Fat Body Politics
-
Oh it's my Birthday on the east coast.
-
Anonymous asked: I was assaulted by a cis person once, how about we ban THEM from bathrooms.
SERIOUSLY THIS IS A THOUSAND TIMES MORE FUCKING LIKELY
-
Anonymous asked: Hi. I have been reading about Kaitlyn Hunt, and I had some questions I thought you might be able to answer. It's awful when people discriminate against others because of their sexuality, and that is definitely happening with this case. But isn't it also a rape case? Sexuality aside, even if it is consensual sex, it's still rape if she's a minor, right? I want to give my full support to LGBT, but I don't want to support rapists under any circumstances. Can you help me understand?
Hi! Thanks for the question. I do understand where your concern comes from; however, this is not a rape case. They started dating when she was 17....
-
Bella donut care
-
Demanding Others Be Flattered By Unwanted Attention Can Be A Tool Of Oppression
It’s fascinating…the things that I am supposed to be “flattered” by. People practically demand that I be flattered by certain mistreatment, injustice and oppression, and then question my level of “sensitivity” or even my intelligence when I am not flattered.
Our very own Amanda Levitt (RBI mod and blogger at http://www.fatbodypolitics.com) was a part of this HuffPost LIVE segment: Fat Stigma Starts Young.
Other notable contributors include Jenn Levya (http://fatsmartandpretty.com) and Rebecca Golden (http://butterbabe.blogspot.com), who speak authentically and with immense knowledge while combating comments like “oh but racism isn’t a thing anymore” and “oh but you HAVE to lose weight to be healthy”.
I’m also super impressed with the host Alicia Menendez for keeping everyone on-topic and providing a space for such important discourse. Brilliant.
Seriously, WATCH IT.
Hey! I did this yesterday. Jenn and I did really well considering we were the only fat activists on.
What’s Wrong with Fat? Dr. Abigail Saguy (UCI, April 17, 2013)
Pretty broad lecture touching many themes and politics surrounding fat bodies in society. I haven’t read the book yet but it the first thing I plan on doing once this semester is over.
I will be on KPFA 94.1 talking about fat experience and how fatness intersects with disability tomorrow afternoon, 4/5, at 2:30 pm pacific time or 5:30 pm eastern. If you are not on the West Coast you can listen live online. http://www.kpfa.org/pushing-limits
If anything you can listen to me try to give coherent responses to a lot of different questions.
In case you missed it you can listen to the full interview at this link.
I had a really good time and I was able to get a lot of information out in a very short time. YAY for speed talking.
(via friendofmarilyn)
I will be on KPFA 94.1 talking about fat experience and how fatness intersects with disability tomorrow afternoon, 4/5, at 2:30 pm pacific time or 5:30 pm eastern. If you are not on the West Coast you can listen live online. http://www.kpfa.org/pushing-limits
If anything you can listen to me try to give coherent responses to a lot of different questions.
Before / Between / After
In the spirit of my Before / After post I bring you this reading of “2 BY 4 : A Fat Zine” by FATTY FATTY Productions. Check out their etsy store and get this cool handmade fat positive zine created by a super awesome fat positive couple. (One of whom is a SUPER awesome fat studies scholar)
Seeing so many people commenting about how my before / after photos was me pushing “health” over weight loss. I realize that most people are going to read it in that manner but the frustration over being able to not get stuck in healthist arguments makes everything feel overwhelming sometimes.
This was a response to someone’s comments about this post;
My post was critiquing the kind of framing of bodies when this form of visual representation of fat phobia is created. It was also a good example of the Protestant ethic in action, especially with everyone commenting how after bodies are the result of “hard work.” Puritanical and capitalist demands on bodies that push hard work, frugality and high levels of self-discipline is inherently harmful. It frames all bodies, not just fat ones, as ONLY having worth if they are highly productive contributing members of society. Placing further emphasis on the expectation that individuals conform their bodies into what society considers to be highly productive bodies that are thin, able bodied and disease free.
Really though. This is about deconstructing our experiences through critique of society. This is about resistance to conformity.
Before and after photos are one of those things that frustrate the hell out of me when it comes to fatness and weight loss. Seeing so many people congratulated on no longer having a “before body” is part of this frustration since we are taught to be in awe of those people who have an “after body.” Before images are always framed as being worse than the after image, in relation to weight loss it is the after image that always triumphs the before.
I don’t have a before body or even an after body; it’s a forever body. My body isn’t a failure and having an “after” image doesn’t make the before any less worthy / beautiful or as good of a body.
You all can guess at the things I did between the before and after.
* There are numerous forms of before and after photos that don’t frame the before in a negative way but I have yet to see one with weight loss.
Putting together a guest lecture on personal autonomy, fat embodiment, thin privilege and deconstructing health. Yeah fuckers we talk about this stuff off the internets.
Thin privilege is being taken seriously as a feminist.
If I, a fat woman, say that women should be treated equally and that looks shouldn’t be what people stress so much, people assume that it’s because I’m fat and want people to look past that. (I do, but that’s besides the point.) And if I don’t want to shave my legs or wear makeup, I’m seen as lazy or gross, while a thin girl would be making a statement.
Ok yes
This the part where I admit that I have never bought or worn anything that says “this is what a feminist looks like” because I’m afraid of feeding critics examples of what they already say. Feminists are all fat and ugly or all feminists are fat lesbians. I don’t think I’m ugly and I don’t think being fat is bad but I know I’m not conventionally attractive and I’m just terrified of bringing that shit down my own head. So it’s probably a giant example of huge insecurities that have internalized but yeah. Here we go.
(via redefiningbodyimage)
Nigerian sculptor Nnamdi Okonkwo
Okonkwo was born in Nigeria in 1965, and was always drawn to art.
Okonkwo’s sculptures of women are rotund forms that symbolize the abundance of life, “an outward manifestation of a largeness of soul.”
The souls are full of gesture, even in their seeming stillness. Whether enclosed within themselves, or interacting with another form, their subtle “actions” evoke a depth of empathy.
His art speaks so clearly of his motivation. “My inspiration comes from the aspect of the human soul that I find sublimely beautiful and noble.” His art is a personal statement, a unique viewpoint formed by his life experiences.
(via africlecticmagazine)
Find more work by African Artists here.
These are totally wonderful.
(via redefiningbodyimage)
Anonymous Asks:
fatbodypolitics Said:
I really believe that a blog, organization or anyone who labels themselves “body positive” but doesn’t believe thin privilege exists is doing a disservice to themselves as well as their followers. I have found a ton of bloggers who talk about privilege that have an issue with using the framework of thin privilege because they believe it takes away from white and male privilege or somehow compares the two. The best response that I have had to me posing this question was from the moderator from This is Thin Privilege who told me that in order for discrimination to happen to one group, there has to be an equal action (aka privilege) given to another. This does not mean white, male, straight, or thin privilege is comparable but it gives oppressed people a framework to understand their experiences, while also allowing for people with privilege to understand the space they take up. Understanding straight, white and able bodied privilege gives me context to the privilege I have because part of privilege is not knowing I have privilege. It gives me language that having privilege allows me to ignore.
The reason that I think anyone who labels themselves a “body positive” blog but refuses to discuss how fatness is political and fat people are discriminated against are doing a diservice to their followers is because they are ignoring the experiences of their followers. It would be like me only speaking as a white, straight, cis, able-bodied female and only posting about experiences like my own. By not discussing transphobia, racism, ableism, homophobia etc I am erasing the experiences of fat people who have different experiences than me. If a blog is dedicated to making all bodies accepted, not just to an arbitrary bullshit place like most body positive spaces seem to do, then they need to make space for discussions that talk about different experiences. That also means talking about all of the other forms of oppression not just white, cis, thin, straight, able bodied experiences.
Why people stay away from it probably does have a lot to do with not wanting their followers to feel alienated, but also talking about thin privilege brings in a political element to most body positive blogs that I don’t see on a regular basis. Most blogs are dedicated to each individual and not a discussion about systemic oppression. This happens in many places, including fat positive spaces specifically. While being fat positive or body positive within itself can be a form of resistance actually discussing experiences with discrimination is a totally different form of resistance to fat stigma. It makes fat discrimination a reality giving people words and context to understand how their experiences are similar or different. It also gives specific instances or situations that people can fight back against.
People have a really strong reaction when they first hear about privilege, most of the time it is anger because they believe that all of their traumatic experiences a negated due to their privilege when in reality all privilege checklists try to do is make people understand difference.
