Selected Articles From
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Strength In Numbers I had so much dislike for myself because of my size. I didn't think I could be feminine or sexually active or agile. I kept thinking large women can't! And I got plainer and duller and more withdrawn. I just had to do something, or die.
By Lila Moses
From Radiance Summer 1990.

From Rookie to Revolutionary: Alice Ansfield is the dreamer, creator, worker, mover and shaker who took one evening's glimmer of an Idea and lovingly, painstakingly turned it into Radiance magazine. And like many of Radiance's readers, Alice has her own story to tell about grabbing hold of dreams and shaping them into reality. Alice was a cute, curly-haired, inquisitive, shy little girl. In her family, body size seemed to be more of a major issue for her mom than for her dad. Her mother's childhood had been filled with a constant barrage from her father of "You're fat; you look awful." He died when Alice's mom was a girl, but his voice stayed with her always.
By Joan Price http://fitnesslink.com/joanprice/
From Radiance Summer 1990.

R. C. Gorman: A Self-Portrait In his own words. I called R. C. Gorman in late December to set up a phone interview for this article. We settled on January 4 at 10 a.m. California time; 11 a.m. his time, New Mexico time. I put down the receiver as his parting comment filtered through my good-bye to him: "We'll go out to lunch," he said. Or had he? No. Had I heard him right? Did he think I was going to show up in New Mexico? Should I call him back to clarify? He must have known it was to be a phone interview; we'd discussed the time difference. It would be too embarrassing to call back. No, I just had misheard him.
By Susan Lawrence Rich
From Radiance Summer 1990.

Is Giving Up on Dieting Giving Up on Yourself? I'm at a confusing point in my life. I'm trying to come to terms with how I feel about myself and not how I think others believe I should feel. . . . I've been told it's "behavior modification" I need. Overeaters Anonymous tells me I eat to 'stuff my feelings' and I probably have deep-seated emotional problems. . . . I've been told I'm demon-possessed! . . .
By Debby Burgard
From Radiance issue, Fall 1991

Children and Eating: Nutrition expert Ellyn Satter's philosophy of child feeding is as simple as it is radical: "The parent is responsible for what, when and where. The child is responsible for how much and whether." That's it? Yes. Does it work? Yes, insists Satter. She suggests that following this division of responsibility can solve most children's eating problems-and help us understand our own.
By Joan Price http://fitnesslink.com/joanprice/
From Radiance Winter 1991.

A Change of Heart: As a child I fantasized about being able to divorce my body at will, my "self" leaving my body behind, perhaps hidden in the closet, or under the blankets at the foot of my bed. The world this bodyless self would inhabit was a world of freedom, of weightlessness. A world where I wasn't judged by the size of my body but by the mind and soul that was my true self.
By Katharine Schneider
From Radiance issue, Fall 1991

Imagine: Loving Yourself the Way You Are: As a child my body was sturdy, strong, and large boned. I was larger than other children my age. I felt out of place, and to complicate matters, my father was a physician specializing in weight loss. I became his project. He was embarrassed by me; he felt that his large daughter was a mockery of his medical practice. There were also family members-my grandparents and my aunts and uncles-who were fat, so he feared that I would grow up like them.
By Mary Hower
From Radiance Summer 1991.

What's Up? What's Wrong? What's New? Fat in the Fitness World I am a professional fat woman. I didn't long for this career as a kid-"Yes, teacher, when I grow up I want to be fat and talk about it!"-but this is where I find myself after cowriting a book first published in 1988, Great Shape: The First Fitness Guide for Large Women. I am fortunate to be in a position to plant seeds of change in the healthcare system, the source of mistreatment and pain for so many fat people. I've been a nurse for 25 years and have been an advocate for respectful health care for all people-regardless of age, sex, race or income-for all that time. In the past few years, as a health educator and health promotion specialist, I've added size to that list.
By Pat Lyons, R.N., M.A.,
From Radiance Winter 1991

Laughable Legislation Aimed at Large Ladies Judge Roy Bean, the cantankerous "hangin' judge" of the Old West, was fond of telling the story of a "smart alecky" young attorney who found himself pleading a case in the small Texas town of Sweetwater. After the lawyer's long and learned oration, Judge Bean swept the counsel's arguments aside with a peremptory wave of his hand. "What you say may be in all them there law books, all right," said Bean, "but it sure ain't the law of Sweetwater."
By Robert W. Pelton
From Radiance Spring 1991

The Supreme Challenge: One Nurse's Fight "If they had told me to bend down and lick the floor, I would have. I was that afraid," admits Sharon Russell, describing her experience with nursing instructors at Salve Regina College. After two torturous years in the college's nursing program, Russell found herself without a diploma and without any self-esteem.
By Susan Lawrence Rich
From Radiance Summer 1991

What Is Normal Eating? Normal eating is being able to eat when you are hungry and continue eating until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat it and truly get enough of it-not just stop eating because you think you should. Normal eating is being able to use some moderate constraint in your food selection to get the right food, but not being so restrictive that you miss out on pleasurable foods.
By Ellyn Satter
From Radiance Winter 1992

Women, Food, and Eating: The information in this article was compiled by Radiance senior editor Catherine Taylor from telephone conversations with Debby Burgard, Ph.D., and Michael Horne, M.D., on the topics of food, self-esteem, body image, and the movie Eating.
From Radiance Winter 1992.

Yoga for Round Bodies: When we were kids, I was considered the brainy one; my sister was the graceful athlete. She'd be doing back bends and cartwheels and headstands all over the yard, while I could barely do a somersault. My chunky build and the mildly derisive, although perhaps good-natured, laughter of my family at my first attempts had taught me not to try. So it seems miraculous that, at age fifty and with as chunky a body as ever, I now find myself committed to practicing and teaching (of all things!) yoga.
By Genia Pauli Haddon,
From Radiance Winter 1995.

Marilyn Speaks! A Conversation with Elaine Miles: When friends heard that I was going to interview Elaine Miles of "Northern Exposure," they asked, "But what if she doesn't say anything?" I protested that I was interviewing the actress, not the quiet character she plays, but privately I was asking myself the same question.
By Catherine Taylor
From the Radiance Fall 1993 Issue

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