Today Jackie from Fatuosity, Frances from Hey Fat Chick and Corpulent, Bri from Fat Lot of Good, Dr Rick from If Not Dieting and I were featured in an article in the Herald Sun Sunday Magazine. I thought the journalist Jane Hutchinson did a fantastic job at representing a really complex issue.

Although most of the voices here are female, it is important to recognise that  this is not just a women’s issue. More than ever fat men are facing many of the same issues that were mentioned in this article.

So here is the article for you to check out – and would love to hear your comments!

Last week I was lucky enough to be in Washington at a conference.

One of the speakers at the conference was Professor Kelly Brownell from the Rudd Centre for Obesity and Food Policy.  The talk was extremely interesting. I think actually really resonates with a lot of the work the Fat community is trying to do. Different language, but very similar ideas. Which was a wonderfully nice surprise!

Kelly spoke about a range of different things, but one of the things that really caught my attention was whether or not we are seeing the death of science as we know it.

He described in detail how academic processes – like it taking SOOOOO long to get grant income, conflicts of interest, the narrow readership of academic papers (which are of course our key outcome measurement in Academia), the funding of the same old stuff time and time again, with limited space for the funding of novel ideas – means that the slow and monolithic process of Academic research is actually becoming more and more disconnected from what is actually happening in the real world (my words not his).

As an academic who specializes in doing research that engages with, and works with the community, I am really interested in your thoughts about Academic research.

Is Academic Research important? Do you think it changes anything? And how do we make it more relevant for the average person on the street?

What do you think we do well (if anything?)! And what do we do badly?

This is a discussion for everyone – not just academics – so please feel free to contribute!

Since starting my work in the area of obesity, the Fat Acceptance movement has come to hold a very dear place in my heart. People within this movement have supported me, mentored me, and some have become amazing friends. I am not part of the Fat Acceptance movement. But I am a very strong supporter of it.

So I thought as an outsider to this movement, I would give you my take on why I support it.

For me the Fat Acceptance movement is a consumer advocacy movement. Others might not see it that way, but that’s how I think of it. Movements, like Fat Acceptance, have been vital in improving the health and rights of highly stigmatized groups throughout recent times. Let me give you a few examples of groups that were highly stigmatized and shunned before consumer groups emerged:

• People with mental health problems
• Women with breast cancer
• People living with HIV/AIDS
• Children with Haemophilia

Each of these movements were created to give people a voice, to allow them to have their say, and to advocate for the improved care and treatment of individuals in health and social settings.

For me, the Fat Acceptance movement is no different. It is a space where people can discuss, debate, support, advocate and have a voice about what it is like to be Fat. Actual formal organizations for Fat rights are few and far between, particularly outside of the USA.  And so the blog space has become an incredible place for people to write about their take on the way ‘fat’ or ‘obesity’ is approached in society. Others are doing amazing work outside of the blog space – engaging with the media, writing books, and critical dialogue pieces. Now given that they are at the centre of the obesity debate, I would say that is not just reasonable, but undeniably important. Because the general community, academics, health professionals, policy makers etc are pretty disconnected from the fat community. There is an Us vrs Them mentality.

There are almost NO spaces for Fat people to have their say about what happens to them, they are not engaged in any debate or dialogue, and they are targeted pretty much daily in blogs, newspaper reports, academic articles and so on. And when they do have a say they are criticised, ridiculed and laughed at (unless they are losing weight, when everyone is totally loved up with them – until the weight goes back on!).

Just like other movements, there are many different types of people within the Fat Acceptance community. Some are more radical than others. That’s necessary and important. I don’t agree with everything I read in the Fat Acceptance space, but hey I sure respect peoples rights to say what they are thinking or feeling. Just as I’m sure they would disagree with some of the things I write/say from time to time (or maybe most of the time!!!) but I’m sure they also support my right to have a say.

But lets make a few things clear about the Fat Acceptance movement right away:

1)   Fat Acceptance does not exist to promote obesity.  Rather it exists to promote the mental and physical health and wellbeing of people no matter what their size.

2)   Fat people have the right to dispute and debate statistics linking obesity with poor health outcomes, and to offer alternative evidence. Given the conflicts of interest that occur in obesity research these days I’m surprised more people aren’t doing it.

3)   They also have the right to challenge people, organizations or groups that they think have misrepresented them or treated them badly.

4)   Finally fat people have the right to speak out about their experiences. For some reason people find that a difficult concept to grasp.

So I will continue to support the Fat Acceptance movement. Because they are advocating for the rights of all of us – no matter what our size.

I will continue to consider myself a Fat Advocate – FOR the rights of people who are fat.

I will continue to listen to and learn from the fat community.

I will continue to engage in discussion with people who are fat so that we can make a change in the way we approach ‘fat’ and ‘obesity’ in our communities.

And most importantly I will continue to stand up and applaud them for the brave and inspirational work that they do.

So in the spirit of discussion, positively or negatively, what does FA mean to you and why?

Oooh and my new twitter account is @TheDiscourse