that a person is fat does not provide much
information about that person's happiness, activity level, eating
habits, and relationship with food.

Some people here are happy to be fat.  Some people here are not happy
to be fat.  People at any stage of size acceptance -- even if they're
trying to lose or gain weight -- are welcome in this group.

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A2)	How did a.s.b-f start?

This group arose out of a little spat in alt.support.diet.  There were
a few people reading a.s.d primarily out of an interest in nutrition,
rather than out of an interest in dieting for weight loss.
Occasionally, these people would respond to self-loathing posts by
talking about size acceptance.  Sometimes topics relevant to big folks
would be brought up on a.s.d -- like where to find clothing and how to
survive small airplane seats.  In order to get this stuff out of a.s.d,
where it was generally not very welcome, Anne Mitchell (a poster in
favor of dieting for weight-loss) created alt.support.big-folks.  Which
explains, in part, the somewhat obscure name.  

There was a brief suggestion, in early '94, that all the alt.support
groups might move over to misc.support.  (Then we'd be in the big
seven, and have wider distribution and so forth.)  At that time, the
consensus on a.s.b-f was to change the group's name to
misc.support.fat-acceptance.  It was felt that this name would be less
confusing and more descriptive.  For reasons unknown, the move to misc
fizzled.  So we're still here.

In September '94, Wendy Betts (web@armory.com) began work on an RFD
for moving alt.support.big-folks to soc.support.fat-acceptance.  (The
soc.support hierarchy was established since the last round of
discussions.)  A Call For Votes went out on November 14, and the group
passed 163:49.  soc.support.fat-acceptance will be newgroup'ed on
December 22.

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A3)	What do the acronyms mean?

BBW		Big Beautiful Woman
BBM		Big Beautiful Man
bear		a man who is cuddly, furry, stocky, and/or bearded;
		most often used by and about gay men
FA		Fat Admirer, person who prefers a fat sexual/romantic
		partner
NAAFA		National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance
mid-size	refers to people who are in the mid-range.
		For women, this means they wear U.S. dress size
		16W-26W.  
super-size 	refers to people who are very large.
		For women, this means they wear U.S. dress size 28W
		and up.  This division between mid-size and super-size
		for women seems to arise from the face that most
		retail clothing sizes for women stop at U.S. 26W.
 
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A4) 	What are some related newsgroups?

alt.sex.fat is a group for people who want to discuss issues involved
in sex with fat people.  It was formed in early '94 so that a.s.b-f
could stay more or less G (or PG) rated.

alt.sex.fetish.fa is a group for fat admirers.  This group is mostly
dead.  (The word "fetish" in the title rubs many FAs the wrong way,
does nothing to promote a positive image of FAs, and implies a
separation between sex and romance that doesn't exist for many FAs.)
alt.sex.fat has taken over most of the traffic.

alt.support.diet is a group for people who want support and discussion
of dieting and other weight loss methods.  Regular posters tend not to
be very fat.  This is a good place to take weight loss questions and
discussions.

alt.support.obesity is a group for people who are 100 pounds (or more)
overweight and who want support and discussion of dieting and other
weight loss methods appropriate for very fat people.  The group is
moderated by Mark Mitchum (markm@unm.edu).  This is another good
place to take weight loss questions and discussions.

alt.personals.big-folks and alt.personals.fat are groups for personal
ads by big folks or looking for big folks.  These groups were formed
in July '94 to get personal ads out of a.s.b-f, to provide an easy way
for fat people and fat admirers to get in touch with one another, and
so that fat people would not have to wade through personal ads that
specify that only slender people should respond.

alt.support.tall and alt.sigma2.height are groups for people who want
support and discussion of issues relevant to tall people (who are big,
but not in the way used on this group).


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SECTION B: Information about this FAQ

B1)	Posting information

This document is posted monthly to news.answers and alt.answers and
posted bi-weekly to alt.support.big-folks.  Sasha Wood
(Sasha.Wood@cs.cmu.edu) maintains this FAQ.

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B2)	Availability of the FAQ

All FAQs posted to news.answers are archived at rtfm.mit.edu and its
mirror sites.  You can get any of these FAQs from rtfm.mit.edu via
anonymous FTP or via the mail archive server.  (To get information
about the mail server, send email to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with the
body of the message containing the word "help", without the quotes.)
FAQs posted to news.answers are also available on the Web from:

http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/top.html
http://www.cs.ruu.nl/cgi-bin/faqwais

This particular FAQ is archived at rtfm.mit.edu and its mirror sites
under the filenames:

/pub/usenet/news.answers/big-folks-faq
/pub/usenet/alt.answers/big-folks-faq
/pub/usenet/alt.support.big-folks/alt.support.big-folks_Frequently_Asked_Questions_(FAQ)

It is available on the Web at:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/big-folks-faq/faq.html
http://www.cs.ruu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/big-folks-faq.html

The file alt.support.big-folks_Frequently_Asked_Questions_(FAQ)
contains the last post to alt.support.big-folks which has the same
subject line as this FAQ.  In general, this is the most recent copy of
the FAQ.  Occasionally, however, it is a random post that has the same
subject line as this FAQ.  If this is the case, please look in one of
the other files.

The files named general and the file available via the WWW, contain
the last version of the FAQ posted to news.answers.  Since this FAQ is
posted to alt.support.big-folks more often than it is posted to
news.answers, sometimes the version available via these links is not
the most recent one.

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B3)	Contributors

These are the people who contribute significant chunks to the FAQ.

Sasha Wood		
Miriam Nadel		

Also, lots and lots of other people (too many to credit) contributed
information that appears herein, some via email and some on a.s.b-f.
Thanks to them all.

Suggestions for additions/improvements are always welcome.

Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 15 Sep 2002