I am fat: Thoughts on why 'fat' is not a bad word
I am fat.
Those words, on this page, are hard to type and hard to read. They are, to some, radical words. But they are true— I am fat; by every medical consideration, by clothing stores, by comparisons on Instagram, I am fat. If you are my friend or family reading this, you might disagree with that statement and be quick to jump to say, “You are not fat! Don’t say that about yourself!”. But I am, and I’m here to tell you that it’s okay.
I am fat. When I say this, my instinct is to justify this statement or put a disclaimer in front of it— I gained weight on Seroquel! I have an eating disorder! It’s not my fault that I’m fat! But what if it was? What if I did not only have a fat body, but I was also a fat person? Wait a second— are those two things separate?
Having a fat body should make you a fat person. But if that were considered true by society, then there would be no notion of being a ‘skinny person trapped in a fat person’s body.’ What distinguishes a skinny person from a fat person?
In reality: body size. In society: everything else. To society, to diet culture, to nearly everybody in America, being a fat person comes with a lot of connotations that seem to be inseparable from body size. To society, fatness means weakness. Fatness means gluttony. Fatness means a lack of willpower.
But I’d like to be the first to let you in on a wild principle: there is nothing wrong with being fat.
Let’s break this down.
Isn’t being fat unhealthy?
I encourage you to look into Health At Every Size®. Health is a multi-faceted concept that is about a lot more than weight. In fact, weight plays a pretty minuscule role in even just physical health. Because, unfortunately, being thin doesn’t cure you of your ailments. Your health is much more dependent on your lifestyle and the way you care for your body than the number that the scale shows.
2. Well, won’t the way you care for your body determine your weight?
Actually, no. There are a lot of precursors on how your weight is determined. You can be perfectly healthy in terms of lifestyle, then take a medication that affects your metabolism and gain tens of pounds. If you are then considered ‘fat,’ but have been engaging in a fully healthy lifestyle, then your weight isn’t exactly a determinant of health, is it?
3. Okay, but what about people who aren’t engaging in healthy lifestyles and are fat?
That’s the thing— Health at Every Size® does not dictate that all people are healthy, or that all fat people are healthy. It’s just saying that health is possible and attainable without the adjustment of your body size. I’ll repeat that: health is possible and attainable without the adjustment of your body size.
Now that we know the facts about fatness and health, we can see that fatness does not cancel out health. If that is true, then what is wrong with being fat? Is it that fat bodies are less attractive— if so, why? We did not come out of the womb, born to hate fat bodies— the same way white people did not come out of the womb hating people of color. There is nothing wrong with fatness, but we have been raised to believe the exact opposite.
If we have broken down the barriers that prevent us from accepting fat people, then I’ll restate a statement I made earlier: I am fat. That statement— no pun intended— carries a lot less weight now, don’t you think? If there’s nothing wrong with being fat, then there’s nothing wrong with me stating that I am fat.
I am fat and my health is not in danger. I am fat and I am powerful. I am fat and I have people that love me.
I am fat.