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A New Trend? Say Hello To Plus-Sized Nightclubs!

And now a little something for our big-boned friends.

A new trend is on the rise of the club scene nationwide: plus-sized nightclubs! As part of the "Fat is Phat," movement, clubs geared for fuller-figured people are springing up across the country. Take, for instance, Club Bounce in Long Beach, CA. Just blocks from the beach, Club Bounce offers heavy set people the opportunity to dance, drink, and socialize without feeling scrutinized for their bigger sizes.

Monica Lopez, one heavier woman and Club Bounce attendee, says, "Self-conscious? No! Not at all. I was like, 'I'm going to Club Bounce tonight. I'm going to wear my shortest skirt."

Another Club Bounce-goer, Vanessa Gray, says "When you're not what they consider ideal, you know, and you're out there trying to get your dance on at those other places, you get the looks, the stares. But not here. Everything's accepted here."

Kathleen Divine, owner of the Butterfly Lounge, another plus-size club, says "The whole thing really started on the Internet, with clubhouse parties organized online. Now you see a lot more large people out in public, not hiding behind their keyboards anymore."

Lynn McAfe, "fat activist," and member of the Council On Size and Weight Discrimination, said "It's nice to have a place to go where you can do a little flirting an dmaybe bring your thin sister or somebody from work who isn't fat, and they'll be in your world for a while. That's an amazing experience for a lot of people who aren't fat, to spend a day or night in the world of fat people."

While the attitude is largely positive, some worry that such clubs encourage people to remain overweight in a nation where obesity is a national epidemic and one-third of adults are obese.

Club Bounce's owner Lisa Marie Garbo says, "I'm not a gain-weight advocate or anything line that. My message to people is live your life no matter what size you are."

Well, that's a good message! Would U attend a plus-size club?

[Image via AP Images.]