After the flap over the now infamous Maura Kelly blog post on MarieClaire.com about how she felt that fat people kissing or indeed walking across a room would be “gross”, I’ve been thinking a lot about the simple kiss.  Much to my delight, I watched as rad fatties and friends staged a “Big Fat Kiss In” at Friday closing time in front of the Hearst building.  I participated in Big Fat Blog’s Virtual Kiss in with a photo of my own.  I kissed and was kissed.

Right smack (hee hee) in the middle of all this hullabaloo about kissing, a new episode of Glee aired, with a kissing theme.  And intwined in the plot was a very sensitive and interesting story about two characters who had “never been kissed“.  Both characters expressed their angst over never having been kissed and what that meant–were they good enough?  Were they desirable?  Would they ever find somebody to kiss?

And this strikes at a deep fear that many of us share–the fear that we are not kissable–that despite the prince (or princess) inside, folks just can’t get past the “frogness” outside.

That’s what makes Maura’s post so dangerous and damaging.  That’s also what makes the Kiss-ins so extraordinary.  This Kiss-ins show that Maura is just WRONG.  The kiss-ins remind us that we are all not only kissable, but liable to be bussed in public for all the world to see.  It’s a simple and powerful statement–“It’s not just the skinny chicks that get kissed.  Fat Chicks get kissed too, and some of OUR snogging is simply epic”.

So, my little chicklettes, it’s time to tell those who shame you or make you feel inadequate to “kiss off!”  And it’s time to simply line everybody else up for a kiss.  Smile and share a smooch with somebody today.  Don’t let ANYONE you love say they’ve never been kissed.

Love and Kisses,
The Fat Chick