the HAES® files: Dear Fathers: Your Son’s Body Is Just Fine

by Dawn Clifford, PhD, RD

Dear Dads,

Please leave your son’s body alone. Your son’s body size and shape is just fine. He doesn’t need to fill out, bulk up, slim down, or get ripped.

Your son received genetic material from you and his biological mother. That DNA will largely dictate his body, both as a child and as an adult. So if there’s anything that doesn’t seem quite right about your son’s body, it’s all you (…well, at least half you)!

Your son’s body will change naturally throughout his childhood. He will grow out, he will grow up, and he may also remain a bean pole. Quit trying to change it.

If he’s a lean kid, you will need to resist the urge to tempt him with protein shakes. Have you tried those things? They’re disgusting, expensive, and totally unnecessary.

He will grow just fine when you offer regular meals and snacks that are somewhat balanced. Just make sure he has frequent opportunities to eat throughout the day and throw in a few different food groups here and there. Don’t overthink this.

If there’s no medical history that warrants nutritional supplementation, then he just doesn’t need to go there. Stop pressuring him to eat and drink to avoid being small. You’ll only mess with his hunger and fullness cues.

See, your son was born with a perfect internal regulation system. From the day he was born, he let you know when he was hungry and when he was full. It’s simple really. All you need to do is offer food every three hours or so and let him eat however much he’s hungry for. That’s it! Quit pressuring him to eat or not eat. If you just shut up and let him decide – get this – he will eat the perfect amount for his body! Seriously. He will.

Total shocker, right? He doesn’t need you to tell him how much to eat. His body will tell him that if you just leave him alone. Instead of talking to him about the food, just sit with him, eat your food, and talk about your day, the weather, school…anything else. If he doesn’t eat enough of something – don’t worry – he’ll make up for it at his next meal, or the next day, or week. He has systems in place to make sure he gets the calories he needs, so just relax.

The worst thing you can do for your son is to tell him that he can’t trust those natural cues from his stomach and try to override them with pressuring, bribing or coercing. It almost always backfires, not to mention completely messes with that father-son bond. (He is going to be a teenager, you know! So you’ll need all the father-son bonding you can get during those younger years.)

Plus, you’ll totally destroy his relationship with food, and these patterns will likely carry on over into adulthood. See, if he learns how to ignore his body cues as a child, how is he going to find his way back to those hunger and fullness cues as an adult?

Also, if your son is into sports, you may need to talk to his coaches. Coaches are notorious for recommending their athletes eat and drink 24/7 to bulk up. I’ve even heard of coaches telling their athletes to eat entire sticks of butter. Sticks of butter! What the hell?

Here’s the thing – athletes can perform amazing feats at all different weights, heights and body structures. They can jump, tackle, race, and throw.

And, more importantly, the total percentage of your son’s life that he will be an athlete is like a blip on the screen, if he’s even into sports at all. Most kids start a sport at age 8 or so and stop around high school. That’s less than 10 years as an athlete, which will hopefully be about 10-20% of his entire lifespan.

That means that 80-90% of his life, he won’t be an athlete and he will have to figure out how to live in his body without sports. And sure, he may go on to compete in college or as a pro, but the chances are slim, and even then, it’s going to happen or not happen based primarily on genetic build, natural talent and work ethic – not on those few extra pounds up or down.

But do you want to know the REAL reason I’m writing you this letter? What matters most? It is this – do you want your son growing up with body insecurities and self-esteem issues? Or do you want him to grow up feeling confident, supported, and secure?

When you tell your son that his body needs to be one way or the other, he hears the message that he isn’t okay just being HIM. He hears that he needs to look a certain way to be accepted in society.

Yes, you’re right – your son will be judged based on his appearance. It’s an unfortunate part of being a human being in today’s society.

And I get it – you probably want your son to bulk up, slim down, or get ripped so that he isn’t bullied. And this is because you totally care about your son’s emotional well-being. Awesome. But it’s not your son’s body that needs fixing; it’s society’s message that needs fixing.

And while it’s true that children who look like those portrayed in the media are probably less subject to bullying, trying to change your son’s body won’t work. First, it’s very unlikely to change in the way you want it to. And second, the bullies will just find something else to pick apart. Right? You remember what recess was like. No one is immune to bullying.

It’s true that weight stigma is real and it hurts. Trying to change your son’s body isn’t the answer though. It will only cause more psychological harm. The answer is to put an end to weight stigma.

If you hear your son making negative comments about his body or someone else’s, figure out where he came up with the thought. Was it something he heard at school? Watching a movie? Something a grandparent or uncle said?

Or, maybe it was you. If you’re concerned about your abs, or your biceps, or your love handles, guess who else is going to care about that stuff? They notice everything!

You can do your part by avoiding making comments about your body and your children’s bodies. While you’re at it, could you stop making comments about other people’s bodies too? Kids don’t miss a beat. If they hear you making fun of Aunt Sally’s four chins, they tuck that message into their sweet little brains and translate it to mean extra chins = unlovable.

In fact, refrain from objectifying women in front of your son too. There’s much more to a person than what’s on the outside. If you have any soul whatsoever, then what attracted you to your partner likely goes way beyond appearance. Teach your son that beauty isn’t only skin deep. Lead by example. Avoid “locker room talk.” It’s not cool; it’s degrading and offensive and needs to stop.

I realize I’m asking for the moon. Every. Single. Day. We’re bombarded with messages about body weight, shape, size and physical attraction. For men and boys, the messages include bodies of fictional superheroes, male models, body builders, and actors.

If there’s an opportunity – take a moment to educate your son that what he sees in the media isn’t real. While yes, there are body builders and male models, they have to make it a full-time job to maintain that physique, and that line of work may or may not be your son’s calling.

Look, you don’t have to be perfect. It’s totally impossible to protect your son from everything. And if you screw up, don’t beat yourself up. Just apologize and move on. Turn a misstep into a learning experience for you and your son.

Finally, stop telling your son to “man up” or “be a man.” There’s no one way to be a man. Men have different characteristics and qualities. Some are tender, kind, and thoughtful; others are boisterous, adventurous, and tough. Allow your son to be who he was meant to be, inside and out.

What does your son really need from you? He needs your presence, encouragement, guidance and most importantly, your unconditional love and acceptance.

Sincerely,

One concerned mom

 

---

Dawn Clifford, PhD, RD is an Associate Professor and Director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at California State University, Chico. In addition, she co-founded and is the current director of FitU, which is a peer mentoring nutrition and exercise counseling program on campus. Dr. Clifford conducts research and is an accomplished speaker in the areas of motivational interviewing and Health At Every Size®. She is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers and recently authored Motivational Interviewing in Nutrition and Fitness. In addition, she is the current chair of the ASDAH Education Committee.

via healthateverysizeblog http://ift.tt/2n87RQb

Skin-to-Skin Contact After Cesarean

Image by Nicole Monet Photography. Isn't this beautiful?

Here is yet another research study showing the benefits of skin-to-skin contact for babies and mothers, even during a cesarean. 

The study showed significantly lower rates of babies needing to be transferred to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for observation when they had skin-to-skin contact with their mothers during a cesarean.

Other research shows that Skin-to-Skin Contact (SSC) improves breastfeeding rates. Although it noted that research quality needs improvement, the Cochrane Registry states:

Evidence supports the use of SSC to promote breastfeeding.

Skin-to-Skin Contact also has benefits beyond breastfeeding and fewer NICU transfers. An Australian study found that SSC and early breastfeeding decreased the rates of mothers experiencing post-partum hemorrhages. A study in Texas found that women who had SSC after cesareans reported less post-surgical pain. And a study from India found lower rates of infant hypothermia (low body temperature) after SSC.

Many hospitals around the country are now implementing skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth, and more and more are not differentiating between cesarean and vaginal births. Of course, SSC is not always possible under certain medical situations and there remain barriers to implementation, but most of the time it is indeed possible and many nurses, midwives, and doctors are leading the way in implementing these new policies.

Wouldn't it be nice to see ALL hospitals offering skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth, no matter the mode of birth? The World Health Organization  recommends SSC after a vaginal birth and "as soon as the mother is alert and responsive" after a cesarean. This is a big and important recommendation, and radical stuff for some hospitals. 

As long as medical circumstances allow and safety precautions are followed, Skin-to-Skin Contact should become standard of care everywhere, regardless of mode of birth. 

Reference

Nurs Womens Health. 2017 Feb - Mar;21(1):28-33. doi: 10.1016/j.nwh.2016.12.008. Influence of Immediate Skin-to-Skin Contact During Cesarean Surgery on Rate of Transfer of Newborns to NICU for Observation. Schneider LW, Crenshaw JT, Gilder RE. PMID: 28187837

We conducted an evidence-based practice project to determine if skin-to-skin contact immediately after cesarean birth influenced the rate of transfer of newborns to the NICU for observation. We analyzed data for 5 years (2011 through 2015) and compared the rates for the period before implementation of skin-to-skin contact with rates for the period after. The proportion of newborns transferred to the NICU for observation was significantly different and lower after implementing skin-to-skin contact immediately after cesarean birth (Pearson's χ2 = 32.004, df = 1, p < .001). These results add to the growing body of literature supporting immediate, uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact for all mother-newborn pairs, regardless of birth mode.

via The Well-Rounded Mama http://ift.tt/2n79KfX

For the Not Yet Allies

Yesterday, there was a bit of a dust-up on progressive Christian Twitter. A white feminist criticized a black man for his association with complementarians. The pushback she got included both criticism of the racial aspects of her comments and her own non-affirming beliefs toward LGBTQ Christians.  It looked, at first, like it was going to be a productive conversation.  She asked questions about what it meant to be affirming, and said she wanted to celebrate gay marriage but struggled with “Biblical sexual ethics.” But when a bunch of people asked what she meant by that, while others noted that “Biblical sexual ethics” isn’t a single,consistent thing, she accused people of bullying her and left the conversation. There were a lot of comments, so I can certainly understand how it felt like a pile-on, but none of the criticism I saw was rude or unkind.

This got me thinking about how I engage with Christians who might be sympathetic and appear to be sincerely well-meaning, but aren’t exactly affirming. It’s hard. I usually try the route of patient, thoughtful explanation, and it very rarely seems to get me anywhere. So far, I’ve resisted the temptation to grab people by the shoulders, shake vigorously, and scream “Don’t you know your bullshit theology kills people?” Somehow, I think that would be even less helpful. But it’s hard to always be nice and always stuff down anger at harmful stereotypes or toxic theology. Also, I’m not sure catering to people’s desire to be treated with kid gloves *when their theology is killing people* is actually helpful, because it allows the harm to persist. If you’re standing on my foot, I can believe that you didn’t mean it and refrain from calling you an asshole while still insisting that you get off my foot.

So, this post is for those Christians who want to learn more about LGBTQ+ affirming Christianity, or to understand why we get so cranky the thirty-seventh time we hear the phrase “Biblical sexual ethics.” I’m hoping it will explain some of the anger and frustration that seems to go along with these conversations and give you some ideas for engaging more productively.

Don’t expect LGBTQ+ people to justify their lives, their relationships, or their existence to you.

Please, just don’t. When you engage with LGBTQ+ people, you need to understand that they’ve spent their whole lives hearing pastors and politicians denounce them, lie about them, and blame them for everything wrong in the world, up to and including natural disasters. If they’re Christians, or used to be Christians, they’ve probably had the Biblical “clobber verses,” the ones taken out of context to support the idea that being gay is a sin, thrown at them more times than they can count. They’ve also had their legitimate criticisms of that Biblical interpretation, like “Doesn’t Ezekiel say the sin of Sodom was selfishness and inhospitality?” or “How are we so sure we know the exact meaning of a word Paul made up?” completely ignored.

If you want to understand the Christian arguments for affirming LGBTQ+ orientations and relationships, putting your one gay friend on the spot is not the way to do it.  Read Matthew Vines or Justin Lee or Kathy Baldock or any of a number of authors or bloggers first. If you’ve got specific questions, some of those authors might be willing to email you more info, or discuss the subject on Twitter or their blog.  Or not. Educating people is hard work and everybody’s got a limit. But if you do the work of developing a basic understanding of the core arguments, you’re much more likely to find people who are willing to explain the tricky bits.

Also, remember that if you’re not their parent or their pastor, people aren’t accountable to you. (And even if you’re their pastor, they really do have the right to leave your church.) You might totally disagree with someone’s beliefs or their interpretation of scripture, but they don’t owe you a justification for why they think that way or live that way. I guarantee you that you’re doing things that don’t match up with someone else’s interpretation of the Bible, and not just the gotchas like mixed fibers. But if they were to come up to you and demand to know why you celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday, or pray with your hair uncovered, or have a Christmas tree, you’d probably be a bit put out.  So, don’t do that to LGBTQ+ people. Especially because being LGBTQ+ is usually a much more central part of people’s identity than what they wear to church or when they go.

With the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

If you’re going to make an argument about same-sex relationships, or about trans people existing as their real gender rather than their assigned at birth gender, expect that argument to be turned back on you. This is kind of the inverse of the previous point. Not only do people not owe you a justification, but if you critique them and aren’t living up to your own standards, they *will* point it out.

This can be a good opportunity to examine your own beliefs, even if it’s also difficult and frustrating.  If, for example, you don’t think Paul’s “I do not permit a woman to teach” was a hard, fast rule, binding for all Christians everywhere, then why is that different from what he said about same-sex sex?

Really think about what you mean by “The Bible clearly states…” or any phrase that starts with the word “Biblical.”

People use “Biblical” to mean pretty much whatever they want it to mean, often without a whole lot of critical thought. Do you mean that you can find a scripture to justify the thing you want to justify if you pull it out of context? Do you mean something is discussed positively in the Bible?  Do you mean it meshes with the life and teachings of Jesus? Or do you really just mean that it’s something your church teaches is biblical?

Whatever you think about the Bible, it doesn’t speak with a unified voice on pretty much *anything.*  There are multiple creation narratives, multiple gospels. Different authors, different genres, different audiences.

There’s also the problem that people emphasize, and preach on, the parts of the Bible that support their existing beliefs, and discard or explain away the parts that don’t. Every Christian does this. Whether you interpret everything through sacrificial atonement, or focus on what Jesus said above everything else, or pore through Daniel and Revelation for specific prophecy about the end times, everybody’s got an interpretive framework. There’s no such thing as a plain reading. Even things as innocuous as verse numbers or the translation you use are a choice that can subtly shift meaning.

So, acknowledge that you have an interpretive framework, figure out what it is, and bring that to the conversation, rather than an overly simplistic “The Bible says X.”

My framework is that you can look at the Gospels as multiple stories of Jesus choosing people over rules. Not ignoring the rules or throwing them out completely, but never, ever, elevating them above people. So, if an interpretation of some other part of the Bible harms people, then I’m not on board with that interpretation. Yours is probably different. But if we know where the other person is coming from, we have a much better chance of a productive conversation.

Remember that this really is life and death.

A lot of the time, people like to argue religion or politics without really having a stake in it. It’s fun to toss around ideas and see what sticks, or to try to convince other people of things. But that can become less fun in a hurry when the argument affects you directly. It gets even more grating when the person you’re talking to *doesn’t want to acknowledge* those effects.  One of the most frustrating conversations I’ve ever had with someone non-affirming involved him arguing that there was no way anti-gay theology could drive people to suicide because the church preaches against sex outside marriage and straight people aren’t killing themselves as a result.  Setting aside the many things wrong with that comparison, if your response to “People are dying because of your church’s teachings,” is “Nuh-uh, not our fault,” instead of “Shit, how can I help?” then you really need some empathy.

Again, doing the research is your friend here. The Trevor Project has a lot of statistics. You could also read a conversion therapy memoir, like Boy Erased or Saving Alex. Or read up on the problem of LGBTQ+ youth homelessness due to family rejection.

Remember at the beginning when I talked about the temptation to shake people and yell at them? I have that strong reaction because this really is life and death. Teaching that LGBTQ+ relationships and lives are sinful does real, tangible harm. It twists people’s self-image and convinces them to hide or distort who they are. It results in parents rejecting gay or trans kids, and the scores of problems that go along with that. It matters.

People who have been harmed by this theology are probably not the people to answer your questions. The hurt is too fresh and the damage too severe. But you can still learn a lot from them if you’re willing to listen.  If they’re angry, try not to take it personally, because if people had prevented you from getting married, tried to keep it legal to fire you for who you are, shouted slurs at you, and held you responsible for the downfall of civilization, you’d probably be angry too.

 

 

via Kelly Thinks Too Much http://ift.tt/2mDIrbW

Horrific Healthcare for Fat People

As Republicans in US government announce a health program that will provide less healthcare for lower income and older people, and enormous tax cuts for the very rich (including, specifically, health insurance companies) there is a lot of discussion about what will happen when healthcare gets even more difficult to obtain

When it comes to fat people, there can be even more barriers created by fatphobia.  The following is a real story from a blog reader, shared with permission, that beautifully illustrates many of the barriers that fatphobia creates to getting evidence-based, competent healthcare:

So I’ve been having a horribly bad asthma flare, for going on nearly six weeks now. I’m wheezy, to the point that people across a room from me can hear the rattle. I’m also full of phlegm, and for the entire first half of this, I wasn’t able to produce any of it. It’s been bad enough that I’ve been in the ER twice, and my O2 sats regularly hang out in the low 90s. The pain in my ribs, back, shoulders, and chest, from struggling to breathe, has been an almost constant companion.

My first trip to the ER earned me a round of prednisone, but my blood work and xrays showed no infection or pneumonia, so no antibiotic. I get uncomfortable symptoms when on high dosages of prednisone, so I altered the prescribed taper just a little and was on it nine days instead of six. I was feeling pretty good for a few days after the steroids, but got worse again, and ended back in the ER two weeks after the original visit, and the night before my appointment with my asshole of a primary.

In the ER the second time, xrays again showed no pneumonia. They couldn’t get my O2 sats to stay above 90, even after two breathing treatments and 40mg of prednisone, but since I was seeing the primary the following morning, and my pain levels had improved greatly with the breathing treatment, they let me go home.

Primary visit. This asshole has lectured me about my weight, both personally and through his nursing staff, since my first visit. He started in right away with weight. He’s convinced my weight has caused my issues…never mind that I’ve had asthma since childhood, or that I’ve been this same weight for three years. Never mind this is a sudden onset of intense symptoms. Never mind that he hasn’t addressed my concerns about better managing my asthma in general, say, with a prescription for the oral Singulair that’s worked well for me in the past, or even by making sure I’ve got rescue inhaler refills called into my pharmacy. (I’ve been making do with Urgent Care prescriptions, and by under-treating or using alternative/OTC treatments when I do have flare/attack symptoms)

Never mind that I live with a smoker, which triggers symptoms, or that I was unexpectedly exposed to triggering cold temps when I had to change a flat tire, just before the flare. Never mind that I’m almost every single year, this time of year, struggling with respiratory issues related to poor indoor air quality and/or illness. Or that the least time I had a flare this prolonged or this severe was while my hormones were dealing with puberty, and I’ve just begun the menopausal drift.

At least he finally agreed to prescribe me an at-home nebulizer and refilled (with just 3 refills for the year -cue eye roll) my rescue inhalers, right?

Grrrr…

Referral for a lung function test & consult with a pulmonologist. Techs at the lung function were perplexed that the primary would assume weight was primary, with all the other things I reported. They agreed that, without a sudden significant gain, a lifelong asthma diagnosis want suddenly going to be triggered into a flare by a stable weight. I was having a pretty good breathing day that day. Their evaluation was that there was no COPD (which asshole primary had been sure would be the result), but that the results definitely indicated and supported my already well-documented history of asthma.

That was last Monday.

Thursday, I went to Urgent Care because of pain and fullness in my ears. Because of my O2 sats and audible rattling in my chest, the doctor there performed an exam based upon that, asking questions about duration of symptoms and medical history. She was unsatisfied with the care actions of the other doctors I’ve been seeing, and prescribed Doxycyclene to treat what she suspected is an underlying infection.

My smoker at home has been gone out of town for a little over a week. During that time, I’ve been using the nebulizer almost every four hours, and then added the antibiotic…I’ve been coughing up some massive amounts of chunky, gunky lung butter, folks. Major improvements, not only to background pain levels, but to chest rattle, energy levels, and overall O2 sats. (I’ve got a portable at-home monitor) I’d been seeing slow progress with just neb treatment & reduced second hand smoke, but every nebulizer treatment since beginning antibiotics triggers major coughing spells that bring up big chunks.

Today… I receive a call from asshole primary’s nurse. In a chipper, sing-song voice, she reports that the pulmonology results indicate my weight is the culprit and that primary doctor recommend reducing calories. I asked why then, after regular nebulizer albuterol treatment, reduced second-hand smoke intake, and powerful antibiotics, now I’m finally improving? And why only now, after three years of maintaining at this weight and an entire lifetime’s history of asthma…why now am I only just now having an asthma flare, because of my weight?

Fucking bullshit. I’m going to need some major restraint, and a whole lot of willpower to keep from going postal at the pulmonologist’s appointment Monday. This is straight up lazy, dangerous, bad medical practice.

In the US system of “healthcare” (which is based on the idea that it’s cool to let people die if they aren’t able to “sufficiently” contribute to the bottom-line of multiple for-profit companies – including CEOs who make more than $100,000 a day) it is very difficult for many people to get healthcare, with the worst situations happening to the most marginalized people.

Another layer to that for fat people is the practice of thin people who can get care receiving evidence-based interventions, and fat people getting diets no matter – as we see clearly in the situation above – what the evidence suggests (which is especially a problem since there is no reason to believe that the weight loss methods prescribed by doctors will lead to thinness or better health – which are two different things.)

If you find yourself in this situation, the first thing to know is that you are not the problem – the system and the doctors you are dealing with are. You have every right to be frustrated and angry – this is bullshit. Well-meaning people will give you advice that is at best completely useless and unhelpful and at worst will make the problem worse. However you choose to deal with this is valid.

Some suggestions for dealing with this crap can be found here.

You can also check out the Fat Friendly Health Professionals List – and if you know fat friendly health professionals anywhere in the world, please take a moment to add them to the list. These are stopgap measures that individuals may be able to use to help, but let’s also remember that the true solution is accessible healthcare for all, free from fatphobia.

If you enjoy this blog, consider becoming a member or making a contribution.

Like this blog?  Here’s more cool stuff:

Become a Member! For ten bucks a month you can support fat activism and get deals from size positive businesses as a thank you.  Click here for details

Book and Dance Class Sale!  I’m on a journey to complete an IRONMAN triathlon, and I’m having a sale on all my books, DVDs, and digital downloads to help pay for it. You get books and dance classes, I get spandex clothes and bike parts. Everybody wins! If you want, you can check it out here!

Book Me!  I’d love to speak to your organization. You can get more information here or just e-mail me at ragen at danceswithfat dot org!

If you are uncomfortable with my selling things on this site, you are invited to check out this post.

 

via Dances With Fat http://ift.tt/2nezDGO

100 Fat Activists #22: London Fat Women's Group

The London Fat Women's Group went through two phases. The first took place around 1987-1989, the second from 1992-1994 or so. Both groups were either based or made use of the resources at The Women's Centre, at 4 Wild Court in Holborn. Sadly this no longer exists, though it should (have a peek at Wild Court now in the video A Walk Around Fat Activist London). Both phases of the group were explicitly feminist and intersectional, which is to say that participants had fat in common but their experiences of it varied according to other identities.

I'm not sure how the first group came into existence. From researching my book it would appear that somebody got hold of Shadow On A Tightrope and initiated some conversations amongst feminists in the UK. They published articles in Spare Rib and Trouble and Strife, created a BBC documentary (see my post Revisiting BBC Open Space: Fat Women Here To Stay) and organised a national conference at Wild Court in 1989. The latter involved generating national media exposure, which is how I got to hear from them. The conference created sparks, a publishing house, books, short-lived groups. The main group ended, I believe, because of burn-out and internal conflicts, but it has not been possible to corroborate this. I don't know much about who was in the group or what happened to those women.

In April 1992, Spare Rib published a small ad, placed by me:

I am a fat woman living in London and trying to organise a political and social group for other Fat women who may be feeling isolated. I am hoping that the group will be primarily celebratory and consciousness-raising (both for ourselves and the general public) but at this point the options are open! If you're interested, contact Charlotte at [address].

People did contact me and we started to meet. A group formed with some core members and others who came and went. We met monthly in the Rotunda at Wild Court and produced a newsletter called Fat News. I left in 1994 and the group folded but also created other sparks: an exhibition and a magazine.

Both groups experienced difficulties and are now really obscure. The generational divide is vast between these earlier fat feminisms and a discourse around fat activism that has moved towards consumerism and 'body positivity'. In scholarly literature, dominated by the US, the only historical fat activist organisations that matter enough to be documented usually reflect a North American cultural bias. It's as though these activists never existed. Not only that, but in the late 1980s and early 1990s there were other international, non-Anglophone, fat feminist groups that sprouted and then ended. Information about them is currently sketchy, but there must be people still alive who know and who have stories and material to share for the benefit of the movement.

See also: Fat Feminism, missing women and conversations unspoken

via Obesity Timebomb http://ift.tt/2mAFHfm

Things That Are Not Size Acceptance

I have been receiving a lot of e-mails lately talking about nonsense that is appearing in spaces that are specifically labeled as Size Acceptance/Fat Friendly/Health at Every Size so I thought I would clarify things – at least from my perspective and as I moderate it in my spaces.  As far as I’m concerned, the following are not, and never will be appropriate in Size Acceptance/Health at Every Size/Fat Friendly spaces.

A Diet By Any Other Name Would Still Be Bullshit

This category is for anything that suggests that people should (or are likely to successfully,) manipulate their bodies by any method.  I don’t care if it’s through eating, exercise, lifestyle change, organ amputation, meditation, self-compassion, or eating 100 calorie bags of magic weight loss beans.  If it’s about weight loss, it’s not Size Acceptance or Health at Every Size (HAES).

OOOOh scary  b-O-gey man

The “O” here stand for “Obesity Epi-Panic.” This category is for anything that suggests that fat people should be eradicated, eliminated, fixed, or feared.  That message is stigmatizing, and oppressive, and needs to get the hell up out of here. If an article contains this kind of crap (ie: people need access to healthcare because OH MY GOD FAT IS COMING FOR YOU!!!) then let me gently suggest that you at least point out that it’s a problem and, preferably, find an article that contains the positive message without the stigma. And if you want to up your game, you can write a note to the author to suggest that they make their point without a side of fat shaming.

Only You Can Prevent Fat People – Or, You Know, Not.

There has always been a diversity of body sizes.  There always will be. There will always be fat people. Discussions of how we can prevent fat people from existing are a waste of time that perpetuates stigma and oppression and draws resources away from creating a world that is the most conducive to everyone’s health (like, for example, a world without shame, stigma, bullying, oppression or poverty in which everyone, of every size, has access to excellent, compassionate, evidence-based healthcare for a start.)

Side by Side by Side

Anything that suggests that bodies are better or worse based on their size or a change in size (whether it’s a comparison of the same body, or different bodies) is sizeist bullshit. No. Just no.

Size Limits

Think that spandex isn’t for anyone who wants to wear it?  Have a problem with fat women in bodycon dresses? Think some people deserve to be accommodated by not others? Judge fat people who use scooters?  Ever spent time on one of those “People of Walmart” type sites?  Ever used the phrase “but at some point you’re just too fat…”  That’s not Size Acceptance, it’s the opposite.  Those who want to act like this will find a community of pathetic trolls excited to accept them on reddit.

We live in a sizeist world, driven by diet culture – it’s ubiquitous.  We can’t force people to opt out of this, but we absolutely deserve to have spaces that are free from these types of shame, stigma, bullying, and oppression. 

If you enjoy this blog, consider becoming a member or making a contribution.

Like this blog?  Here’s more cool stuff:

Become a Member! For ten bucks a month you can support fat activism and get deals from size positive businesses as a thank you.  Click here for details

Book and Dance Class Sale!  I’m on a journey to complete an IRONMAN triathlon, and I’m having a sale on all my books, DVDs, and digital downloads to help pay for it. You get books and dance classes, I get spandex clothes and bike parts. Everybody wins! If you want, you can check it out here!

Book Me!  I’d love to speak to your organization. You can get more information here or just e-mail me at ragen at danceswithfat dot org!

If you are uncomfortable with my selling things on this site, you are invited to check out this post.

via Dances With Fat http://ift.tt/2lA3f4U

100 Fat Activists #21: Spare Rib's Classifieds

There are few things I like more than a free online repository of independent radical feminist journals of yesteryear. I have been that woman crouched in a corner of a specialist library, going through the dusty box files. It's lovely to touch and hold these artefacts in real life, but it's also a delight to browse them from home with a cuppa at your elbow, no opening hours or obscure rules to navigate, and no dodgy photocopier.

The first 50 issues of Sinister Wisdom are available online, as are copies of Dyke, A Quarterly. Rainbow History Project has downloads of The Furies and I recall seeing a page of .pdfs for The Lesbian Tide recently but now, typically, can't find the link.

The more obscure and lesbian the journals the better as far as I am concerned because this is where you will find roots of fat feminism and activism that are not really documented elsewhere. There is plenty that is problematic about some of these feminisms and navigating these spaces is a complex undertaking but still worthwhile, in my opinion.

There are many radical queer, feminist and lesbian journals that I have not seen digitised or made available online, and their absence is a giant cultural loss. Square Peg, Quim, Gossip to name a few. There are so many more (check out this amazing wiki of lesbian periodicals to get a taste of bygone media). So it's great when collections are made available, as long as their makers consent, and I am fond of resources that are accessible in thought and ideas and which don't demand institutional log-ins or a knowledge of academic language and conventions.

In the UK there are online repositories of Trouble and Strife and Shocking Pink that are particularly great. Of course the muthalode is Spare Rib, which is archived by the British Library. Does an equivalent free online archive of Ms Magazine exist? If not, it should do.

Spare Rib is especially important for people who want to know more about fat feminist activist histories in the UK. Volume 182 from 1987 has a cluster of articles about fat feminism that marks a break from previous discourse that was very much centred on eating disorders. Here fat women finally get to speak for themselves. As I write this, I have gone to download those pieces and am shocked to see that the content has been redacted. What a bummer! A note on the British Library website explains that that material is being investigated for copyright permissions. Hopefully this will be released soon. Meanwhile, The Feminist Library has a full set if you fancy a trip out.

But it is in the margins that things hot up. In issue 184 Susie Orbach refutes the criticisms made of her by fat feminists, which she also did in the Feminist Review two years previously and then 22 years later in Washington DC at the Association of Size Diversity and Health conference. I would love to see more work in Fat Studies and beyond about how particular feminist discourses around fat have persisted, and been seen as progressive, even though fat people consistently say that they are damaging and are ignored! How come those arguments remain obscure? Does this illustrate how talking about fat is usually controlled by thin people?

I also love the Classified adverts in Spare Rib. They give you a fantastic picture of everyday feminist organising and concerns in the period, whaich was, need I even say it, pre-internet. It is here that the National Fat Women's Conference was publicised in 1989, after which there were a spattering of fat feminist groups and resources proposed. I don't know what happened to them but it's encouraging to see how the work touched and encouraged people to have a go, even if they weren't ready to see things through. Later, in 1992, in issue 233, you will also see an ad that I placed, calling for a social and political group for fat women. I'll save that story for next time.

via Obesity Timebomb http://ift.tt/2mNNZl9