reBELLYon

[afplj.livejournal.com]

hey everybody....
it's amanda palmer (from the dresden dolls).
i played a solo show in atlanta last week and a fellow unshaven beauty came up to me when i was signing stuff after the the show.
she flashed her armpits at me (which were lovely) and we started rapping about shaving and hair...and she told me that there was a livejournal community called fuck shaving.
i said YAY and looked it up later that night.... and through that i found a bunch of these other awesome communities (i am cross-posting
this is to ditch_the_blade, kissmyass_cosmo, kissmyassvogue, beauty_debate & freedomisbeauty - if any of you know of any other
communities or blogs and want to cross-post, feel free and let me know by dropping me an email at letters [at] amandapalmer [dot] net so i can follow the discussions).

i want to share something wonderful that happened a few days ago when i announced my new video and told the story about how my record label had wanted me to cut the shots that showed my bare belly (because they thought it looked FAT - which was just bullshit).
i told them to go fuck themselves and a brief struggle ensued and they backed down, but my horror with the company that i am now
contractually tied to is undeniable.
i'm stuck for a while.

the very worst moment was sitting across a huge desk from one of the record execs and listening to him explain that he knows what's best
for my videos and my images because "amanda, really, trust me. i'm a GUY. i KNOW what people LIKE." i wanted to throw up, get up, leave that room, and never go back.
they are all that's wrong with this culture.

anyway, after i posted this story on my blog, a bunch of friends started to post solidarity photos of THEIR bellies up on a discussion
thread and i swear to god i've never felt more concentrated joy on the internet. there are now over 200 pictures collected by one of the people who started the thread....
big bellies! little bellies! pregnant bellies! post-partem bellies!!!
hariy man bellies!!!!!!!! it's just so beautiful:

http://www.theshadowbox.net/forum/index.php?topic=6054

go check it out and add your own two belly cents if you want to.
and happy thanksgiving, may you eat and drink stuff your belly to the max with no guilt.

i'm also on tour for the next two or three weeks in the states if you want to come visit the party...starting in pittsburgh this saturday then hitting toronto, detroit, chicago, minny, colorado, SLC, vancouver, seattle, portland, sacramento, san fran and LA.
come out and represent. info is all on my site at amandapalmer.net.
the shows have been amazing. the new record, which my label now doesn't want to promote,
is also awesome, produced by and featuring ben folds, and i shamelessly want you to check it out, however you can, and share it
with anyone you think will like it.
i need the help. it's called WHO KILLED AMANDA PALMER and you can find it in a million ways.

i'm so happy to see so many communities out here dedicated to honesty and realness in our self-images.
it's no necessary in a world that i feel is sliding backwards on the feminist front.

big love,
amanda

Comments

[cryingcat613.livejournal.com]

There's a rage you might be interested in on the feminist_rage community detailing your issue.

Fuck them (but of course not physically, lol) because I thought it was awesome what you wanted.

[hold-fast.livejournal.com]

Crazy, I just recently got into WKAP via the Oasis vid on youtube! Haha, my boy was sitting next to me and noticed the unshaven bit, paused, and said,"Now see, *that* makes sense." He's always asking me why I shave my legs and whatnot, though (and if I didn't hate the feeling of hair against my pants, I wouldn't!). Thank god I caught me a sane one (or insane, depending on who you ask, I suppose).

Sorry I have no community suggestions. :/

[aautopsyy.livejournal.com]

You might also be interested in Everyday Bodies (http://community.livejournal.com/vaginapagina/9358497.html) (if you haven't seen it already).

[poppleshatesyou.livejournal.com]

I was going to recommend this as well.

[littlemissalien.livejournal.com]

Me too, especially as my pregnant belly is featured there. :D

[jewliejewels.livejournal.com]

i wish i could be at the pittsburgh show,seeing that im only an hr n half away, but blah;/

[if-by-sea.livejournal.com]

That is so absurd! I proudly stuffed my belly last night :)

[zombossified.livejournal.com]

I think a belly on a woman is hotter than a flat one.

[ldy-shadow.livejournal.com]

So, dinner and a movie then? ;P

[ktnzgtklws.livejournal.com]

I once dated a man who was in love with my belly. lol He thought that a little pooch was sexy and womanly. One of the few men in my life that ever made me feel good about myself, and sexy to boot.

[littlemissalien.livejournal.com]

My partner is like that - always kissing and jiggling my little pouch. He's especially affectionate to it since it housed our son for nearly 9 months. :D

[tweak23.livejournal.com]

Amanda, you are a HYOOOOJ role model for me and this post is one of the myriad reasons why. Thank you for this - I cannot wait to see your show in Vancouver in a couple weeks! AOOO!


p.s. ahhh lubs mah belleh!

[rzep.livejournal.com]

I love your belly too!

Lovely lady bellies are the nicest bits to run hands over.

Amanda, thank you so much for posting here. I've been following this belly saga and I think I may let my belly run free at the Vancouver show. I can't wait for it! Only 12 more sleeps!

[songforpolly.livejournal.com]

Everything about this post is awesome.

I wish I could think of something awesome and witty to say here, but all i can say is that you absolutely rock life, bellies rule, and i'm going to do my absolute damndest to make it to your chicago show.

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

Eh, your label was doing some promoting -- we got not one, but three promo packages at my workplace awhile back. ;)

[indecisean.livejournal.com]

i gotta say, the fact that that's seen as "promotion"....i mean, sure, some people do stuff with promos that come in like that but not 99.9%. and out of the people that .01% reaches, how many like it? the fact these people wonder why they're losing money when they're hemorrhaging it like that? fuck them.

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

Eh, while I'd be happy if we got slightly fewer packages in a week than we do (or more selectively considered), in fairness I do work as a music reporter for a daily newspaper, and CD reviews and album release articles are something we do, so we do expect promo CDs from every noteworthy act to come out.

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

As an addendum to the above comment, I had the Amanda Palmer CD slated for a review, and then we went on strike. :P By the time the strike was over, it was too late to make it timely.

[fairytalevegas.livejournal.com]

I still have yet to run into anyone who knows who Amanda Palmer is aside from when I mention the Dresden Dolls... That's obviously not enough promotion. I know her marketing people work hard but there's only so much they can do without label love.

[alice-007.livejournal.com]

Well, the good news is that you won in the end (Yay!), I'm just guessing this disagreement will actually HELP sales (Yay #2), maybe get a few more people checking out your music (Yay #3!), and maybe most importantly, get people thinking about artistic freedom, and BELLIES!

You're REAL, why would they have a problem with that? What will they want next - You in a Burkha? I mean, if YOU want to, that would be cool, but it should be YOUR Choice!

Rock On!

[starpolish.livejournal.com]

I think this is amazing and you're pretty much my hero.

[knifeinagarter.livejournal.com]

i love you! i love this rebellyon, too. i will be seeing you in both sacramento & san francisco :) yay.

my first thought when i read your blog was of that piece in pulp fiction where the french girl says to bruce willis, "i want a pot." she has a sweet little monologue about how sexy they are, & i must confess i think it made me feel more comfortable with my own belly. to see such support for every shape & size in your fans is really heartening as well. i really do think a book should be published with all of the pictures!

[lupie-stardust.livejournal.com]

I think I love you.

[tightbound.livejournal.com]

Oh gawd I love the brawl of the back up dancers. I’ve always wanted to see that in a performance. Better yet if they start working on the singer at some point. Almost Alice Cooper stage show like.