Testimonials
Thanks for coming to our class. The Yay! Scale was super cool. What you said changed how I think about fat. I hope you can come again. FAT!
— 7th grade boy
I have been teaching for a number of years in the Kinesiology Department at San Francisco State University on the topic of Movement, Culture, and Gender and my emphasis is on the Culture of the Body. Marilyn has been a guest speaker in every course that I have taught. That in itself says a lot about the type of speaker she is. The term “speaker” is an understatement for what Marilyn brings to my classes. She brings an enthusiasm which is unmatched in my experience as a teacher. Her knowledge of the body (and in particular the Fat Body) comes from a lifetime of experience and study. Her presentations are always engaging, interesting, informative, and downright funny. She has the ability to address a topic that is awkward for some, yet she manages to do so in a way that allows students be relaxed, and consequently, be comfortable and honest about assumptions, positions, and sometimes their prejudices on the topic. Calling Marilyn an “Activist” is an understatement as activism implies a devotion and desire for change. Asking students to alter their social and cultural view of fat bodies requires that they rid themselves of long held beliefs and that is no easy task. I have seen students walk out of her class with a new perspective and instantly become a convert to her way of thinking. That is a testament to her preparation, knowledge, skills, and her powers of persuasion as a speaker who has the ability to communicate in a way that is non-threatening. She wins them over with informed arguments grounded in theoretical evidence and a teaching style that can only be described as “unique.”
— Michael Black, PhD, San Francisco State University kinesiology department
I was just sitting in my chair and she came in and said, 'Fat.' Awesome.
— 7th grade student
Marilyn Wann is a radical, a philosopher, a social scientist, a civil rights pioneer, and a therapist all wrapped up in one truly thought-provoking and entertaining fat package. Her talks and her activism change lives.
— Natalie Boero, Associate Professor of Sociology, San Jose State University, and author of Killer Fat
Dear Marilyn: Thank you! I loved that you came here and talked about FAT! You're so cool! And according to your Yay! Scale, I am gorgeous and yummy! Keep doing your thing and have FUN!
— 13-year-old
Marilyn gave an awesome talk at Iceland’s first-ever public symposium on weight prejudice at the University of Iceland in 2010. The turnout was amazing and, still, three years later I hear people talking about what an inspiration she was.
— Sigrún Daníelsdóttir, Cand.Psych/M.Sc, psychologist and body respect activist
Thank you for coming to our school to talk about body image with us. I liked learning that people spend $58,000,000,000 to fix their bodies to look like the people in the media. I appreciated that you made a Yay! Scale so weighing or stepping on a scale was funner.
— 7th grade girl
Marilyn Wann is a dynamic and engaging speaker, the rare lecturer who can captivate academics, health professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, and community members with her no-nonsense examples of and critiques of fat prejudice. Whether she is deconstructing stereotypes of fat people, demonstrating the YAY! scale, singing the praises of fat singer Beth Ditto, or trenchantly explaining thin privilege, Wann combines her confident and unapologetic presence with decades of research to make her ideas hit home. She came to my campus six years ago and people who heard her still marvel at how she changed their thinking about the multifaceted social meanings of fat.
— Julia C. Ehrhardt, PhD, Reach for Excellence Associate Professor of American Studies and Women's and Gender Studies, McClendon Honors College, University of Oklahoma
"Marilyn spoke to one of our largest Women's Studies lecture classes at the University of Michigan as well as worked with our students in smaller groups. Fat bias is a difficult subject, but Marilyn used humor and personal appeal as well as facts and figures to compel students to really think hard about the way our society approaches weight and health. She has been the most prominent activist against fat bias in U.S. for many years, and for good reason!"
— Anna Kirkland, PhD, associate professor of women's studies and political science, University of Michigan, author of Fat Rights
"Marilyn Wann is the pioneer of second wave fat liberation movement. Her book, FAT!SO? was, and still is, ground breaking and life changing. Marilyn has spoken to my class on Health At Every Size for Clinical Psychologists on numerous occasions and she blows away the audience every time. She makes activism and fighting for social justice fun and creative, while still getting the serious message of the need to end weight stigma across. When I grow up, I want to be Marilyn Wann."
— Michael Loewy, PHD Program Director, California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University; Fellow, Rockaway Institute
"Marilyn Wann is a charismatic speaker, who brilliantly conveys to her audience how weight-based discrimination and thin privilege operate in the
contemporary United States. With humor and empathy, she helps her audience understand how people of all sizes suffer from fatphobia, albeit in
different ways. She inspires her students to stand up against bigotry and hatred of all kinds, including that based on body size."
— Abigail Saguy, PhD, Associate Professor and Vice Chair, UCLA Sociology; Associate Professor, UCLA Gender Studies, author of What's Wrong with Fat?
"Marilyn Wann is fat-abulous! She is funny, smart and very engaging. I have long loved her book, and her activism. Marilyn has spoken to my students during our Annual Love Your Body Week events. She has opened up a dialogue for my campus that challenges fat oppression as a social justice issue. And that has impacted many of us on a very personal level."
— Megan Seely, sociology department chair, Sierra College, author of Fight Like a Girl
Marilyn Wann is an amazing speaker. Students come up to me years later telling me her short talk changed their lives. She blows people's minds. Marilyn presents nothing less than a revolution: that you can love and appreciate the body you are in right now. This is such a radical idea in our culture that students are literally shocked. Marilyn has the rarest of gifts, she can call for revolution and do it with humor and humanity. No one feels left out or blamed. I can literally see new neural connections forming in people's brains as she says "if you cannot feel at home in your own body, where can you feel at home?" She invites people to think differently about their own bodies and body politics.
— Stephanie Zone, PsyD, San Francisco City College, psychology department
— 7th grade boy
I have been teaching for a number of years in the Kinesiology Department at San Francisco State University on the topic of Movement, Culture, and Gender and my emphasis is on the Culture of the Body. Marilyn has been a guest speaker in every course that I have taught. That in itself says a lot about the type of speaker she is. The term “speaker” is an understatement for what Marilyn brings to my classes. She brings an enthusiasm which is unmatched in my experience as a teacher. Her knowledge of the body (and in particular the Fat Body) comes from a lifetime of experience and study. Her presentations are always engaging, interesting, informative, and downright funny. She has the ability to address a topic that is awkward for some, yet she manages to do so in a way that allows students be relaxed, and consequently, be comfortable and honest about assumptions, positions, and sometimes their prejudices on the topic. Calling Marilyn an “Activist” is an understatement as activism implies a devotion and desire for change. Asking students to alter their social and cultural view of fat bodies requires that they rid themselves of long held beliefs and that is no easy task. I have seen students walk out of her class with a new perspective and instantly become a convert to her way of thinking. That is a testament to her preparation, knowledge, skills, and her powers of persuasion as a speaker who has the ability to communicate in a way that is non-threatening. She wins them over with informed arguments grounded in theoretical evidence and a teaching style that can only be described as “unique.”
— Michael Black, PhD, San Francisco State University kinesiology department
I was just sitting in my chair and she came in and said, 'Fat.' Awesome.
— 7th grade student
Marilyn Wann is a radical, a philosopher, a social scientist, a civil rights pioneer, and a therapist all wrapped up in one truly thought-provoking and entertaining fat package. Her talks and her activism change lives.
— Natalie Boero, Associate Professor of Sociology, San Jose State University, and author of Killer Fat
Dear Marilyn: Thank you! I loved that you came here and talked about FAT! You're so cool! And according to your Yay! Scale, I am gorgeous and yummy! Keep doing your thing and have FUN!
— 13-year-old
Marilyn gave an awesome talk at Iceland’s first-ever public symposium on weight prejudice at the University of Iceland in 2010. The turnout was amazing and, still, three years later I hear people talking about what an inspiration she was.
— Sigrún Daníelsdóttir, Cand.Psych/M.Sc, psychologist and body respect activist
Thank you for coming to our school to talk about body image with us. I liked learning that people spend $58,000,000,000 to fix their bodies to look like the people in the media. I appreciated that you made a Yay! Scale so weighing or stepping on a scale was funner.
— 7th grade girl
Marilyn Wann is a dynamic and engaging speaker, the rare lecturer who can captivate academics, health professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, and community members with her no-nonsense examples of and critiques of fat prejudice. Whether she is deconstructing stereotypes of fat people, demonstrating the YAY! scale, singing the praises of fat singer Beth Ditto, or trenchantly explaining thin privilege, Wann combines her confident and unapologetic presence with decades of research to make her ideas hit home. She came to my campus six years ago and people who heard her still marvel at how she changed their thinking about the multifaceted social meanings of fat.
— Julia C. Ehrhardt, PhD, Reach for Excellence Associate Professor of American Studies and Women's and Gender Studies, McClendon Honors College, University of Oklahoma
"Marilyn spoke to one of our largest Women's Studies lecture classes at the University of Michigan as well as worked with our students in smaller groups. Fat bias is a difficult subject, but Marilyn used humor and personal appeal as well as facts and figures to compel students to really think hard about the way our society approaches weight and health. She has been the most prominent activist against fat bias in U.S. for many years, and for good reason!"
— Anna Kirkland, PhD, associate professor of women's studies and political science, University of Michigan, author of Fat Rights
"Marilyn Wann is the pioneer of second wave fat liberation movement. Her book, FAT!SO? was, and still is, ground breaking and life changing. Marilyn has spoken to my class on Health At Every Size for Clinical Psychologists on numerous occasions and she blows away the audience every time. She makes activism and fighting for social justice fun and creative, while still getting the serious message of the need to end weight stigma across. When I grow up, I want to be Marilyn Wann."
— Michael Loewy, PHD Program Director, California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University; Fellow, Rockaway Institute
"Marilyn Wann is a charismatic speaker, who brilliantly conveys to her audience how weight-based discrimination and thin privilege operate in the
contemporary United States. With humor and empathy, she helps her audience understand how people of all sizes suffer from fatphobia, albeit in
different ways. She inspires her students to stand up against bigotry and hatred of all kinds, including that based on body size."
— Abigail Saguy, PhD, Associate Professor and Vice Chair, UCLA Sociology; Associate Professor, UCLA Gender Studies, author of What's Wrong with Fat?
"Marilyn Wann is fat-abulous! She is funny, smart and very engaging. I have long loved her book, and her activism. Marilyn has spoken to my students during our Annual Love Your Body Week events. She has opened up a dialogue for my campus that challenges fat oppression as a social justice issue. And that has impacted many of us on a very personal level."
— Megan Seely, sociology department chair, Sierra College, author of Fight Like a Girl
Marilyn Wann is an amazing speaker. Students come up to me years later telling me her short talk changed their lives. She blows people's minds. Marilyn presents nothing less than a revolution: that you can love and appreciate the body you are in right now. This is such a radical idea in our culture that students are literally shocked. Marilyn has the rarest of gifts, she can call for revolution and do it with humor and humanity. No one feels left out or blamed. I can literally see new neural connections forming in people's brains as she says "if you cannot feel at home in your own body, where can you feel at home?" She invites people to think differently about their own bodies and body politics.
— Stephanie Zone, PsyD, San Francisco City College, psychology department
