narrative. We donât deal well with complications, which often means we donât deal with complications at all, particularly in the realm of race. We simply donât tell those stories. It is this unwillingness to wade through the murky waters of race that make Black and brown women invisible even in the places where we say we are trying to make people seen.
There are reasons women like Stella Boonshoft and Denise Jollyâs images have gone viral. Without question a great deal of that is about their brave declarations of beauty about their bodies, bodies that the world says should not be seen as such. However, their loud demands for a seat at the table must be mitigated by the reality that, as white women, they at least have always been invited to the table so long as they could fit into the prescribed seat. This is a birthright women ofcolor have never had. What I thought was jealousy about a friendâs success was not that at all; what I was feeling was the aching reminder that the vehicle to even beginning to dismantle weight stigma in order to be seen as fully human in this society is, far too often, a privilege that requires white skin. No matter how much I weigh or how naked I get, I will never have that.
if youâre happy and you know it, cut in line: fat hate isnât your problem if youâre happy and you know it, cut in line: fat hate isnât your problem
[ CHAPTER FOUR ] [ CHAPTER FOUR ]
W hile I was writing this book, a radical thing happened. Something SO BIG it broke the entire Internet: Plus-size model Tess Holliday rocked peopleâs worlds by becoming the first model âof her sizeâ to be signed to an agency. Her size: 5â²5â³ and a size 22âa far cry from the industryâs standard of size-10 hourglass-y figures. Plus-size models never wear above a size 16/18 , and are usually 5â²8â³ or taller. Guys . . . Tess is super short and super fat and breaking all the mother-fucking rules like the super hero she is.
GOD I WAS EXCITED.
But changing the status quo is anything but easy. If I ever want to mourn humanity, all I have to do is scroll through the comments on Tessâs Instagram. Kids, donât try this at home. Just let me tell you what youâll find so you donât have to mourn humanity, too. Itâs a rare practice for me, but when I DO take a second to remind myself that bodyactivism is important by looking through her account, I find hundreds upon hundreds (collectively, thousands . . . we might be up to millions) of comments in which people call her barnyard animal names, spout âfactsâ about how sheâll die early because: science, or express their concern about the fact that sheâs a negative role model for promoting obesity by loving herself . . . and those are the kind ones.
But letâs distract ourselves for a second and recognize that Tess has been covered positively by so many major publications it leaves this gal in awe. Time magazine, the cover of People , Cosmopolitan , CNN , Nylon magazine, TMZ , the Daily Mail , Life & Style , and dozens (and dozens) of others. For a few days after the announcement that Tess was signed to a modeling agency, if you were to look at your Facebook sidebar youâd see her name trending. The fact that this womanâs sexy mug was on every website during that time was revolutionary, and I enjoyed every second of it.
But even that positive press attracted judgmental opinions and nasty comments. Tess is not the only one who regularly receives a monstrous amount of blatant hate and criticism; I am presented with my fair share of cruel words, and so are most of the bloggers and advocates I know. And sadly, this is not just limited to well-known personalities. The #fatkini hashtag (which is used as a tag on plus bikini photos) was attacked on Instagram not too long ago, and hateful comments were left for everyday users who posted a picture with the empowering tag.
For
There are reasons women like Stella Boonshoft and Denise Jollyâs images have gone viral. Without question a great deal of that is about their brave declarations of beauty about their bodies, bodies that the world says should not be seen as such. However, their loud demands for a seat at the table must be mitigated by the reality that, as white women, they at least have always been invited to the table so long as they could fit into the prescribed seat. This is a birthright women ofcolor have never had. What I thought was jealousy about a friendâs success was not that at all; what I was feeling was the aching reminder that the vehicle to even beginning to dismantle weight stigma in order to be seen as fully human in this society is, far too often, a privilege that requires white skin. No matter how much I weigh or how naked I get, I will never have that.
if youâre happy and you know it, cut in line: fat hate isnât your problem if youâre happy and you know it, cut in line: fat hate isnât your problem
[ CHAPTER FOUR ] [ CHAPTER FOUR ]
W hile I was writing this book, a radical thing happened. Something SO BIG it broke the entire Internet: Plus-size model Tess Holliday rocked peopleâs worlds by becoming the first model âof her sizeâ to be signed to an agency. Her size: 5â²5â³ and a size 22âa far cry from the industryâs standard of size-10 hourglass-y figures. Plus-size models never wear above a size 16/18 , and are usually 5â²8â³ or taller. Guys . . . Tess is super short and super fat and breaking all the mother-fucking rules like the super hero she is.
GOD I WAS EXCITED.
But changing the status quo is anything but easy. If I ever want to mourn humanity, all I have to do is scroll through the comments on Tessâs Instagram. Kids, donât try this at home. Just let me tell you what youâll find so you donât have to mourn humanity, too. Itâs a rare practice for me, but when I DO take a second to remind myself that bodyactivism is important by looking through her account, I find hundreds upon hundreds (collectively, thousands . . . we might be up to millions) of comments in which people call her barnyard animal names, spout âfactsâ about how sheâll die early because: science, or express their concern about the fact that sheâs a negative role model for promoting obesity by loving herself . . . and those are the kind ones.
But letâs distract ourselves for a second and recognize that Tess has been covered positively by so many major publications it leaves this gal in awe. Time magazine, the cover of People , Cosmopolitan , CNN , Nylon magazine, TMZ , the Daily Mail , Life & Style , and dozens (and dozens) of others. For a few days after the announcement that Tess was signed to a modeling agency, if you were to look at your Facebook sidebar youâd see her name trending. The fact that this womanâs sexy mug was on every website during that time was revolutionary, and I enjoyed every second of it.
But even that positive press attracted judgmental opinions and nasty comments. Tess is not the only one who regularly receives a monstrous amount of blatant hate and criticism; I am presented with my fair share of cruel words, and so are most of the bloggers and advocates I know. And sadly, this is not just limited to well-known personalities. The #fatkini hashtag (which is used as a tag on plus bikini photos) was attacked on Instagram not too long ago, and hateful comments were left for everyday users who posted a picture with the empowering tag.
For
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