Why I Blog About Fatshion

Originally posted here.

My fabulous fat necklace

The other day, a few of my friends were discussing people they’d known in high school. Apparently the ones who’d been conventionally attractive then are now fat and ugly. And there was one girl who used to be fat, lost about 70 pounds, and looks great. “She was always pretty, but now she’s stunning!”

I hate it. I hate the automatic assumption that thinner is better, that “getting fat” is inherently bad. I hate that if I suddenly lost a large amount of weight, people would compliment me left and right–like they did when I was dieting in college. I hate that those same people would consider me less attractive now.

This is why I blog.

To counter the 386,170 fat-negative messages per year that we are all bombarded with.

To take up space, without apology.

To define beauty on my own terms.

To question cultural assumptions.

To do my part, however small, in changing them.