It's been 10+ years since I first discovered fat liberation...here's what I've learned. In 2014, I discovered fat liberation and have been talking about it since. So after all these years, I wanted to share my top takeaways about body image, being fat on the internet, the common fears we share, and more. TW: mention of body image struggles in childhood. Like the podcast? Leave a review where you listen!
Some things to consider if you are struggling with the judgements of others:
People judge others negatively, and that sucks; I’m sorry you have to go through that.
Some people will judge you very harshly and unkindly. Some people will think of you neutrally or positively. Some people are hyper-focused on themselves and whether or not you are judging them negatively.
If you have a bigger body or are marginalized in additional ways, you are going to be experiencing more bias and judgement, and that is not ok.
If someone is judging your body size or fatness negatively, then it might be because they feel shame in their body and want to pass that shame to you to feel temporary relief. It’s not your shame to hold and deal with. Also, some people are just plain cruel or bigoted and you should not have to deal with that.
Those people shouldn’t be able to dictate how we live our lives, what we look like, how we dress or how we present to the world as a fat person. However, they often do get to dictate, either from fear of experiencing shame, changing our behaviours, or due to very real safety concerns, changing our behaviours. This world is often unsafe (especially for the most marginalized), and how you react to that is understandable.
For many of us, the story we've been told about fat bodies seems pretty logical: being fat is unhealthy. We know that society stigmatizes fat people because they “choose to be fat” and “drain public resources.” Others who view body diversity more favourably would argue that it’s not the fault of people in bigger bodies that they are the way they are (because fatness is a “disease”), but it’s still important to be healthy, i.e. in a smaller body. We are taught that concerns about weight are rooted in science, medicine, and a desire to improve individual and population health outcomes.
Anti-fatness didn’t begin with medicine. In reality, the beliefs that fat people are unhealthy as well as lazy, unintelligent, undisciplined, unattractive or less worthy have deep roots in religion, the enslavement of Black bodies, colonialism, “scientific” racism, sexism and social control. It was never about health.
Thanks to the work of Black scholars, including Dr. Sabrina Strings, we know that anti-fatness comes from anti-Blackness as well as other oppressive forces. But WHY were certain beliefs about Black bodies created? Who started the myths, and what were they saying? How do those stereotypes about fat Black bodies manifest today? We are going back thousands of years to see where all this nonsense started. Using a variety of sources, including, of course, the go-to book for talking about this Fear of the Black Body by Sabrina Strings, as well as Belly of the Beast by Da’Shaun L. Harrison and concepts from bell hooks, Patricia Hill Collins, and more. TW: O words, anti-Blackness, slavery, sexism, brief mention of sexual assault, general white fuckery.
We’re constantly told that being fat is bad for us, that fat people are ticking time bombs and are pathetic, sad sacks. Is it true? Are fat people giant losers who are doomed to an “unhealthy,” miserable existence? In this episode, we flip the script and explore the surprising advantages of fatness. From better disease outcomes to unique social benefits, mental health perks, and even survival advantages, I share 49 benefits of being fat you probably haven’t considered. How many can you think of? TW: brief mention of O words.
