Via the f word, we find out that Amanda Palmer of Dresden Dolls fame has left her record label after they refused to promote her new single and video (above) because of her “fat” stomach. Seriously.
[Palmer] refused to let them remove shots of her “fat” belly from the video for Leeds United (see above), and is therefore “uncommercial”. This comes from a metal label where, I have it on good authority, “you can count the number of women on the fingers of one hand and most of the people on the label are decidedly chunky hairy dudes”.
Amanda’s fans are quite rightly outraged by this shoddy, sexist behaviour and have begun a Rebellyon, posting pictures of their own bellies on fan forum Shadowbox and sending them to Roadrunner in protest.
Too ridiculous for words – but you’ve gotta love awesome fans taking action.
P.S. Community poster lefthandedpenguin beat us to this punch on this last week!
UPDATE/CORRECTION: Palmer has not left her label – they won’t let her. She gives the full story here.
84 Comments
i didn’t SEE a “fat” belly in this video!
this isn’t just sexist, it’s disgusting behavior on the part of the record label.
That woman has a fat belly?
I was watching that video JUST to see this now infamous fat and could not find it. I wonder how they saw it in the first place? Do corporations just reach into hats and draw reasons to make women feel bad about their bodies?
“So today we’re going to tell her – let’s just reach in here and draw from the hat – alright I picked ‘nostril hair’ guys. When she’s comes in, mention the visibility her nostril hair”
what hell do they think is the average weight?
I would’ve called her skinny, but then again, what do i know? I’m clearly eating a hippo a day under their standards of weight.
On what planet is Amanda Palmer fat? WTF? Why did they even have her in a video with an open shirt if they thought she was so unsightly?
I could only breeze through the video (since I was at work), but I saw no such thing. It’s so ridiculous.
I still must buy this album, btw…
I love Amanda- she’s fantastic. And good for her for sticking to her guns.
What do you think they’re more afraid of — that her single wouldn’t sell with shots of her “fat” belly in the video, or that it would and they’d lose an excuse for controlling women?
I find her tremendously sexy, for her music as much as anything else. Ironically, I didn’t even know she had a new solo project until now . . . so the record label’s failure to publicize is what alerted me.
Thank you for posting this, I was just on my way to posting it in the community when I saw it was already here. I am in disbelief over this. I mean, what were they thinking?? Even if there were an even vaguely noticeable jiggle to her wiggle, this is Amanda Palmer, it’s not like she’s ever marketed herself as the kind of pop princess you’d expect this attitude towards…
Dear Roadrunner Records,
Thanks once again for reminding women that waif-thin is the way to go!
Yours,
Melanie
P.S. I hate you for making me hate myself.
P.P.S. Amanda Palmer looks good and you know it.
This is pure stupidity. She is not fat at all..she looks to be the same size as me. I really applaud her bravery, and that record company is just so blind as all the other modeling companies out there that require thin…
Ah, the beautiful irony! The lyrics “Who needs love when there’s law and order? Who needs love when there’s dukes of hazard?” gave me an amplified chill in the context of this ridiculous debacle.
I think you must have linked to the wrong video, all I saw was a very attractive and athletic appearing woman doing a mediocre Cabaret (or Chicago possibly) knock-off video.
She certainly isn’t built any bigger than artists like Pink or Beyonce.
For the record and just to be fair do we have independant confirmation that her label actually stated this? Because I would never be shocked to hear a recording artist lied about something for either attention or sympathy.
Well, shit. I always thought Amanda Palmer was incredibly hot, but now that I know she has imperceptible belly fat, I have no alternative but to shun her forever.
Oh, sorry. I think I got some sarcasm on your blog. A little soda water should get that out right quick.
(Amanda’s fondness for her own belly leads to videos like these, btw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH61TNZ1a4A )
That was such a nice video… I wish a lot of girls with self-esteem issues would see that…it made me feel better..
So what if she’s fat? The woman can fucking sing.
Having paid attention to this particular musician’s career for years, and having even met her once upon a time ages and ages ago, I will be absolutely floored if she’s making this up.
well i can’t wait to get my fat ass to her show on dec 3rd so we can just chill in the fattening music together
she’s not fat at all. she’s skinnier then i am by the looks of it. her stomach might have looked bigger in a couple shots when the camera got her from the side but that’s normal for a tummy to stick out a bit when looked at by the side. especially if it’s muscular like she appears to be. her stomach is completely flat, yeah if you get a shot of someone’s tummy from the side there going to look like it’s on the fat side but sheesh the people at roadrunner need to learn to accept that the only way her stomach could be any flatter is for her to starve to death and then photoshop it. roadrunner you need to stop trying to twist all women into unnaturally thin stereo-types. as it is she’s lucky when it came to genes in the looks department.
I am in awesome shape. I run about 25 miles a week, work out with weights, follow a pescatarian diet, and generally try to keep my body healthy.
My belly looks exactly like Ms. Palmer’s. Once women reach a certain age and don’t restrict yummy foods or beer (and limit ourselves to less than 2 hours of exercise a day), most of us get bellies no matter how much we work out.
I wouldn’t trade my belly for anything. It’s sexy as hell and evidence that I actually enjoy my life.
I love Amanda Palmer and, although disgusted by her label’s actions, am delighted that she refused to accede to their stupid demands. Amanda’s pretty average, based on what I can determine, but even if she was heavier than average it wouldn’t matter – women shouldn’t be ashamed to show their bellies.
You totally should get the album – it’s a masterpiece.
Metal fans take note, by the way. Here is the list of other artists on the label… I seem to remember a post ages ago in the community section on gender issues in the metal scene, but I can’t seem to find it. Seems like now would be a ripe time for someone more intimately familiar with that scene to write about it.
i don’t now if i’m missing the link, but i clicked on them here and on the f-word – is there any link to a statement by palmer or to a news article? i’d like to send the story out to some friends but am looking for the news source… sorry, haven’t had coffee yet..
THanks for posting about this. I’ve been following the rebellyon since it broke out. There’s a flickr group devoted to the images, too. Amanda’s new album is great. Too bad her record company is filled with imbeciles (apologies to the imbeciles are probably deserved now).
That video was amazing. She’s a phenomenal performer and it is so great to see someone so confident about her body.
Here is Amanda Palmer’s blog entry in which she mentions it herself, saying:
the label i’m on (roadrunner records) had wanted to pull shots from the video so that my bare belly wasn’t exposed. they thought i looked fat. i thought they were on crack.
The fan thread here says that she sent out an email to the fan list, saying:
the fine folks at roadrunner records wanted us to re-cut this video so that shots of my belly wouldn’t be included.
they basically told me that i looked too fat.
i told them to fuck off.
Regarding the amazing fan reaction, this post at wearsthetrousers includes the following quote from a fan, about Rebellyon’s mission:
This is not just about Amanda Palmer’s belly. This is about all the bellies of the world: Big, small, hairy, stretch-marked, scarred, pregnant, every single belly. The aim is to reclaim the belly; to promote a healthy body image for everyone (not just females) and to protest against the “barbie dolling” of artists by record companies and the media.
And just for some warm fuzzies, see here for the amazing picture gallery full of “belly love” put together by the Rebellyon group
thank you thank you! i’ll be sending this out to some friends.
No one seems to be mentioning the ovarios it takes for an artist to walk away from her label. Good for her for taking her booty elsewhere, and for speaking up about the atrocious behavior of Roadrunner. What a cool woman she is.
I’ve been reading feministing for years, and as a woman in the music biz, I am disappointed that you are even posting about this.
Looking at Soundscan, I can tell you that the video was probably pulled because Amanda’s album isn’t selling. It’s always a business decision to stop pouring money into something that isn’t recouping. Doesn’t matter if you are male or female. If they really did say this, show me proof! Evidence! Not a blog post! The 2 heads of marketing over there are ultra PC (one female) and I can’t believe she would have ever said this.
Also – You have it on “good authority” that all the guys are hairy and there are barely any women working at RR? You have obviously never set foot in any of the offices. There are tons of women working their asses off over there and the male pattern baldness is so prevalent, you would think there was something in the water.
I can’t believe they’d even risk losing her, either, just from a purely business standpoint. I mean, there’s pretty much no way she won’t at least continue being really successful, and will probably only become moreso — I mean, people have really started talking about her over the past little while. She’s started doing collaborative work with Neil Gaiman, even (and this very video is posted on one of his own recent blogs).
It’s just stunning to me how people completely lose not just a sense of civility but even sheer common sense when they have to deal with a woman coloring even imperceptibly outside the lines.
“…most of the people on the label are decidedly chunky hairy dudes”.
You forgot to mention they are also mostly ugly and talentless.
Who are you trying to fool?
C’mon now, this is one of the most lookest businesses in the world—and that means that “looks” are a big part of the “business decisions.” And those decisions are different for women than they are for men. Now, I don’t totally blame the business for this societal ill, but to deny that it exists is dopey.
Since you speak of evidence, and you seem to have an inside track on the goings on “over there”—how many female stars do they have and how many are male? Those numbers would be great indicators—or indictments, for that matter.
They said fat men and hardly any women were the ARTISTS on the label, I believe.
And how do you know how “PC” the heads of marketing are? (the fact one is female isn’t good enough) You’ve met them and had discussions about specific issues?
Finally, since her label refused to promote the Album, couldn’t that be the reason it’s not selling? (as opposed to vice versa)
I think the reference to hairy dudes and few women at RR was about the musicians signed, not the people working there.
But I agree with the rest – I think some things got mixed up. This is what she said about it on her Myspace:
i sent a mailer about the video mentioning that the label i’m on (roadrunner records) had wanted to pull shots from the video so that my bare belly wasn’t exposed. they thought i looked fat. i thought they were on crack.
dude. i’m a vain motherfucker. i know when i look fat. i had beth hanging out on the set of the pope videos, keeping an eye on my figure as i pranced around in my slip in case pope was getting a particularly pregnant-looking angle. i hate shots of myself where i look heavy with child.
but THIS?? this was just nonsense. i thought i looked HOT. i really, really didn’t see where they were coming from. at all.
so i didn’t budge.
they weren’t happy, but then again they’re not very happy with anything i’m doing lately (including putting out a record that has “no commercial potential” and is impossible to promote, since nobody will like it).
the video was left as is.
I don’t think she ever implied that the video was uncommercial because of the belly issue, and that that’s why they didn’t promote it. She recognizes that her record isn’t an easy sell. And yeah, she doesn’t say anything about breaking with them at all, and though I didn’t go through the whole sixty page thread on her fan forum, I can’t find anything to indicate that she did apart from the post on F-Word.
Though RoadRunner were assholish, no doubt about it. Don’t mess with Amanda Palmer!
What a bunch of dicks. First, from the few shaky, moving shots of her dancing, you can’t hardly see her belly at all, maybe for a whole 5 seconds total.
Second, she’s gorgeous.
I guess having one barely-pudgy woman among the crowd of scantily clad, thin circus burlesque dancers was just TOTALLY unacceptable. 100% of the women must be thin.
You’d think that looks wouldn’t matter to the label that signed the likes of Slipknot and Cradle of Filth. Somehow, it makes the sexist double standard even bigger.
… Does it really matter that this may not be the “only” reason the label didn’t want to promote her? The fact that her body is brought up as a “problem” at all is disgusting, no matter what her sales.
Also, FWIW — The part you were picking up on as a “knock-off” (besides the general aesthetic, maybe, which goes along pretty well with the aesthetic she’s been doing for years) might’ve been what sounds to me like a (possibly ironic) musical homage to “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” which starts at about 2:21 — the song is originally by KISS, actually, although loads of people have covered it (it showed up in Moulin Rouge in a more “caberet” style, for example).
I get what a lot of people are saying here about how Palmer isn’t fat. I agree, but current American standards she isn’t fat.
But I’m also a little uncomfortable with the reaction “but she’s not fat!” What if she was fat? Fat does not equal untalented or bad or something.
Although the body fascist attitude of the label is disgusting, I can’t believe Feministing would defend an artist who makes light of rape and abortion in her song ‘Oasis’.
Rape jokes are NOT OK.
Ugh. WHAT A HUGE DISGUSTING BELLY OMG.
Sarcasm of course. It angers me that girls with such cute features, much like that belly, dislike them.
This news is shocking, considering that Nightwish and Within Temptation– Both very popular female-fronted metal bands– are on Roadrunner. I’ve never heard any news about Anette or Sharon being told they are not beautiful, but now, with both bands trying to break into the American scene… It’s kind of worrying that they would say something like this to one of their artists.
This news is shocking, considering that Nightwish and Within Temptation– Both very popular female-fronted metal bands– are on Roadrunner. I’ve never heard any news about Anette or Sharon being told they are not beautiful, but now, with both bands trying to break into the American scene… It’s kind of worrying that they would say something like this to one of their artists.
This news is shocking, considering that Nightwish and Within Temptation– Both very popular female-fronted metal bands– are on Roadrunner. I’ve never heard any news about Anette or Sharon being told they are not beautiful, but now, with both bands trying to break into the American scene… It’s kind of worrying that they would say something like this to one of their artists.
…anybody else think one of the dancers looks strangely like Sarah Haskins?
This is from the label that signed Nickelback (thereby allowing them to be heard by ANYONE?)
What else can one expect from people who know NOTHING about music.
Props to feministing for picking this up!
I’m in love with Amanda Palmer, now even more so.
WTF are they talking about? She looks super hot in this video!!! No pudge in sight – just normal “hey I’ve got some organs in here”. If she’s too fat, I’m too fat, and according to my BMI, I’m officially underweight.
I’m pretty sure the song isn’t meant to represent her own personal belief system. It seems to mostly lampoon what society finds important.
Especially given that she dedicated the video to Sarah Palin, I can’t think that she’s making fun of the issue.
Wow, I can’t even believe how many people already know and love Amanda!! Yayy!!
Also, I heard she split from her record label now, but I don’t have a source on this… :/
I saw posts she herself made about this on various LJ communities. Disgusting. Even if she were fat, would it matter? Of course not.
On a creepy note: I’d be honored to be caught under her epic girth. You know, if you get my drift.
She seems like a doll.
Agreed. This whole video is clearly a parody of fan-dom and how the media portrays young women. I mean, listen to the lyrics – the whole song is about how this girl sees nothing past her oasis obsession, not even the gravity of the horrible stuff that’s happening to her!
It would be a shame for a woman who’s so independent and critical of society in her work to be ignored by the feminist community for a moment of irreverence.