It ain’t easy being big. Every day, heavy-set people have to fight a thin-centric media filled with stick-figured magazine models and shows like The Biggest Loser. At the grocery store, they’re inundated with low-carb, low-fat options that don’t taste nearly as good as their high-calorie counterparts. Clothing manufacturers stop sewing at a certain size, limiting fashion opportunities. Obesity is the new national health scare. Airlines are instituting, in essence, fat taxes. And to top it all off, the big and beautiful can’t even relax at an Ybor City club without getting laughed at. But two years ago, Sandi Hernandez created Club Rubenesque — a once-a-week dance party for BBWs and BHMs (that’s Big and Beautiful Women and Big Handsome Men) — to “give us BBWs a place that we can call our own.” Don’t worry, skinny dudes — FAs (Fat Admirers) are welcome, too. Saturdays at the Honey Pot, 1507 E. Seventh Ave., Tampa, 813-325-8566, clubrubenesque.com
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2008.
