Women's Body Image Anthology Wants to Hear From You

Share Your Story - Phat Girls Anthology - Call for Submissions:

Phat Girls Anthology will explore plus size women's private and public journeys with weight. In this original collection, we will express our diverse experiences and memories of how our weight and self/body image have shaped us as women - from childhood to adulthood.

Phat Girls Anthology will illuminate the successes achieved and the challenges met by women negotiating a desire for self-love and acceptance of our selves/bodies within an often “thin obsessed” and “thin accessible” society.

We all have diverse paths and histories, cultures, relationships and ambitions, but one thing most of us do in the morning is look at ourselves in the mirror! Phat Girls is interested in your story - what YOU see, think, hear or imagine when YOU look at your fabulous you. Who do you see looking back and what message(s) does she give you about how to live your life? Who to live your life with or for?

What message(s) does your self-image give you on how to navigate through your community as a female, student, professional, an occupant of public spaces for instance on the public transit, at a restaurant, a social or at a movie theatre? The spaces and roles we occupy in our lives are endless! What messages do we get from society (or from those negative nagging voices in our own minds) about how we should look and about how to achieve ‘real’ success? How do all of these factor into our perceptions of our bodies?

There is no one story that rings true for all of us and this is exactly what Phat Girls will capture. It’s a platform for you to tell your story, to share your ups and downs in the hopes that maybe your words might inspire another woman to share her own. Through sharing there is healing and more so empowerment! Phat Girls contributors will reflect the stories of women from different race, class, ability, sexual identity, religious, geographical and education backgrounds.

Deadline For Submissions:
September 1, 2008. Please send by mail only.

Mail To:
Phat Girls Anthology
C/o Jill Andrew
2620 Eglinton Ave East
PO Box 42503
Toronto, ON Canada
M1K 2S0

Contributors 18 years and over are welcome. Submission maximums should be no more than 3,000 words (12 page max.), double-spaced, single-sided, 12 point font. Include a contributor's bio of 100 words or less. Please remember to save an electronic copy of your submission should it be selected.

About the editor:
Jill Andrew is an award winning journalist, educator and public speaker. She is the producer of Curvy Catwalk - Canada's first and only Plus Fashion Fundraiser.

For more on Jill or on this project visit www.jillandrewmedia.com