What Is Fat Acceptance?

Over the last few months, in hanging out with some of my non-fat and/or non-eating disordered (presently or historically) friends, I have felt the need to write this post…

I have never liked the phrase “fat acceptance.”  Maybe I’m too literal minded in this case, but this phrase could be construed as a belief that fat is the only thing that is acceptable and that is definitely not what myself or many of the bloggers in the fatosphere are going for.  I know enough people have seen screaming fatties on Jerry Springer talking about how all thin people are evil and/or anorexic to wonder how many misunderstand the words “fat acceptance” when they see them…

If I were in control of the universe (hah – I would have 1,000 cats and a castle for us all to live in), I would call it “body acceptance,” though “health at every size” also works quite beautifully and already exists as a prominent idea in much of the fatosphere.  Some people are naturally thin.  Some people are naturally average or fat or really fat, etc.  Some people have wrecked their metabolisms so bad with eating disordered behaviors or diets that their natural set-point has become much higher and they would have to do unhealthy things to drop to an average weight.  The point of “fat acceptance” to me is to promote healthy and loving living AT EVERY SIZE (even thin sizes), but with the understanding that in our culture “fat” is a dirty word associated with the ideas of gluttony, sloth, greed, stupidity, bad hygeine, etc… such that becoming accepting of fat becomes a radical act and acceptance of less fat bodies is assumed. 

I have thin friends.  Do I think they should all gain weight?  Heck no!  But, when I see them bashing themselves for eating something “bad” or for not having a model-perfect body, I challenge them. 

I think it is so important to appreciate bodies of all sizes and shapes.  However, due to the lack of women with fat on their bodies depicted in the mainstream, I will continue to celebrate them here, because they deserve their due.  The point of this blog (and many others in the fatosphere) is not to alienate thin or “normal” sized folks, but to stand-up for and celebrate bodies that are normally put-down or otherwise ignored by the mainstream. 

I, personally, took a huge leap in self-love and self-esteem when I started exposing myself to a variety of images of women of all shapes and sizes shown with respect and without shame or derision.  I think it is important for women (and men) of all sizes to be exposed to the wonderful diversity of humanity that exists… this is not something that is only helpful for fatties!  It is something that all of us need, whether we know it or not.  Hence, the sub-title for this blog – WHATEVER YOUR SIZE – YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.  That goes for thin people and people of average weight and people who are maybe just a bit chunky – as well as fat folks of all degrees of fatness. 

I do understand that among some fat folks that there is a hate for people who are thinner than them.  As a kid who was only a little-bit chubby, I can remember thinking all people thinner than me were anorexic and somehow evil, because the stores didn’t make the clothes I wanted in my size (god forbid you are tall and long-legged… if you have any fat on your body at all – at least in my experience – clothes shopping becomes ridiculously hard).  It took me years to realize that my anger was valid, but I was aiming my anger at the wrong targets.  Thin people aren’t the problem.  There are people naturally thin just like I am naturally usually somewhere in or near the overweight range.  The problem is that too many stores only make clothes for women who are smaller than the average woman… The media constantly shows over-sexualized portrayals of one very rare body type… Fat has come to mean horrible and untrue things such as: undisciplined, lazy, stupid, smelly, greedy, etc.  No one – thin, fat, male or female – ultimately benefits from these unrealistic portrayals, because constant exposure to only one body-type leads most folks to believe that any other body-type is somehow abnormal and wrong… even bad. 

Does that mean there is no place for thin people in the media?  Oh, heck no!  Thin people living healthy lives is just as normal as fat people living healthy lives… I wish there was more diversity.  Fat people as well as thin people… and average people… and really, really fat people… and chubby people… people of all ages… people of all shapes – as well as the tall, thin standard of the media today.

Hmmm… maybe “diversity acceptance” would make more sense than simply “fat acceptance”…?  Anyway, you can expect to see the term “fat acceptance” bandied around this blog, because it is commonly understood in this fatosphere and fatosphere veterans understand what we’re talking about.   However, since I know that the words “fat acceptance” can make a lot of people who aren’t fat feel excluded or even attacked, I am putting this out into the world in the hopes of fostering understanding with people of all sizes…

Whatever your size – YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL… and we mean this even if you are thin or average weighted or whatever else – YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, so we urge you to own your unique beauty.  You deserve nothing less.

–AngryGrayRainbows