by Marilyn Wann

A ton of awesome weight liberators — including me! — will be presenting some serious wisdom online August 22 to 24, during the first-ever Fat Activism Conference. Subtitled: Tools for the Revolution!

This is an incredible chance to hear from Ragen Chastain, Tigress Osborn, Virgie Tovar, Jes Baker, Juicey D. Light, and so many people who do life-changing, world-changing stuff on weight. All for a super low price of $39 or pay-what-you-can. Don't miss 30 hours of awesomeness. (Listen live or later.) Sign up here…

What will I be talking about?

Here's the talk description: Have you avoided activism because it sounds like a lot of unpleasant sign-waving on street corners? What if you got together with a bunch of friends for the kind of fun and frolic that immediately enhances your life and makes the world seem like a better place? This hour will include some tips and stories about having a good time while doing good.

Check out the whole lineup! I hope you'll join me and enjoy!

by Marilyn Wann

What a total delight last night to meet Jes Baker creator of The Militant Baker blog and founder of the Body Love Conference. (Next year in Tucson! In April.)

In addition to hearing Jes's presentation and writing my very own body-love affirmation Post-It note ("Bingo wings. Fly free!"), I learned that Jes and I both started very public fat pride projects at about the same age. I thought back to how I felt and everything I was doing, after the first year of publishing the FAT!SO? 'zine, how exciting it was to meet people in fat community, to share our outrage and liberation. It's incredibly heartening to see Jes (and so many awesome people) speaking out, being creative, expressing outrage, liberating themselves and others, and having a good time doing it. I know that the anti-fat institutions are entrenched and powerful, but they're also just so very stupid and mean and wrong that I don't see how they can last.

I love a main point that Jes makes: how we feel about our bodies affects how we participate in the world. The personal is political.

Some people find it easier to focus on the personal side, on setting aside the weight negativity we've all been taught to carry. Other people are more interested in changing the world. I think we need both modes of engagement. If we only look at the personal level, what happens when we leave the house? Standing up for oneself in the world can solidify one's personal resolve. And if we only work to change the world, we'll likely still carry around (and repeat) our internalized weight negativity — counterproductive. Personal realizations help envision a better world.

I was also honored when Jes used the Yay! Scale™ as an example of rewiring negative thoughts in positive directions, a form of cognitive behavioral therapy. Instead of numbers, Yay! scales give compliments. You find out what you Yay!. Which seems much more important and meaningful than whatever you happen to weigh.

There's another pairing that goes great together: being militant and being mirthful. I'm so glad to have photos with Jes that show us in these two transformative modes. We're throwing the sign of the donut, a secret (Shh!) of the Chubster Gang, founded by UK fat activist and scholar Charlotte Cooper. Almost exactly 10 years ago, the Associated Press reported on fat community rejecting the weight-loss industry and called me a "militant member." (I love it!) A fat convention was happening at the time. I remember getting on the elevator with Deb Malkin, founder of Re/Dress, and asking her, "If I'm so militant, where's my army?" Deb said, "I'll be your army!" We laughed and the other person in the elevator spoke up. He was a tall, thin, middle-aged white guy who would have been a much better person to play Dos Equis's Most Interesting Man in the World. He was wearing a double-breasted, navy blue jacket with gold buttons. He said, "I won't be your army, but can I be your navy?"

Here's to militant mirth rocking the personal political world!

You did a thorough job of parroting all the oldies:

• Fat = unattractive. Translation: "I'm incapable of looking away!"
• Death threats. Translation: "You're fat and you're gonna die. I mean, I wish you would die."
• But don't get an eating disorder. Translation: "Don't take my fat-hating harangues personally, thin girls. Why not? Because I said so. There, no harm done."
• Mother-blaming. Translation: "We can't possibly trust people to feed themselves. My weight bigotry is your mother's fault. She didn't force enough lightly steamed vegetables." This from the "Femail" columnist?
  
• McDonald's is evil and fat people are lazy gluttons. Translation: "Look at me! I had salad for lunch and I'm thin!"
• I'm proud of my weight bigotry! Translation: "Hate is love. Orwell said so."

Why are today's young people so unashamed about being fat? Because, Weight Bigot, rad fatty community is fighting you…and you're helping us win.

Without ugly rants like yours, Weight Bigot, fat activism and weight diversity resources would still be desperately needed…just not quite as obviously so. If you weren't such a turn-off for readers of all sizes, they might not find Ragen Chastain's excellent "Unapologetically Fat" or Melissa McEwan's on-point analysis, or my little thank you note instead. Just think, a human resources manager or a campus events coordinator or an eating disorders conference planner might this very moment be reading your screed and feel inspired to Google for a weight diversity speaker. The next time you stop by the Weight Bigots Clubhouse, would you please let the other members know how very much I appreciate it when you remove the smiley-face masks and show your hate faces? It makes my work go faster. Thanks!

Love - Marilyn Wann, fat girl

by Marilyn Wann

I remember the moment this quote came to me. I had just published the first issue of the FAT!SO? 'zine. I was designing a postcard to ask indie bookstores to sell copies on consignment. Why should they? Because…

It was the summer of 1994, almost exactly 20 years ago.

Since then, everything I've done as a fat activist has been a variation on this quote. In the hope that all of us — all sizes of us — can get on with our lives, free of pointless and prejudicial weight limits.

I've tried all sorts of stuff, much of it delightfully absurd:

• I've been interviewed on CNN, in USA Today, and by Ira Glass.
• I did aerobics next to John Stossel.
• I got to interview Leonard Nimoy about his fat-positive art photography.
• I hugged Wendy from Snapple.
• I gave a FAT!SO? 'zine to Roseanne.
• I spoke at a fat pride rally after Camryn Manheim and Carnie Wilson.
• I learned how to make ratatouille from Daniel Pinkwater.
• I splashed Jay Leno when the Padded Lilies performed a synchro swim routine on The Tonight Show.
• I was, to my knowledge, the first person in fat community to publicly wear a thong bikini.
• I found myself on the median of the second largest street in San Francisco waving a sign that said, "Eat me!" while passing drivers honked and waved, unaware that we were protesting a gym's space alien billboard that said, "When they come, they'll eat the fat ones first."
• I helped win passage of height/weight civil right legislation in San Francisco.
• I waved pompoms with the Bod Squad rad fatty cheer troupe in support of the dyke march and the trans march, and in protest of the weight-loss surgeons' fundraiser, "Walk from 'Obesity.'"
• I was around for the early days of a new academic field called fat studies.
• I lectured about weight diversity halfway around the world. (In Iceland!)
• I got to know pioneers of fat activism and Health At Every Size® — Lynn McAfee; Pat Lyons, RN; Susan Wooley, PhD; Judy Freespirit; Ariana Manov; Gudrun Fonfa; Deb Burgard, PhD; Paul Ernsberger, PhD; Jon Robison, PhD; Cheri Erdman, PhD; Joanne Ikeda, MA, RD; Rick Zakowich; Miriam Berg; Frances White; Sally Smith; Carol Squires; Cath Thompson; Betty Rose Dudley; and so many people who showed me what fat lib could be.
• Years ago, I agreed to have this quote appear on a website of food quotations, where I imagine Oprah's editors found it.

It's been a wonderful 20 years. Thanks so much to everyone I've met! Belly bumps all around…   )(

I'm delighted to share an excerpt from a new anthology that makes an important contribution to the fat studies bookshelf, "Queering Fat Embodiment," edited by Cat Pausé, Jackie Wykes and Samantha Murray. From Cat's essay, "Causing a commotion: Queering fat in cyberspace"…

* * *

The Campaign

The I Stand campaign was begun by Marilyn Wann, a well-known fat activist in the San Francisco Bay area and the author of Fat!So?. It was a response to a fat shaming campaign that targeted children in the state of Georgia, USA. The Georgia campaign, Strong4Life, featured ads of fat children and the phrase ‘WARNING’ in red lettering across the bottom, along with a statement about childhood obesity (e.g., ‘It’s hard to be a little girl when you’re not’). The purpose of the ads, according to the campaign, was to bring attention to childhood obesity and encourage parents to take the issue seriously. Concerns about the negative tone and shaming nature of the ads, however, were raised by those in the public health sector, the eating disorders community, and fat activists alike.

Wann’s response, the I Stand campaign, took direct aim at the image and message of the ads themselves. Wann invited individuals to submit a photo of themselves and their position (a statement about what they ‘stand for’ in relation to weight/stigma/health), which were then made into a poster for the I Stand campaign. Each poster has a picture of an individual and a statement about what they stand for. The phrase ‘I STAND’ is found in bright pink lettering across the bottom, along with fat positive statement. The first poster, featuring Marilyn Wann, read ‘I STAND against harming fat children. Hate /= health’.

Figure 7.1    I Stand
Source: Courtesy of Marilyn Wann.
Most of the submissions came from fat individuals, but a range of body sizes can be found among the collection. The posters may be found on the ‘I Stand Against Weight Bullying’ Tumblr. Contributions range from ‘I STAND for body diversity’, ‘I STAND against teaching kids to hate their bodies’, ‘I STAND for doing what you love in front of those who doubt you’, ‘I STAND for taking up space’, and ‘I STAND for doing what you love in the body you have now’. Each poster ends with, ‘Stop weight bigotry. Health at Every Size’

Wann’s I Stand campaign allows for individuals of all sizes to present positive messages about fatness, body size, and physical health and well-being. Using the same format as posters intended to fat shame children, but changing the context to fat positivity, queers fat. By allowing others to produce the pictures and text, I Stand fosters user created content within a larger campaign for social change. The campaign, however, was not without critics.

As noted in an open letter from the people of caucus of NOLOSE, ‘A response to white fat activism from People of Color in the fat justice movement’, too many fat activist projects represent only a singular point of view. Shuai et al. cautioned against allowing the fat justice movement to become separated along class and colour lines, and they noted that the power of social media allows for connections to be made, conversations to be had, and for a diverse group of individuals to engage in the planning, execution, and promotion of any work being done.

Within the letter, the authors present many ways that those who engage in fat activism may work towards being inclusive. Being aware of differing kinds of privilege is one, as well is reflecting on an individual’s own privilege and actions which reinforce oppression against others. Being mindful of the impact the work may have on those from other racial, ethnic, and class backgrounds. Another step would be to not fall into the trap of asking others, outside of our own groups, to educate about the issues of oppression faced by them. Most importantly, those who claim commitment to these issues must assume responsibility for ensuring that a range of voices are included.


Used by permission of the Publishers from ‘Causing a commotion: Queering fat in cyberspace’, in Queering Fat Embodiment eds. Cat Pausé, Jackie Wykes and Samantha Murray (Farnham: Ashgate, 2014), pp. 77-78.  Copyright © 2014