What’s the difference between body positivity and fat positivity? How about body liberation or Health at Every Size (also called HAES)? Here’s a quick look at the terms and definitions I use in my body liberation work. Transcript As body positivity becomes more mainstream I’m often getting questions about, well, what’s the difference between…
Thin privilege is eating out without fear of public ridicule or shaming due to your body size or food choices. I don’t always do thin privilege posts because, honestly, they’re exhausting. Thin fragility leads people to argue endlessly with me rather than listen. One of the ways I use my own privilege as a white…
Thin privilege is the ability to forget that fat people exist. Despite there being more fat people in the United States than thin people, thin folks like to act like — and occasionally seem to believe that — we simply don’t exist. Living in a thin body is to exist in a bubble where everyone…
Hi friend, We’re trying something new this week. I’m adding writings like these to a new collection in the Body Liberation Blanket Fort Patreon, and buying access to the collection will give you access to this and every other piece that’s added to that collection in the future. (Or, subscribe to the Patreon and get…
Hi friend, I am freaking delighted to share this new Body Liberation Stock collection with you: a set of original, exclusive images from artist Kat Max. Kat (who you may have known in the past as Kathryn Hack) is one of the fat-positive artists whose work I admire most, and it’s such an honor to collaborate with her….
Hi friend, Project Heal asked me to weigh in (pun intended) for Weight Stigma Awareness Week on a topic I’d been meaning to revisit: body positivity versus body liberation. What’s the difference, and why does it matter? Here’s a short excerpt: After centuries of racism-driven weight stigma, 75 years of diet culture telling us that…
Hi friend, This month, we’re having a pretty special event in the Body Liberation Blanket Fort. Dalia Kinsey, author of Decolonizing Wellness, will be leading a discussion circle on Saturday, September 28 for healthcare providers to: Our experiences with our own bodies are reflected in the way we interact with patients and clients, so show up…
Hi friend, There’s a new supporter reward in the Blanket Fort this week – Resources & Recs: Healthcare Providers! This is an ongoing reference of existing weight-neutral and Health at Every Size®-aligned healthcare provider directories, as well as specific recommendations for doctors and other healthcare pros. It’s very US-heavy right now, but I’d love to see…
Hi friend, Today’s letter is the third in a four-part series (here are parts one and two). Bodies as business cards When our bodies are our business cards, the more those bodies are outside our cultural aspirations, the fewer people will want to buy. (And of course no business is going to appeal to everyone; how on earth…
Hi friend, The website is back up, and should be faster! There were a few different issues I spent part of the week fixing, but it has a nice new look and speed now. It’s not perfect**, but for a one-person business, I’m so proud of it. Now to this week’s letter: In last week’s letter, I talked…
Hi friend, There’s a quote that I keep coming back to over time: stop breaking yourself into bite size pieces for someone; stay whole and let them choke It’s useful as a reminder that my whole self has worth and value, no matter whether other people find me palatable or useful in a capitalist world. But…
Hi friend, A quick note on the BLP website: The work that I thought would take me a week has dragged on, and on, and on. Insert someone who was supposed to be fixing the WordPress theme erasing chunks of the site entirely, days of the site being down altogether, and endless screaming. I hope…
Hi friend, The website maintenance continues, so expect the site to be extra quirky this week. And on Friday, over in the Body Liberation Blanket Fort we’ll be watching the Your Fat Friend documentary together and having a discussion afterward. Now, to this week’s letter, an interview with fat artist Angelica Dred! Tell me about you! What’s your name?…
Hi friend, I have lots of updates for you this week! First, it’s such a cool opportunity and honor to be included in The Future is Fat issue of Womanly Mag! Pre-order your print issue here and support fat-positive media. Second, I’m working with a model next week to create new photographs for Body Liberation Stock. This time I’m…
My first podcast guest appearance was on Christy Harrison’s podcast Food Psych, back in 2018. And I was terrified.
Hi friend, If you recall, back in April I did an art tour for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival called Aspirational Erotic: Body Size, Shame and Aesthetics. I thought you might be interested in how it went. This was my first time at both the festival and giving a talk of this sort, so afterward I was both proud…
Hi friend, I know we’re slightly out of Mermay now, but mythical creatures are forever, so I want to talk some more about fat merfolk. Through the kind service of Mermaid Chè Monique and the Society of Fat Mermaids, I was able to add the voices of lots of fat merfolk to An Ocean of Fat Merfolk. I also…
Hi friend, The initial lineup of events for the summer in the Body Liberation Blanket Fort is up! June 6: Movie Night with Silas June 15: Silent Reading Party with Lindley July 2: Discussion Group with Lindley July 25: Crafty Hangout August 4: Pacific Northwest In-Person (COVID Cautious) Meetup You can click on the tent graphic below to get access to…
Hi friend, When I was more active in the Health at Every Size® community, and constantly speaking up for fat people and fat patients in healthcare provider groups, people would often message me privately and tell me how grateful they were that I was fighting for them. The private support was nice, but years of…
Hi friend, There are a couple of updates to the Blanket Fort this week that I’m really excited about! Our Fort member Sage (he/him) has started a really cool channel called Fat Masculinity. Here’s Sage’s introduction to the channel: Hello friends! I asked if we could have a channel for conversations about how fatphobia interacts…
Hi friend, I’ll be giving an art tour at the Seattle Erotic Art Festival this Friday, April 26 at 8:30 pm! Come hang out with me for an hour for: Aspirational Erotic: Body Size, Shame and Aesthetics Join photographer and body liberation activist Lindley Ashline to explore the origins and history of body image and weight stigma, and which…
Hi friend, How do you like the new look for the newsletter? I attended an email design webinar right before I traveled earlier this month, and it got me all excited about design again. Also, you have till Wednesday to enter the drawing for the Pan Eros Film Festival tickets! As someone deeply committed to…
Hi friend, Today I’m thinking about the expression “take a load off.” It’s generally used to mean taking the metaphorical weight, the load, of daily burdens and cares off your shoulders and relax. Not all burdens can be set aside like that, though. The cognitive load of existing as a fat person is one of…
I’ve been thinking so much about the cost of things lately, and how they interact with cost of living and marginalization and capitalism and labor and psychology. Last week, I had the privilege of a behind-the-scenes chat with the organizer of Seattle Fat Con (affiliate link), an event happening in January here in town. I’d…
Despite there being more fat people in the United States than thin people, thin folks like to act like — and occasionally seem to believe that — we simply don’t exist. Living in a thin body is to exist in a bubble where everyone with a body unlike yours is invisible. Thin people won’t produce…
“Privilege is a set of unearned benefits given to people who fit into a specific social group. Thin privilege is backed and promoted by a multi-billion dollar diet/wellness industry.” » Cori Rosenthal The longest-running series over on the Body Liberation Photos Instagram and Facebook pages is my thin privilege series. A common objection to the…
Thin privilege is uncritically living in a culture that credits your body size to your (presumed)…
Thin privilege is the ability to see the isolation, rejection and humiliation of fat people as “f…
Weight stigma is so entrenched that fat jokes are considered acceptable fodder for insurance comp…
Anonymous reader submission: Thin privilege is being able to go out to eat at restaurants and/or …
Thin privilege is buying clothes off the rack at a brick-and-mortar store.
This is one of the ar…
Thin privilege is not negated by body dysmorphia, poor body image, or an eating disorder.
We fa…
Thin privilege is the ability to talk about thin privilege.
One time, @thecrankytherapist and I …
Thin privilege is the ability to buy lingerie.
Though there are lots of lingerie brands out ther…
“Privilege is a set of unearned benefits given to people who fit into a specific social group. Th…
Thin privilege is not having your body used as a shorthand for a long list of negative qualities,…
Through a 20-book mystery series, this author — one of my favorites, whose books I re-read regul…
Thin privilege is a seat at a concert. I really enjoy live music and shows — both the energy of it and the ability to support performing arts — but it’s so rare these days that I’m willing to put up with being in physical pain for hours to see a performance. Lindsey Stirling was…
The experiences of larger fat people are very, very different from those of smaller fat people and average-sized people. If you’ve never experienced, seen or heard of a particular type of weight stigma or an experience a fat person is describing, there’s a good chance you’re simply not fat enough to be treated that way….
This piece originally appeared over at the NAAFA blog. Loving, admiring, and respecting fat bodies can be really hard for people to grasp. We as a culture have been trained by: Centuries of sexism and racism that women are sexual objects 75 years of diet culture that thin is beautiful and sexy And decades of…
This post was published first for my Patreon supporters a week ago. Want to support my work and get first access to articles like this? Sign up today. Since I first wrote this, Taylor Swift has updated her video to remove the couple of seconds showing the word on the scale (without public comment). Ten…
This is a series of posts on thin privilege and how it affects all of us in daily life. I talk in depth about topics like these every week in my free Body Liberation Guide. The next one goes out Monday.
As we consider the concept of size contrition, let’s look at the “fuck flattering” trend that’s been sweeping the body positivity movement. On its face, “fuck flattering” is a rejection of size contrition and the forbearance it can generate. There’s a great article by Alysse D’alessandro at The Body is Not An Apology that talks…
Today I’m thinking about a concept I’m calling size contrition. Size contrition is what we fat folks perform in order to win small amounts of forbearance from thin people. In essence, it allows us to temporarily access aspects of thin privilege in return for our public recognition of and apology for our fatness. For instance,…
Thin privilege is not being turned away from sterilization surgery like a hysterectomy based on your body size. Yes, this is a thing that happens to some fat people. It’s the duty of medicine to find ways to provide care for all people. A failure to provide equitable care is a failure of healthcare, not…
Thin privilege is not having to think about whether you’ll fit. What if you had to plan every time you left home? What if you had to pause at the door of every store or restaurant to see if there would be enough space to move or a place you could sit? What if you…
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…
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…
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,…
