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Maria M. Kang-Casler, (born 1980 in San Francisco, California) is a blogger who received attention for a photo of herself in exercise clothes with her children with the caption, "What's Your Excuse?" A year later, the photo went viral and received national media attention.

Early life

Kang's mother, Caroline, the daughter of Philippine diplomat George G. Aducayen, Jr., from Cagayan married at 16 and had four children, one boy and three girls, by the time she was 22. Kang was the second child and the oldest of the three girls.

As Kang grew up, her mother Caroline suffered from numerous health-issues related to her being overweight, including diabetes, heart attacks, a stroke, and kidney failure. Kang said that her mother's weight-related health issues affected her deeply. In 1991 the family moved to Elk Grove, California, outside of Sacramento. There, Kang became heavily involved in fitness activities, such as running and aerobics.

Kang attended Laguna Creek High School where she did well with her studies and participated in cheerleading. She was bullied at times, however, by her classmates, including two instances in which a group of girls threw orange juice on her. Kang stated that the stress at times caused her to cut or scratch herself.

Beauty competitions and start of fitness advocacy

At age 16, Caroline persuaded Kang to compete in the local Miss Philippines Sacramento beauty pageant. She won first prize and began competing in beauty pageants on a regular basis. Over the next few years, Kang entered and was crowned Miss Petite Teen International, Miss San Francisco Chinatown, and Miss Philippines USA.

Kang then switched to fitness and figure competitions and, in 2003, won Miss Bikini California. Soon after, at a photo shoot at a pool in Los Angeles with other bikini models, Kang felt that the atmosphere and presentation had crossed the line into softcore pornography. Feeling exploited, she walked away from the shoot and never competed again in a beauty or fitness figure event.

Kang had graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2002 with a double major in history and international relations. In 2003 she moved to San Francisco and worked at 24 Hour Fitness as a program coordinator and, in 2004, was photographed for covers of Florida Fitness and SF Weekly magazines. At this time, Kang struggled with bulimia, finding herself addicted to the binge eating and purging common to the disorder. She was able to overcome the bulimia by forcing herself to eat without vomiting, and her weight increased until she was about 145 pounds, which she felt was overweight.

In 2005, Kang started a personal website on which she gave her life story and, in 2007, founded a nonprofit organization called Fitness Without Borders to train leaders in low-income communities on the need for fitness. Also in 2007, she moved back to the Sacramento area to help care for her mother, who was undergoing dialysis. In 2009 Kang began leading free workout sessions for women at Kunsting Family Park in Elk Grove. The next year, she married ex-Marine David Casler, whom she had met on MySpace. Due to an obesity-related medical emergency, Kang's mother was unable to attend the wedding.

What's Your Excuse?

By 2012, Kang had given birth to three sons and appeared several times on local TV programming as an advocate for fitness activities and healthy diets for children. Through exercise and diet, Kang lost approximately 30 pounds after the birth of her third son. She had continued to lead the free workouts at the park and publicized her fitness group to about 50 followers on a Facebook page on which she made frequent posts with advice on exercise and diet. In an effort to gain a wider audience and motivate people to make fitness a priority, on August 25, 2012 Kang had a professional photograph taken of her posing in a sports bra and exercise shorts with her three sons. Above her head was the line, "What's Your Excuse?" with her website's url underneath. Kang posted the photo on her Facebook page. The photo received several thousand comments, mainly positive but some negative. A number of commenters who responded negatively took exception to the line, "What's Your Excuse?" and labeled her a "bully", "narcissist", or "bad mother". On October 3, 2012, Kang was interviewed about the photo on Good Day Sacramento, a local program on KMAX-TV.

On September 26, 2013, Kang reposted the photo on her Facebook page with a non-apology apology for the original post and added a short editorial on the obesity crisis. This time, the photo went viral, being reposted, shared, or linked to on thousands of other Facebook pages and over other social media mediums and forums, resulting in 16 million views within a few weeks. The photo received tens of thousands of comments on Facebook, both positive and negative. Several editorials that accused Kang of fat shaming or being an unfair beneficiary of privilege were penned in The Huffington Post and feminist blog Jezebel. The majority of the responses, however, were supportive, and included an endorsement from Snooki. The national media picked up the story, and Kang was interviewed or profiled on Today, Inside Edition, omg! Insider, Good Morning America, The Kelly File, USA Today, HLN, Balitang America, Geraldo at Large, and Bethenny, among others. Within two months' time, the number of followers of her Facebook page jumped from 23,000 to over 70,000.

In November 2013, Kang responded to publicity over a campaign by Chrystal Bougon, owner of a San Jose plus-size lingerie shop and fat acceptance activist, to take and display photographs of overweight women wearing lingerie. Said Kang on her Facebook page:

I woke up this morning to news stories about how overweight, nearly obese women should be proud of their bodies (as they posed in lingerie). I think we should all accept how any healthy body through good nutrition and exercise manifests, but I’m starting to get annoyed. … I know it’s not easy to break habits and build new ones. I know your environment challenges you and I know making your health a priority amongst the many priorities to stay afloat in today’s world is difficult. But I will tell you this: IT IS WORTH IT. ... We need to change this strange mentality we are breeding in the U.S. and start celebrating people who are a result of hard work, dedication and discipline.

When informed of Kang's comment, an angry Bougon and others reported Kang to Facebook's administration for "hate speech", resulting in Kang's page being blocked for two days. Kang publicized Facebook's action over Instagram, drawing widespread attention over social media and in the press (Facebook later explained that the block was automatic after her page's content was flagged as "offensive" by other users). Bougon initially claimed, falsely, that Kang had posted the comment on Bougon's Facebook page. Both Kang and Bougon were subsequently invited to give their respective side on the disagreement by speaking or being interviewed on CNN, Good Morning America, Access Hollywood, and The Dr. Oz Show. Kang also wrote an editorial, titled "Fit Pride isn't 'Hate Speech'", which was published in Time.

The resulting publicity again increased interest in Kang's Facebook page, eventually attracting more than 320,000 followers. Kang was subsequently featured in a photo spread for the February 2014 edition of Oxygen magazine and the May 2014 cover of Shape magazine's Malaysia edition.

No Excuse Mom movement

In January 2014, Kang rebranded her "Fit Mom" nonprofit fitness advocacy organization as "No Excuse Mom." Under the new name, volunteers provide free, weekly workouts in their local communities. Men and women are welcome at the workouts, but they are mainly structured for mothers with small children. Many of the exercises at the sessions include participation by the children accompanying their mothers. As of mid-2015, approximately 300 No Excuse Mom workout groups had been established in the United States and 25 other countries with 70,000 participants.

Kang's family's main source of income is through the management of two residential care facilities for the elderly in Elk Grove and Sacramento. Her husband, David Casler, who suffered a combat-related traumatic brain injury while working as a private security contractor in Iraq, volunteers for Team Rubicon.

Bibliography

• Kang, Maria (2015). The No More Excuses Diet: 3 Days to Bust Any Excuse, 3 Weeks to Easy New Eating Habits, 3 Months to Total Transformation. Harmony (Random House). ISBN 0553419676. Retrieved 19 September 2015.

References

1. ^ "Maria Kang". Balitang America, The Filipino Channel. October 24, 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
2. ^ Chabria, Maria (April 30, 2015). "What's Her Excuse?". Sactown Magazine. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
3. ^ Faris, Paula (April 5, 2014). "Body Wars: How 'Fit Mom' Accidentally Sparked a Movement". Nightline/American Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
4. ^ Navarette, Ruben (October 24, 2013). "Fit Mom Brings Out the Bullies". CNN. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
5. ^ Narins, Elizabeth (March 5, 2015). "How "What's Your Excuse" Mom Maria Kang Lost Her Baby Weight — 3 Times". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
6. ^ Engel, Meredith (October 31, 2014). "'No Excuse Mom' Maria Kang responds to haters one year after viral pic". Daily News. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
7. Cite error: The named reference KXTV1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
8. Cite error: The named reference KMAX1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
9. Cite error: The named reference KMAX2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. reposted
11. Nuñez, Alanna (March 7, 2014). "'No Excuses' Facebook Mom Trying to Start Global Movement". Shape. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
12. ^ "Maria Kang Issues Apology Over Viral 'Fat-Shaming' Photo, Sort Of". The Huffington Post. October 16, 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
13. ^ Cunha, Darlena (October 20, 2013). "Maria Kang Should Learn the Difference Between Excuses and Reality". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
14. Strudwick, Daniel; Kristen Shorten (October 17, 2013). "Super-Fit Mum Maria Kang Sparks Facebook Fury by Asking 'What's your excuse?'". News.com.au. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
15. ^ Gray, Emma (December 2, 2013). "Maria Kang, 'Fit Mom,' Tells Curvy Girl Lingerie Owner That You 'Can Just Tell' If Someone Is Healthy". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
16. ^ "Maria Kang Lingerie Rant: Fit Mom In Trouble Over Anti-Curvy Girls Post". The Huffington Post. November 27, 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
17. Ford, Dionna (March 18, 2014). "We Don't Need an Excuse". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
18. Greenfield, Beth (March 5, 2015). "'Hot Mom' Exposes Her Flaws for Inspiring Reason". Yahoo! Parenting. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
19. ^ "Fit Mom Backlash?". HLN. October 23, 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
20. Dahl, Melissa (October 17, 2013). "'I just make it a priority': Fit mom in viral photo speaks out". Today. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
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22. Cite error: The named reference omginsider was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
23. "Fit Mom Under Fire". Good Morning America. October 16, 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
24. Kelly, Megyn (October 17, 2013). "Fit mother of 3 posts picture asking 'What's your excuse?'". The Kelly File. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
25. "'Hot Mom' Maria Kang What's next". USA Today. October 17, 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
26. "Fit mom: Photo meant to inspire, not shame". HLN. October 19, 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
27. Rivera, Geraldo (October 24, 2013). "Fat Shaming or Fit Shaming?". Geraldo at Large on Fox News Channel. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
28. Frankel, Bethenny (October 21, 2013). "Maria Kang". Bethenny. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
29. "Maria Kang, "Hot Mom"". Sacramento and Company on KXTX. October 23, 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
30. ^ Greenfield, Beth (October 15, 2013). "Hot Mom Defends Herself Against Facebook Haters". Yahoo! Health. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
31. ^ "Fit Mom Vs. Curvy Girl: The Ladies Faceoff Over Online Body Image Issues". Access Hollywood. December 1, 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
32. Fernandez, Lisa (December 4, 2013). ""Fit Mom" Maria Kang vs. "Curvy Girl" Chrystal Bougon Battle Weight, Sexiness On-Air, Online". KNTV. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
33. ^ Cite error: The named reference kangtime was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
34. "Was 'Fit Mom' fat shaming over plus-sized modeling?". CNN. December 1, 2013. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
35. "'Fit Mom' Criticizes 'Regular Women' Campaign". The Young Turks. December 4, 2013. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
36. "Behind The Scenes: Maria Kang". Oxygen. February 10, 2014. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
37. Peterson, Jesse Lee (May 12, 2014). "No Excuse Mom Movement Flourishes Around the World - Maria Kang". Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
38. Griner, David (March 12, 2014). "Unapologetic Fitness Mom Turns Her Polarizing Facebook Photos Into a Movement Maria Kang brushes off critics". Adweek. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
39. Greenfield, Beth (February 11, 2014). "'Hot Facebook Mum' is a global workout guru - like it or not". Yahoo! Health. Retrieved 2015-09-20.

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• American exercise instructors
• American women bloggers
• Fitness and figure competitors