Hendrix, Taylor J on mon 2 feb 04
Hey Phil,
Well, now everyone else IS getting fat except Mama Cass (and Karen
Carpenter).
Taylor, in Waco
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of
pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2004 7:57 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: fertility goddesses?
Hi Earl, all...
Or...
If Mama Cass had shared some of those sandwhiches and pizzas
with Karen Carpenter, maybe they both would have lived...?
...
Eleanor on mon 2 feb 04
I think if I were to make a "fertility" figure, it would represent a
pregnant woman-- swollen belly, protruding milk-filled breasts-- a
youthful body.
The various "venus" figurines I have seen have features in common--
pendulous abdomens and breasts, fat deposits on the hips-- features
belonging to fat old women (and I'm a fat old woman, so I should
know) who have long since ceased having the ability to bear children.
During Ice Age winters famine could prevail. A primitive fat old
woman, having outlived her usefulness as a mother and a gatherer, may
have had only one other function left to help insure the survival of
the group and that is as food for the next generation.
This is a grisly thought I know and it isn't found anywhere in
archeological literature that I know of but at that time in
pre-history survival was what it was all about.
Perhaps these venuses were carved as testaments to the sacrificed grandmas.
Eleanor Kohler
Centerport, NY
mini Ice Age here....uh oh!
Earl Brunner on mon 2 feb 04
In many cultures where food was always a problem,
being "fat" denoted wealth and status. and had the
practical side affect of giving the fat person more
reserves during lean times. Just because the images
don't comform to todays concepts of beauty, does NOT
mean that they were not meant to be the kind of
furtility figure in your first sentence. Define
youthful by who's standards? We are bound by our own
perceptions and understandings of the world around us.
AND WE APPLY THAT to every other thing that we try to
understand. That is not necessarily bad, but it is
limiting and we should awknowledge the limitation.
--- Eleanor wrote:
> I think if I were to make a "fertility" figure, it
> would represent a
> pregnant woman-- swollen belly, protruding
> milk-filled breasts-- a
> youthful body.
>
> The various "venus" figurines I have seen have
> features in common--
> pendulous abdomens and breasts, fat deposits on the
> hips-- features
> belonging to fat old women (and I'm a fat old woman,
> so I should
> know) who have long since ceased having the ability
> to bear children.
>
>
=====
Earl Brunner
e-mail: brunv53@yahoo.com
pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on mon 2 feb 04
Hi Earl, all...
Or...
If Mama Cass had shared some of those sandwhiches and pizzas
with Karen Carpenter, maybe they both would have lived...?
Phil
lasvegas
----- Original Message -----
From: "Earl Brunner"
> In many cultures where food was always a problem,
> being "fat" denoted wealth and status. and had the
> practical side affect of giving the fat person more
> reserves during lean times. Just because the images
> don't comform to todays concepts of beauty, does NOT
> mean that they were not meant to be the kind of
> furtility figure in your first sentence. Define
> youthful by who's standards? We are bound by our own
> perceptions and understandings of the world around us.
> AND WE APPLY THAT to every other thing that we try to
> understand. That is not necessarily bad, but it is
> limiting and we should awknowledge the limitation.
terryh on wed 4 feb 04
John Rodgers wrote:
>Tue, 3 Feb 2004 09:41:20 -0600
>My first hand experience with views on "largess" (or should it be
>"largest!"........
>
>In my more "portly" days, I was introduced by a friend to his (recently
>new) girlfriend .... a Chinese woman from Manchuria. When she saw me
>there was a bit of bowing and head nodding, and then she said something
>to him in Chinese, which he interpreted for me. She said, essentially,
>"Congratulations on your success in life!" I was puzzled by this but he
>later explained. In her culture, in the region she was from, to be fat
>meant that you had to have done well in life and become financially
>successful, to be able to afford enough food upon which to grow fat.
everything in time and space.
in early history, it was hunger that dictated.
in those days, being fat apparently symbolized eating well.
for example, the fat diety (putai, hotei) as a symbol of fortune.
or, at least, this is what was said in some ancient chinese
literatures. the ideal kingdom was where nobody noticed
there was an emperor (no complaint) and everybody enjoyed
panting his fat belly. (i don't remember this was in rao-tsu
or in "the book of history".)
sounds like the "tradition" stays strong in Manchuria, China :)
in present America, being fat may suggest eating junk food
watching TV, no exercise. and, maybe from Texas?
but, in present Sudan, being fat still means affluence, i bet.
sorry for rambling. i'd better be throwing pots or firing raku.
terry
terry hagiwara
terryh@pdq.net
http://www.geocities.com/terry.hagiwara
Ivor and Olive Lewis on thu 5 feb 04
Dear Janet,
It's strange how some people forget we are biological machines with a
natural history which included a period of development as hunter
gatherers.
One of the tricks our bodies still possess from those early days is
the ability to rapidly consume food and store energy when there is a
plentiful supply. Our ancestors could call on those reserves when
times were hard when they went hungry.
But Mother Nature did not give us a switch to turn off that circuit
when there was never a famine. Hence, there is a tendency for people
to eat whatever food is available regardless of the quantity they need
for their immediate or continuing well being. If it is there, some
people will eat it. If their plate flows over tomorrow they will eat
it. Just Human Nature. Helps to make respectable profits for
Multinational food companies
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis. Redhill, South Australia
The Chapel of Art on thu 5 feb 04
The current fashion for slimness is still NOT universal. It is
only valid in western society. For example across the whole of
the Middle East, any "belly dancer" worth her salt has seven
rings around her middle (aka "spare tyres") and in Cameroon young
girls are sent away to be force-feed so they will be fat enough
to attract good prospective husbands... The latter was just
reported again recently on BBC radio. I know as a teenager I used
to yearn for the fashion world to reinvent the wonderful
Rubenesque style, but what did we get? Twiggy and the likes! I
take consolation in the fact that fat women suit purple hats
best!! :o)
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser -- piling on even more weight whilst eating serious
quantities of "snacks" to replace the oral satisfaction of
smoking... <(:o)O
*** IN REPLY TO THE FOLLOWING MAIL:
>In many cultures where food was always a problem,
>being "fat" denoted wealth and status. and had the
>practical side affect of giving the fat person more
>reserves during lean times.
>*** THE MAIL FROM Earl Brunner ENDS HERE ***
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