Fat and Proud (and Beautiful and Brave!)
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!
Themocracy
Thanks for the scans! I agree, the writer did a great job.
I quite like how the author didn’t end the piece with a final anti-fat statement, as so many ostensibly fat-positive articles do, but I do wish she had avoided the “fat is the last socially acceptable prejudice” line.
I was annoyed that the ‘last acceptable prejudice’ line ended up in the article too – and so prominently! In the interview I talked about how that was so clearly not true, and that homophobia, racism and xenophobia (for example) remain not only socially acceptable, but encoded in legislation or deployed for political gain.
I dunno, i think *officially* most people don’t consider themselves racist, sexist or xenophobic, but in reality they might be. Same goes with legislation; i don’t think they consider it to be discriminatory even if it is.
I think fat discrimination is a totally different creature, because in pretty much every sphere (social, medical, etc) it’s okay to totally hate on fat people. We’re encouraged to do it at pretty much every turn. Again, many people don’t realise it’s wrong because it has been ingrained in society at so many levels, but I think more people have the perception that fat people are smelly, ugly, lazy, etc.
So happy about this – gorgeous photos and a great article. I like how she began by talking about Christine Nixon – the terrible fat-shaming she’s endured has gone largely unremarked upon, perhaps because it was ‘subtle’. And so proud of Frances and Jackie for their part in this. Awareness-raising for the win!
Fantastic, gives me hope.
[...] Sam wrote in her post, even though the article is overwhelmingly female (possibly because Sunday Magazine’s [...]
[...] Sam wrote in her post, even though the article is overwhelmingly female (possibly because Sunday Magazine’s [...]
It is great to see the increasingly balanced reporting of issues around weight in articles like this and you should all be proud of the fabulous work you are doing!
Thanks for helping us all cast a more critical eye on what we think, say and do , often without consideration!
J
[...] Sunday Magazine ran an article on fat stigma and fat acceptance, with interviews with Frances and Sam and Bri and…me! (Hello and welcome to all the new people who found me via the [...]
Kudos to all of you who were involved with this article – it’s one of the most positive we’ve seen here in Australia yet.