Thursday morning roundup

Wonkblog's brilliant Janet Yellen listicle (complete with GIFs).

Collins on the state of the shutdown.

Saying "I" a lot doesn't indicate what you think it does.

This article on binge eating articulates what I've been trying to get across in my earlier rants about publicly calling people out on their weight: disordered eating is defined by behavior, not weight. Just like being very thin and physically healthy are not mutually exclusive, being very thin and mentally healthy are not mutually exclusive.

No body looks perfect, but the thigh gap obsession grows. That article points out that most people, even very thin ones, couldn't achieve a thigh gap for the same reason that I couldn't achieve a flat stomach if I wanted to: it has more to do with the way you're built than how much fat you carry.

My issue with the masseur's post (in the "no body" link) is that it's not really true and it's not really the point. I get that the social media is perpetuating the thigh-gap thing because people get the idea that "it's possible," but it shouldn't matter that it's possible. Back to that Slate piece: we need to learn--and to teach our kids--that other people will have things that we don't, and sometimes those things are more desirable physical characteristics. And we have to learn to live with that and love ourselves the way we are, even knowing that someone out there has a thigh gap or flat stomach or no cellulite (and yes, there are people who have no cellulite).