What is Fat?
Dearest Readers,
What is fat? That is the question I asked my zine group this week. I have been thinking about the word, the label, what is fat as a science, reclaiming the word, how it is a state of oppression, personality, part of who I am as a person and as a creature on this planet. I have been divulging my thoughts into this three letter word that has so much power, so much fear and hate attached to it. I have been considering what it means to me and how it affects my life as a queer person of size.
Fat is nothing more than large cells. It is also in our meat that those who choose to eat it, its a flavoring in our foods, tendorizer to our foods, and a much hated item on the human body. It has been ingrained into us that an ounce of fat is nothing more than a leach and should be removed by extreme measures. I detest that people in americian culture have emphasized the extreme diets, surgeries, interstice regimes and hatered imposed upon those who have fat, fluffy, spare tire, or what ever else it has been nicked name over the years.
Fat is a negative label that has been imposed upon many of us to scare us to shame us into hating our bodies. It is undesirable and ugly. if you are not a size 2 and beautiful you are unworthy of any human interaction, love, help, anything in life etc. I have began to love myself for who I am as a woman of size and that is a hard concept when the world has told me fat is awful. I am fat just like I am a woman it is not something that is bad. I have genetic health issues that could have very well happened in the person that is a size two and six foot tall. That does not mean I am awful. I have issues with bo but that doesnt mean i dont bathe because i do.... Fat does not mean I am unclean, lazy, ugly horrible eat non stop, eat fast food day in and day out. Yes i do eat fast food from time to time, i have my lazy moment,s i sometimes feel ugly and horrible but not because I am fat - more like because I feel sick or am bloated from menstral cramps. I am not unclean because I do shower daily if not twice daily.... occasionally every other day but that does not mean I am dirty. I have issues with BO because of how my body is so temputre hot... and the chemicals in my body are odd... So dont judgement on preconceived notions. i do eat alot but food is not always in my mouth.
People are so fearful of Fat that it becomes a fatphobia... The numbers and the hyper reaction to size and the fact that big is bad and thin is in and all the falsified stats or misused numbers and information that it scares people into hysteria and starts a world of oppressive actions and hating on people who dont deserve it. Its a matter of learning how to love, appreciate and accept people and most importantly Learn to love ourselves in the most guiniue way possible.
As a woman of size and in the queer community, size is so different than that in the straight community and being white it is so different than a woman of size in the African American community. We need to take into consideration the idea of global perspectives and experiences. Fat is different in each region and each race, culuture, country etc...Being a fat queer woman in rural America I am surrounded by southern food, fatty foods, big meals, Holidays to the nines. There is nothing that cant be settled with a good handmade dessert/sweet. We eat alot of food and our lives are surrounded by it.
I come from a family where size is not uncommon. The emotions behind size are complex. I have often vented here about how it feels to be told to just push back the plate, youd look so much better if you would just loose some weight, you just need to move more. When you are slowed down my medications, stress of life around you and the fact the time is something that is of the essence, we live in a day, age and society that values product over process and its not about the quality its about quanity for most if not all of the US. There was a time before our current day that it was about people and the quality of our belongings, the community we lived in and the people we had in our lives. We valued ourselves and there are still communities and pockets of groups of people that value these things to these days. Far and few between granted but they do exist. These are the places and times I wish Star Treks beam me up scottie idea was really real. so that people were valued and loved, cared for and that the things we do and participate in ment something, the things we made were of quality and uniqueness that we will cherish for years to come.
How does this tie in... it ties in by having a community of Fat Folks around us... We have to support each other and love each other. We have to respect honor and value each other. We need to buy from our fellow fat folks and even our fellow folks of size. We need to support, inspire each other, and help each other. Through having a community of folks of size we have this pocket of people that we know are there for us, that dont label us, that help us, that care for us, that know the struggles we face and give us this network of knowledge, experiences, support, love, compassion, understanding and so much more.
Fat is not just a substance within our food, our bodies, our diet, it is not just a label, it is not just a way to oppress us, it is not just a thing that the fat fearing people use to oppress us and to use as a scar tatctic it is a word that discribes us just like having brown hair or blue eyes or having two eyes..... we dont have a oppression for people with two eyes or two arms or brown hair or blue eyes and if we do I am unaware of it. Fat is about building community, reclaiming the word as a discripture, not allowing others to dictate who we are by reclaiming Fat as a word that we can make it. We define Fat for own self not anyone else. Fat is a word that I am. I am Fat... big whoop dee fucking doo... if you dont like Fat as it is now to the common person REDEFINE THE FREAKING WORD!!!!! make the word yours. OWN IT. it is not something that has to define you you define it. Its a word. dont let it own you. I am learning to own the word that I describe myself with. I AM FAT and if the world doesnt like it then they can just the fuck over their little selves and move on because i am one fat beautiful, amazing, spirited, queer, loving kind, out spoken, determined,person , and human that loves her fat self. I love me... I am fat amoung many other things, but that is just one part of me and I can try till I am blue in the face to be a size two but there is no way in hell that will ever happen. It is just a body.... its not about the amount of breathes you take but the moments in your life that take your breathe away. In my carrer they drilled into my head that it is process over product. Life is a process the end product is just a glimpse into what will be. What we leave behind is not just abody but a legacy of our journey. IF we love our body despite its size our journy and the legacy of it will be all the more powerful.
So the next time Fat is thrown your way - tell your self - Fat what the fuck ever I am fat and damn proud to be fat. If you dont like it there is the door and dont let it hit ya where the creater split ya... Fat people will alway be around so why not unite and be awesome together... be fat together and love ourselves and each other. Fat Power will rise above and through that we will be triumphant in our endevors, we will be Fat tastic and flaboulous together We are one we are united and strong. So go forth and be flaboulous....
Untill next time dearest readers... MUNCH ON THAT!!!
What is fat? That is the question I asked my zine group this week. I have been thinking about the word, the label, what is fat as a science, reclaiming the word, how it is a state of oppression, personality, part of who I am as a person and as a creature on this planet. I have been divulging my thoughts into this three letter word that has so much power, so much fear and hate attached to it. I have been considering what it means to me and how it affects my life as a queer person of size.
Fat is nothing more than large cells. It is also in our meat that those who choose to eat it, its a flavoring in our foods, tendorizer to our foods, and a much hated item on the human body. It has been ingrained into us that an ounce of fat is nothing more than a leach and should be removed by extreme measures. I detest that people in americian culture have emphasized the extreme diets, surgeries, interstice regimes and hatered imposed upon those who have fat, fluffy, spare tire, or what ever else it has been nicked name over the years.
Fat is a negative label that has been imposed upon many of us to scare us to shame us into hating our bodies. It is undesirable and ugly. if you are not a size 2 and beautiful you are unworthy of any human interaction, love, help, anything in life etc. I have began to love myself for who I am as a woman of size and that is a hard concept when the world has told me fat is awful. I am fat just like I am a woman it is not something that is bad. I have genetic health issues that could have very well happened in the person that is a size two and six foot tall. That does not mean I am awful. I have issues with bo but that doesnt mean i dont bathe because i do.... Fat does not mean I am unclean, lazy, ugly horrible eat non stop, eat fast food day in and day out. Yes i do eat fast food from time to time, i have my lazy moment,s i sometimes feel ugly and horrible but not because I am fat - more like because I feel sick or am bloated from menstral cramps. I am not unclean because I do shower daily if not twice daily.... occasionally every other day but that does not mean I am dirty. I have issues with BO because of how my body is so temputre hot... and the chemicals in my body are odd... So dont judgement on preconceived notions. i do eat alot but food is not always in my mouth.
People are so fearful of Fat that it becomes a fatphobia... The numbers and the hyper reaction to size and the fact that big is bad and thin is in and all the falsified stats or misused numbers and information that it scares people into hysteria and starts a world of oppressive actions and hating on people who dont deserve it. Its a matter of learning how to love, appreciate and accept people and most importantly Learn to love ourselves in the most guiniue way possible.
As a woman of size and in the queer community, size is so different than that in the straight community and being white it is so different than a woman of size in the African American community. We need to take into consideration the idea of global perspectives and experiences. Fat is different in each region and each race, culuture, country etc...Being a fat queer woman in rural America I am surrounded by southern food, fatty foods, big meals, Holidays to the nines. There is nothing that cant be settled with a good handmade dessert/sweet. We eat alot of food and our lives are surrounded by it.
I come from a family where size is not uncommon. The emotions behind size are complex. I have often vented here about how it feels to be told to just push back the plate, youd look so much better if you would just loose some weight, you just need to move more. When you are slowed down my medications, stress of life around you and the fact the time is something that is of the essence, we live in a day, age and society that values product over process and its not about the quality its about quanity for most if not all of the US. There was a time before our current day that it was about people and the quality of our belongings, the community we lived in and the people we had in our lives. We valued ourselves and there are still communities and pockets of groups of people that value these things to these days. Far and few between granted but they do exist. These are the places and times I wish Star Treks beam me up scottie idea was really real. so that people were valued and loved, cared for and that the things we do and participate in ment something, the things we made were of quality and uniqueness that we will cherish for years to come.
How does this tie in... it ties in by having a community of Fat Folks around us... We have to support each other and love each other. We have to respect honor and value each other. We need to buy from our fellow fat folks and even our fellow folks of size. We need to support, inspire each other, and help each other. Through having a community of folks of size we have this pocket of people that we know are there for us, that dont label us, that help us, that care for us, that know the struggles we face and give us this network of knowledge, experiences, support, love, compassion, understanding and so much more.
Fat is not just a substance within our food, our bodies, our diet, it is not just a label, it is not just a way to oppress us, it is not just a thing that the fat fearing people use to oppress us and to use as a scar tatctic it is a word that discribes us just like having brown hair or blue eyes or having two eyes..... we dont have a oppression for people with two eyes or two arms or brown hair or blue eyes and if we do I am unaware of it. Fat is about building community, reclaiming the word as a discripture, not allowing others to dictate who we are by reclaiming Fat as a word that we can make it. We define Fat for own self not anyone else. Fat is a word that I am. I am Fat... big whoop dee fucking doo... if you dont like Fat as it is now to the common person REDEFINE THE FREAKING WORD!!!!! make the word yours. OWN IT. it is not something that has to define you you define it. Its a word. dont let it own you. I am learning to own the word that I describe myself with. I AM FAT and if the world doesnt like it then they can just the fuck over their little selves and move on because i am one fat beautiful, amazing, spirited, queer, loving kind, out spoken, determined,person , and human that loves her fat self. I love me... I am fat amoung many other things, but that is just one part of me and I can try till I am blue in the face to be a size two but there is no way in hell that will ever happen. It is just a body.... its not about the amount of breathes you take but the moments in your life that take your breathe away. In my carrer they drilled into my head that it is process over product. Life is a process the end product is just a glimpse into what will be. What we leave behind is not just abody but a legacy of our journey. IF we love our body despite its size our journy and the legacy of it will be all the more powerful.
So the next time Fat is thrown your way - tell your self - Fat what the fuck ever I am fat and damn proud to be fat. If you dont like it there is the door and dont let it hit ya where the creater split ya... Fat people will alway be around so why not unite and be awesome together... be fat together and love ourselves and each other. Fat Power will rise above and through that we will be triumphant in our endevors, we will be Fat tastic and flaboulous together We are one we are united and strong. So go forth and be flaboulous....
Untill next time dearest readers... MUNCH ON THAT!!!