{the daily fat} Fat bodies are a reflection of shapes and textures all around us in the natural world.
If you live in a fat body, does your body reflect any of the shapes in this photograph? Any of these textures?
16 ways to carry Health at Every Size forward
One of the transgressions of which Mikey Mercedes, ASDAH leadership and I have been accused is of “capitalizing” on the events of the last month for publicity and profit. (Those events, in case you’re coming to this late, can be found here.) Not only should Mikey and I, as professionals and experts, have the opportunities…
IT’S HERE — my first ever retreat!
I’m partnering with Laura Burns of Radical Body Love and we’re bringing you four days of spacious rest just for fat folks on the beautiful Hood Canal here in Washington state. We designed the Exhale Retreat to let you take a long, deep breath out and inhale connection, rest, and ease. Exhale will be held…
You are not exempt from ethics: Naming HAES names
Yesterday, I posted a Twitter thread to tell the story of when I lost my ever-loving mind and almost got a huge Health at Every Size® healthcare provider group shut down. That group is owned by @jennifer_rollin. I wasn’t going to name names. I’m already exhausted from the last two weeks. Whistleblowing is zero fun,…
Education, Obgobbing, HAES and the Right to Engage
I started my corporate career as a technical editor. I worked with rocket scientists at the Missile Defense Agency; retired firefighters, police and EMS at the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and software engineers and architects at a variety of companies. Every one of them was convinced that their particular set of obfuscatory* jargon was absolutely…
Health at Every Size®, Stories and Silence
It’s been an interesting week or so since Mikey Mercedes and I went public. In the time since, there’s been a lot of excellent discussion in marginalized communities. In the Health at Every Size®-aligned healthcare provider groups to which I have access or connections, there’s been a silence that echoes almost as loudly as the…
HAES history and thinness: A thread
So this is a combo of assumptions, guesswork and actual oral history I have heard from people who were there. (Also Barbara Bruno’s HAES history pieces, which you’ve likely seen but just in case are here: https://asdah.org/history-of-the-health-at-every-size-movement-part-1/) Despite Bruno’s inclusion of fat activism in her HAES history, I don’t believe that HAES was ever meant…
Responses and risk: A thread
I will try to write up something coherent soon, but one of my big takeaways from the last week (see link in bio if you don't know what's up) is that the larger the audience, the less likely the #HAES figure to take any risks. I'm seeing a lot of thin white women with big…
Alone in HAES spaces: A thread
I cannot tell you how alone I have felt in #HAES and ASDAH spaces, especially when events like the ones I've talked about have happened. I felt alone when Maria Paredes lashed out at fat people on Instagram and then hid all the evidence, while not a single thin person objected. I felt alone when…
“Everyone has opportunities that don’t work out, so what?”
Some of the reactions to my and @marquisele‘s experiences with Lindo Bacon have been along the lines of, “Everyone has opportunities that don’t work out, so what?” What you’re missing is that often, these tainted opportunities are the only ones marginalized people *get.* 🧵 For us, it’s not one bad experience out of 100. It’s…
The consequences of doing while fat: A thread
Today I am thinking about the consequences of doing while fat. Whatever we are doing, we cannot do it in the way that thin people can. We do not get the same publicity or opportunities. Our careers are stifled because we're either given nothing, or a trap. Lindo Bacon once privately complimented me on my…
Movements, Missing Stairs and Lindo Bacon
When Mikey Mercedes posted her incredibly problematic experience with Lindo Bacon this week, I wasn’t surprised.
I’ve got my own story, you see.
Making a difference: A thread
This is me thinking out loud about what it means to make a difference. Epic 🧵 First and foremost, I'm a business owner. I'm a business owner who's marginalized: I'm very fat, I'm a woman, and I'm autistic. I talk about my business offerings a lot. Almost every post has some sort of call to…
{activism} Being fat is having your very existence considered to be dangerous.
Being fat is having your very existence considered to be dangerous. Any sort of visibility whatsoever — from walking down the street to posting a selfie online — is considered dangerous because we might encourage others to look like us. (See: “glorifying o*”) Our bodies are considered, against all actual evidence, to be inherently diseased,…
{the daily fat} For fat folks, the invisibility that comes with aging can be a blessing.
For fat folks, the invisibility that comes with aging can be a blessing. If we’re invisible, at least no one is openly staring or sneering at us.
Love this photo? You could be using it in your marketing!
Download this free, body-positive and Health at Every Size-aligned stock photo pack.
{end weight stigma} Confidence isn’t a cure-all.
It’s important to understand that confidence isn’t a cure-all. One of the big issues with “just be confident and advocate for yourself! Don’t let anything stop you from fulfilling your dreams!” is that for fat folks, it simply doesn’t work that way. Sure, what a good friend calls “Confidence Magick” is helpful as each of…
Instant replay: Decolonizing Wellness with Dalia Kinsey
Please join me and Dalia Kinsey to talk about Dalia’s new book, Decolonizing Wellness! We explore: » What called Dalia to write this book» What “decolonizing” means when it comes to wellness» Why there’s a need for wellness information specifically for non-white folks» The ramifications of praising celebrity body parts, and more ◇─◇──« »──◇─◇ Dalia…
{body liberation} Should you be the judge?
Something I often see happen when fat folks talk about something or someone fatphobic is thin folks treating this as optional knowledge. Something they can choose whether to believe. Most recently it was in yet another discussion about Brene Brown, who’s been openly fatphobic her whole career and has blithely ignored the multiple fat folks…
{the daily fat} Fat folks deserve to be protagonists
Fat folks deserve to be protagonists, in the media, in fiction and in our own lives.
If you’re exhausted, you’re not alone.
If you’re exhausted, you’re not alone. It’s hard to be a small business owner, and it’s even harder when you’re part of a marginalized group, have a chronic illness, or have other demands on your time and energy. In early 2021, I released my first book, The Exhausted Entrepreneur. It comes with guidance and a…