Fat Body Politics

redefiningbodyimage:

Removed the gifs associated with this post because it’s a big long photoset and I didn’t feel like clogging up my blawg, but here it is.

zero-girl:

daleksdontcry:

zero-girl:

i don’t really get involved in fat politics anymore, but man i’m seriously sick of seeing this girl all over my internet. i’m sick of her speaking for fat bodies and being heard over said fat bodies. the fact that this gifset alone has 8K notes makes me wanna puke. fat people have been saying this, exactly this, for 50+ years. but until a thin, conventionally attractive white person says the same thing, thus validating it, no one listens. sorry guys, but this is horseshit.

I could give a fuck less who posts it, who says it, who makes it popular, who makes it into gifs, or who screams the loudest about it; it’s all about the message, not the messenger. 

Shaming a woman who is using her voice and audience to express body positivity is insane. Devaluing her opinion just because HER BODY is conventionally attractive is just as bad as only valuing the opinions of conventionally attractive people. 

lol privilege and systematic oppression and good allyship are just a joke then i guess silly me

Passing this on while I form some thoughts…I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Anyone else?

I just responded to this but no one is devaluing her response, it is important but understanding that the space that Laci Green takes up is one based in thin privilege is important as well. If I was the person behind the videos the chance that they would have 8,000+ reblogs is slim to none, but I am also a smaller fat so there might be more following than someone who is larger than me because I do have some thin privilege myself.

Her being a thin conventionally pretty white girl gives her a platform to speak and makes people feel that her words are important. A fat person saying the same thing can and is often seen as someone who is bias, has an agenda etc. The same goes when a white person who talks about racism, a man who talks about sexism etc.

The weight of what someone is saying comes with the privileged space that they take up and when you do not take up that space you most likely will also find people who do not take your words seriously.

From thisisthinprivilege.tumblr.com Linda Bacon said it best,

“That fat people get screwed over daily has made my life a hell of a lot easier. Ironically, it has even resulted in me being seen as an expert on the fat experience and asked to speak on the topic regularly. People seem to give more credence to my words than if they were spoken by a fatter person – after all, I’m not just saying them to rationalize my existence.”