Shirley Sheffield

Padded Lilies founder Shirley Sheffield is more than happy donning a bikini to further her cause.
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It seems there's nothing Shirley won't do to make people understand that size doesn't matter, but acceptance of sizes does.

Padded Lilies founder Shirley Sheffield is more than happy donning a bikini to further her cause.Read more.

The number of team members has fluctuated, with four currently (Shirley, Trish, Miryana and Natalie), but almost every Padded Lily has had experience with dieting, drugs, surgery, jaw-wiring and other faulty and often dangerous attempts at weight loss, before becoming active in the fat liberation and size acceptance movements.Now they refuse to apologize or feel guilty about their weight.Instead they celebrate their physical abundance as a source of pleasure and power, subtitling their work, "Artistic Performances from the Deep End of the Pool."Cheek to Lip to Politics

Shirley Sheffield, a writer and actor with FAT LIP Reader's Theatre who co-founded the Padded Lilies with Timnah Steinman, recalls the group's beginnings: "Originally, part of it was the sheer cheek of it, being fat and willing to wear bathing suits and celebrate our own beauty in them.My initial goal was to have fun," Sheffield says, "but I have come to see it as the most politically powerful thing I've ever done."

That's a strong statement from a woman renowned for over a decade of fat activism: Sheffield is a writer and actor with Fat Lip Reader's Theater, former president of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, and a contributor to fat-positive publications.

The Padded Lilies have been on hiatus since their coach moved out of town, and the members are discussing what to do next.They continue to field requests for national and international appearances and tours - the latest from Korea - and are considering creating their own line of swimsuits."Every time we appear somewhere," says Sheffield, "we get flooded with questions about our suits."

The number of team members has fluctuated, with four currently (Shirley, Trish, Miryana and Natalie), but almost every Padded Lily has had experience with dieting, drugs, surgery, jaw-wiring and other faulty and often dangerous attempts at weight loss, before becoming active in the fat liberation and size acceptance movements.Now they refuse to apologize or feel guilty about their weight.Instead they celebrate their physical abundance as a source of pleasure and power, subtitling their work, "Artistic Performances from the Deep End of the Pool." Cheek to Lip to Politics

Shirley Sheffield, a writer and actor with FAT LIP Reader's Theatre who co-founded the Padded Lilies with Timnah Steinman, recalls the group's beginnings: "Originally, part of it was the sheer cheek of it, being fat and willing to wear bathing suits and celebrate our own beauty in them.My initial goal was to have fun," Sheffield says, "but I have come to see it as the most politically powerful thing I've ever done."

That's a strong statement from a woman renowned for over a decade of fat activism: Sheffield is a writer and actor with Fat Lip Reader's Theater, former president of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, and a contributor to fat-positive publications.

The Padded Lilies have been on hiatus since their coach moved out of town, and the members are discussing what to do next.They continue to field requests for national and international appearances and tours - the latest from Korea - and are considering creating their own line of swimsuits."Every time we appear somewhere," says Sheffield, "we get flooded with questions about our suits."

Shirley Sheffield is a founding member of the Padded Lilies.
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"It's kind of the antidote to all the obesity epidemic stuff that's going on," says SHIRLEY SHEFFIELD, one of the group's founding members.
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"It's fabulous how we're received," Sheffield says.