nancy upton’s “plus-sized” rebellyon

you guys will love this one.

nancy upton, a chick who’s got a dresden dolls’ heartplane logo and the lyrics JUST SING from “sing” tattooed onto her forearm, made national news this week, after winning an american apparel model-search contest for “plus-sized” girls. she found the wording of the contest really patronizing, so she responded by sending in hilarious and surreal high-glam photos of herself stuffing her face & bathing in a tub of ranch dressing.

she won the contest (by popular vote, i assume) and american apparel were appalled that her cheeky photos had won. they sent her an email rejecting her, telling her she basically wasn’t the girl they’d been fishing to find…and going so far as to say they wanted someone who “exemplified beauty inside and out.”

the photos are amazing, and the nancy herself seems pretty amazing as well. when the news story first hit me, i was terrified that she would be one of those indignant fuck-you girls….she’s not, she’s hilarious, smart and all about the fucking love. watch this story/interview of nancy on “the today show”:

click here if the embed’s not working…

here are some the photos in question, taken by shannon skloss (located in dallas, tx). the top one shows off her dolls tattoo. HOT.

(and may i join in with this classic number from the Who Killed Amanda Palmer book? i mean, it’s appropriate. nicholas vargelis took it. it’s called “VEGAN”):

ANYWAY.

when i see things like this, i feel like we really are winning a fucking battle.

here’s a girl who sees a problem, and instead of bitching and moaning about it, she makes art. funny art. then she gets on national television and talks in a calm, humorous way about how we’re all beautiful.

this is the way we win. this kind of action gets you miles further than bitching and complaining endlessly on the internet about how life (or the the beauty standard or…anything) is unfair. that shit honestly just doesn’t work. it doesn’t change things. it just adds negative smog to the already clouded airspace.

but doing this….this changes things. in a real, good way. i hope teenage girls all over america saw her on TV and realized they’re not just hunks of flesh in a demographic, but human souls with unique shapes that cannot be dismissed and stuffed into a teeny box in a corporate marketing meeting.

it makes me burst with fucking pride that this girl is a tattooed dolls fan. seriously. RIGHTEOUS.

and whether nancy takes the job with american apparel or not is beside the point. i think she just deserves a massive high-five for what she’s done, period…story continue as it may – this chapter is a win.

and i hope she shares what she’s about to learn, going into “the belly of the beast”, as she calls it. watch out for her…we tweeted back and forth (she’s @nancyupton) and told her she’s totally got a job modeling amanda palmer merch for next years line of fashion must-haves.

fuck, i’ll design a whole new line for her.
or maybe she’ll be the poster model when i FINALLY put out my perfume, “Fucking.” seriously. girlfriend is gonna put us on the map.
UHHN!!
SNAP!!!!

nancy upton, you exemplify beauty. inside and out.

i’ll send her the link to this blog, so if you have anything to say to her, post it in the comments.

love,
AFP

p.s. here’s some rebellyon bellies….just to make you happy for a second. if you’re new and you missed all that…go read the blog on it.