I’m going to post a couple links to sources for the next couple days to hopefully start a conversation in this space! These will fall in the area of Fat Studies and there’s some norms you should be aware of:
- “fat” is taken as a neutral descriptor, think of it as reclaiming the word.
- “obese” arbitrarily medicalises fatness and Others fat people
I’m a cis man and I have (had) body image issues (in the past)
https://humanparts.medium.com/my-journey-toward-radical-body-positivity-3412796df8ff
I’m queer and fat
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yeefpijtl4s7orv/Flaunting Fat – Sex with the Lights On.pdf?dl=0
I’m queer and not fat
https://www.bitchmedia.org/post/fat-liberation-is-totally-queer
The others don’t apply to me and/or I only have the energy/time to read one source
https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/everything-you-know-about-obesity-is-wrong/
:sankara-salute:
Haven’t seen any fatphobia on here at all, it’s been refreshing.
Fat is beautiful. It’s quite possible to be fat and extremely healthy, if you take care of your joints.
It’s extremely difficult to be fat and healthy in a capitalist system, in a food desert, if you’re poor, if you’re subject to constant psyops pushing transfats and sugars, if you don’t have the time and space and motivation to prepare all your own food, if you don’t have the time and space and motivation to exercise, if you have mental health issues, if you’re sleep deprived…
I hope this doesn’t feel too contentious. Getting healthy, at any body composition, is a holistic issue related to class, environment, behaviour and mental health, among other things.
Getting healthy is a lifestyle change, not a temporary diet. Incorporating daily activity into your life, even a walk. Taking control of what you eat and drink back from the corporations and preparing all your own food. Just going to fucking bed so your willpower isn’t shit because you’re sleep deprived (not me). Simply not buying anything unhealthy at the supermarket so that there’s nothing unhealthy in the kitchen.
The good news is it’s doable, you never have to be hungry, and there are more resources out there than ever before to help, including this place.
The even better news is that getting healthy means that enjoyment of those occasional vices doesn’t have the same negative effects - for example an occasional smoke isn’t as bad if you’re not in a constant state of systemic inflammation.