Gossip [&] the Devil

Quick update on a cause that’s as important as any other I can think of.

“Glass Slipper Pt. II”  was the first poem I’d ever published in a “credible” journal [Papyrus, via Oklahoma State University Press]. Hell, it was the first poem I’d taken to a true, balls-to-the-wall creative writing class that had blown my instructors, published poets in their own right, away. It’s title has help from my favorite Dresden Dolls song to date, “Glass Slipper,” and in the byline of the title I thank Amanda Palmer. I look up to her in nearly every way, including, but not limited to, her lyrical ability, honesty and talent. I feel like I “relate” to very few women, but Ms. Palmer is one of the extreme exceptions to the rule.

I won’t go into the entire nitty gritty, but her recent blog posts [a couple explaining the reBELLYon are found here and here.] have stated that her label, Roadrunner Records, have taken umbrage with her bare, “fat” belly in her latest video for “Leeds United.” [From her solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, released in September of last year. The label refuses to promote it, but I'll be damned if I'll let it die.] They asked her to change certain scenes. She refused.

As Ms. Palmer has stated before, no matter how “ripped” the rest of her body becomes [she's an avid practitioner of yoga] her belly just has a bit of rounded “softness” to it that she’s at peace with, and in fact embraces. This apparently is not a-ok with the label, who have told her “they are men, they know what men want.” A member of The Shadowbox [the Dresden Dolls/Amanda Palmer/Brian Viglione messageboard] protested and posted an “innocent” belly picture, and in a few short weeks it had morphed into more than ninty-five pages of belly love and self-acceptance, with a few well-placed middle fingers to the aforementioned label.

The “ReBELLYon,” as it’s been so aptly named, now has its own fansite, and book in the works, to showcase all the beautiful bellies the movement has recieved in protest to Roadrunners percieved mistreatment of the “Leeds United” video, and the mistreatment of Amanda as an artist. On the ReBELLYon site you can view the belly galleries of Shadowbox members, non-members and street art promoting self-love. There are Paypal and Chip In widgets if you’d like to donate to site upkeep or to buy a copy of the the ReBELLYon book.

I’ve contributed to both in appriceation, as well as submitted my own “belly love” picture for inclusion in the upcoming book. While I’m still not entirely at peace with the way I look [the artistic "scene" I'm steeped in barely allows room for any self-love at all], I feel this is an important cause for an artist that indirectly helped start my publishing career.

Click the cut to see my bare belly.

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