If you haven’t figured it out by now to make a point I’ll use an extremely embarrassing personal moment to illustrate what I mean, and today is no different.

In college I went above and beyond the Freshman 15 and gained 30 unwanted pounds.  An ex-boyfriend helped me to lose 40 pounds and I’m not gonna lie, I was feeling myself for a minute.  I was going to the gym twice a day and I would start off every work out with running a few miles on the treadmill.  My ultimate goal was to compete in a triathlon, but when I found out that they wouldn’t let me swim wearing a life vest (I’ve nearly drowned a few times, and very fearful of deep water), I set the bar a little lower and started training for a 5k.

But after about a year and a half of all this intense working out I started burning out and took a hiatus from the gym.  Originally it was only supposed to be for two weeks, but a year later, I still hadn’t gone back.  When I started putting the weight back on (and upset at myself for throwing away all of my “fat” clothes) I decided to go back to the gym and get the weight off as quickly as possible.

I woke up at 5:45am, walked from my dorm to the gym.  Put my stuff in a locker, and with a tunnel vision that I didn’t know I had, went up the stairs to the floor that had all of the equipment and went to the treadmill that I spent so much time on.  Taking a deep breath and turning on my iPod, I stupidly turned the machine on, set it for 30 minutes and turned it to the last level I was on a year ago and started running.  With my first step I felt happy.  ’Yes, I’m back at it!’  Second step I felt invigorated:  ’I didn’t realize I missed running so much!  I feel like I could run for hours right now!’  The third step became torturous:  ’Now how long do I have left to do?  29 minutes and 53 seconds?!’

Feeling extremely winded, I closed my eyes and kept on running and tried to imagine myself fitting back in my old jeans, and a bikini that I was too shy to ever buy and with my eyes closed, my foot missed a step, and before I knew it I was catapulted into a row of ellipticals right behind me.  No exaggeration, it literally was something like this.

With my eyes still closed I could hear the gasps of shock, surprise and horror coming from the few people who came to the gym at such an early time.  I could hear their footsteps as they ran to me to see if I was okay.  I still had my eyes closed as they helped me up because I felt too much shame to look in their faces.

When we talk about the cost of obesity, it’s usually related to the burden weight-related issues can have on the healthcare system but obesity may be hitting overweight men and women’s wallets in another way—lower pay, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Unsurprisingly, overweight women are hit the hardest. According to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, in 2004, average annual incomes for obese women were $8,666 less than workers with a normal weight. For overweight men, the salary was $4,772 less. In 2008, the researchers found that obese women made an average of $5,826 (15%) less than normal-weight females.

What’s odd is that this pay gap only seems to effect obese individuals who are Hispanic or white. In both 2004 and 2008, black men who were obese earned more than normal-weight black men, and wages were similar for obese and normal-weight black women.

Perhaps this is part of the reason why overweight black women have a higher quality of life than white women, or it may prove that black women’s weight doesn’t mentally and emotionally hinder them from being able to perform on the job and earn the appropriate salary.

What do you think accounts for the fact that overweight black women don’t earn less? What about the fact that overweight black men earn more than normal-weight black men?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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The Pennsylvania Liquor Board’s new ad campaign was intended as a warning about the increased risk for rape when women drink heavily, but accusations that the ad blames rape victims for their attack has caused the Board to pull the ads.

Between the wording and the imagery, it’s easy to see how the perception of blame comes into play when the focus of the ad should really be responsible drinking to protect yourself from the threat of rape. In addition to the ad seen here, another version reads, “Date Rape. See what could happen when your friends drink too much.”

Shock tactics are extremely common in advertising, but are they effective at capturing people’s attention, and in this instance, inciting a change of behavior? Adam Duhachek, an associate professor of marketing at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, says not necessarily. He told The Wall Street Journal that two things can limit the efficacy of ads portraying negative outcomes: “The first is that people just shut down and don’t process the message at all,” because people might see the disturbing images and think, “I was having a perfectly nice day until I saw this, and now I’m not going to look at it.” The second issue is that negative ads trigger a “defensive processing mechanism” in which viewers actively distance themselves from the presented outcome, thinking it can never happen to them.

With the ad pulled, these factors may not be an issue when it comes to alcohol-fused sexual assaults, which a spokeswoman for the Liquor Board says happen to more than 97,000 people on an annual basis. But wording on the board’s website, controltonight.com, which is visible on the ads still tells women to “Call the Shots” and presents hypothetical situations of what could happen if young women drink too much with friends. For many, the undertone of blame may still be present.

What’s your take on the ad campaign? Does it promote blame when it comes to women who are victims of rape after a night of drinking? Or do you think it encourages personality responsibility?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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I used to work in medical publishing so I know that studies have to be done over and over and over again to prove scientific validity, but when it comes to black women and obesity, I think we’ve got the point. A lot of black women over the age of 20—some estimates say nearly 80%–have a BMI over the recommended level for their height, some black women put off exercise for the sake of their hair, and some black women think it’s OK to carry a little extra weight. We know this. Now, yet another study has shown that  obesity is less of a stigma for black women and that they have a higher quality of life than obese white women when it comes to physical function, self-esteem, sexual life, public distress, and work. Is that a bad thing?

Some would argue that, no, black women don’t get it, otherwise so many of us/them wouldn’t still be fat, obese, overweight, morbidly obese, or however you want to label it. But that’s just not true. Just because you don’t hate yourself for being overweight doesn’t mean that you don’t care. Neither does the fact that you’re not immediately doing anything about it. How many goals do all of us label as priorities and still fail to tackle?

One analysis of the study, pointed out that white women tend to have a cruel outlook towards their body and when they are obese, tend to discriminate within themselves, or let themselves go in terms of the way they dress, and even possibly limit their social activity because they are ashamed of their weight. Overweight black women who are proud of how they look despite the weight are often criticized for being too flamboyant. There’s a way to have a happy medium that doesn’t involve compromising your physical health for your mental well-being, or vice versa. There are plenty of black women who aren’t necessarily happy with being a larger size, but aren’t suicidal about it.

I often think of my sister when I read studies about overweight women and self-esteem. While I tend to have a “white woman” attitude toward my weight, I suppose, my sister has always been able to maintain a healthy sense of self-worth in spite of the added poundage. She knows she needs to lose weight, she wants to lose weight, and she has in the past. But the fact that she is not an ideal weight right now doesn’t trump her self love or even the admiration she has for her frame in its current state. I, on the other hand, tend to need a little more coercing and affirmation when I get depressed about my weight. Which is healthier overall?

I know the goal of this study was to see if researchers could determine how to motivate black women to lose weight due to the increasing obesity epidemic—and I won’t argue that it is just that—but I’m curious what the conclusion would be if it was determined that obese black women have a low quality of life too? Would fat shaming be suggested as a viable tactic? If fat black women hate themselves enough, they’ll change? Guess what? Those white women who hate themselves aren’t doing anything about their weight either, and now they’ve got mental issues to tackle too.

Researchers need to be very careful throwing out generalizations about attitudes toward weight across races, and the public ought to be slower to draw conclusions about what’s seen as overweight black women’s delusional acceptance of their bodies. Positive thoughts trump negative ones, so it’s time for the medical community and society as a whole to sing a new song if they think they’re going to successfully motivate black women to lose weight because the “you should hate yourself because you’re fat” method isn’t going to work.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Fans of Vybz Kartel were a bit stunned and outraged earlier this year when the Jamaican dancehall artist appeared several shades lighter than his normal chocolate brown complexion and exclaimed: “This is my new image.”

Now the artist, who is also awaiting trial on a charge of conspiracy to murder, is bottling up his new image in a line of cosmetics for men which includes a number of skin lightening items.

Kartel originally claimed to use cake soap to lighten his skin but after the Jamaican manufacturer of the clothes-bleaching product, Blue Power Group, denied his claims, Kartel said that he actually used his own special concoction which will soon be available under the Vybz label.