NAAFA Community Voices Blog
Sharing thoughts and ideas from fat community.
Image shows a young black woman with blonde hair and wearing glasses, a pink sweater and a laptop on the desk in front of her.
Blog postings are shown in date order of posting (newest to oldest). You may search by author, tag or use the following categories: Events, From the Newsletter, Guest Posts, History, Legislation, LGBTQIA+, Medical, Press Releases, Resource Guides, Videos, Webinars.
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SELF CARE FOR FAT BODIES - COMMUNITY RECOMMENDATIONS AND RESOURCES
During #fatliberationmonth, NAAFA invited Anna Chapman (@iamannachapman) as a guest on the NAAFA Webinar Series. During Anna’s episode, Self Care for Fat Bodies (From Practical to Pampering), we promised to create a blog post compiling the resources, suggestions, and information crowd-sourced from Anna and webinar participants. This is that post!
Moving Women’s Fatshion Forward Through The Years - Part 2
Fatshion (the term currently being used for fat fashion) and fatshionistas (those that love fat fashion) are something we see on social media every day. But what do we know of the history of women’s fat fashion?
This is part 2 of a 2-part review of the history of fat fashion visibility.
Media and Research Roundup - July 2022
For the latest information and research on fatness, check out the Media & Research Roundup. This issue features: looking at the credibility of studies, issues in getting accurate blood pressure reading for fat folx, and other medical issues.
Moving Women’s Fatshion Forward Through The Years - Part 1
Fatshion (the term currently being used for fat fashion) and fatshionistas (those that love fat fashion) are something we see on social media every day. But what do we know of the history of women’s fat fashion?
This is part 1 or a 2-part review of the history of fat fashion visibility.
Anti-Racism Resources
Each month, we will be featuring educational resources in the NAAFA Newsletter and on the NAAFA Community Voices Blog. Some resources will be historic information about systemic racism. Others will be resources on doing the internal work of understanding ourselves and how we play a part in that system. There may also be actions that can be taken to directly oppose racism.
FAT HISTORY FLASHBACK
Swim/pool parties in fat community is a long tradition that hasn’t been recognized by the general public. With the airing of Shrill’s pool episode in 2019, suddenly everyone was saying, “What a great idea!” So we’ve taken a look at the history of fat swim parties and are sharing this piece of history with you.
Report from the International Weight Stigma Conference
The annual Weight Stigma Conference (WSC) is an international interdisciplinary gathering of scholars, advocates, community leaders, and others whose work addresses weight stigma (bias against people who are considered “overweight” in their cultures). Founded by British scholar and activist Dr. Angela Meadows in 2013, the conference has been held in Birmingham (UK), Canterbury (UK), Reykjavik (Iceland), Vancouver (Canada), Prague (Czchek Republic), Leeds (UK), and London (UK). Although the conference was founded in 2013, COVID-related delays made this year the 8th offering of the in-person conference, with a commitment to adding more virtual elements in 2023 and a fully hybrid conference in 2024. 2023 and 2024 locations are yet to be announced.
NAAFA has supported the conference as a sponsor for many years. This year, for the first time, we sent an official delegation. Board Chair Tigress Osborn and Board Member-at-Large Elaine Lee traveled to Berlin in July to represent NAAFA at the conference and learn from fat community leaders from sixteen countries.
#isupportnaafa - Angela Livingston
I love all the programs aimed at rounder bodies, directed toward the needs of fat people, and created for the various identities of the fat community (we are a diverse community!). Also, people who are fat allies, those who have an attraction to fat people, and those who simply want to understand fat issues are able to learn about the fat community through NAAFA’s literature and online resources. That is the reason that I think NAAFA is truly needed for anyone who is able to see wonderful fat bodies of various sizes of fatness as worthy of respect and love.
FAT HISTORY FLASHBACK
This a Fat History Flashback that explores the events surrounding an issue that effected fat community. It is a feature of Fat Liberation Month and is created by NAAFA.
Meet Bats Langley, NAAFA's 2022 Fat Liberation Month Logo Designer and Artist
Bats Langley is a popular artist and illustrator, best known for his adorable children’s books about a very friendly monster called Groggle, his fine art work, his work for kids’ publications like Cricket and Scholastic magazines, and of course, his character Gus. Gus is a whimsical guy, a character who is “an exploration in bigness,” and whose adventures “reveal a freedom of being big, without the societal constraints or expectations of being a bigger person.”
When Bats set about creating the 2022 Fat Liberation Month logo, he first reflected on how the word “fat” is empowering to so many but is also loaded and challenging for people, especially those new to fat liberation concepts. Bats admitted that, even for him as someone who embraces his own body and creates art representing bodies of all shapes and sizes, it was hard to hear “fat” without remembering all of its negative connotations. So he wanted to make sure the word “fat” looked friendly and inviting in his logo design, with the word “liberation” looking strong and supportive. Bats started with a focus on the a, which could represent both acceptance and activism. “Fat Liberation Month is about both being accepting of your body and yourself and who you are, but also about this activism, making a movement to change the world.”
NAAFA Chronicles 78: February 1987
The NAAFA Chronicles reflect a piece of fat acceptance/fat activist history. In the February 1987 issue, you will find: discussion about a study on how size affect salary for executives, compulsory dieting in institutions, use of the word "thin" and "fat" on everyday language and more!
ANTI-RACISM + DISABILITY JUSTICE RESOURCES
July is Disability Pride Month! Multiple marginalizations can equate to not being seen and recognized on one hand and the potential of hate and violence on the other. This month’s resources look specifically at the intersection of BIPOC and disability.
Media and Research Roundup - June 2022
For the latest information and research on fatness, check out the Media & Research Roundup. This issue features: 14-year old Zeke Sanchez and how he is changing body expectations, memories of activist Dr. Cat Pause and discussion of the numerous weight loss drugs that the FDA is approving, and more!
RESEARCH SURVEY OPPORTUNITIES
NAAFA is introducing RESEARCH SURVEY OPPORTUNITIES, a new monthly feature in the NAAFA Newsletter and on the NAAFA Community Voices Blog,.
The purpose of this feature is to share the opportunity to participate in surveys or studies that directly affect fat community. These research participation opportunities have been presented to NAAFA for possible sharing by the individuals or organizations that are leading the research. They were not created by nor are they sponsored by NAAFA.
I Lost My Queer Identity the Day I Said I Do
From a young age I had no doubt that both boys and girls were beautiful to me. Growing up in a home where my parents were also foster parents, I was exposed to lots of different types of kids. Not only the privileged kids that I went to school with, but the children who didn’t come from a “stable home” with two parents who paid attention to them and showed them love every day. I learned that people are interesting and loveable no matter how they grew up.
Asexuality for Pride Month
According to Meriam Webster, Asexuality (Ace) is: not having sexual feelings toward others : not experiencing sexual desire or attraction. Basically, it is an inborn absence of sexual desire.
Fat Liberation or Body Positivity can be hard spaces for Asexual people to navigate sometimes because for many, body liberation also includes sexual/sensual aspects of their lives. For myself personally, talk of fat sex/pleasure or images of those things makes me uncomfortable.
Finding safety in Queer spaces can be hard for Asexual people. When you are Fat and Asexual, it also comes with all the Fat bias, weight stigma, Fat hate too.
Asexual people are not wrong or broken or looking for attention. We are here and we are valid.
Anti-Racism Resources for LGBTQIA2S+ People of Color
June is Pride Month! While the LGBTQIA2S+ community and allies celebrate the month with parades and activism events, gay, trans and queer folx deal with biases and discrimination on a daily basis. Compound that with being a person of color and you add a layer of racism to that. This month’s anti-racism resources look specifically at that intersection.
Pride And Prejudice And Love And Liberation
Happy LGBTQIA+ Pride Month 2022!
This month and every month, I’m proud to be a queer and nonbinary trans person, a fat-attracted person married to a wonderful superfat queer gender non-conforming / butch / mas(s)culine-presenting woman, and an ally in the fat liberation movement.
I am not writing this piece to receive “ally cookies” (rewards from an oppressed community for supporting them in ways that everyone should as part of being a mensch, a good person). My kavannah, intention, is to show other thin people some ways they can begin, maintain or grow their practice of allyship with the fat community. Whether we are LGBTQIA+ or not, wherever we are and go in life, we can and must share the good news of fat liberation. We must center fat voices, and we must add our own in solidarity. It is not always safe, or without cost, but it is far safer and less costly for us than for fat folks.
Media and Research Roundup - May 2022
For the latest information and research on fatness, check out the Media & Research Roundup. This issue features: body positivity and what "everyone knows"; Texas State Troopers are facing disciplinary action based on their waist circumference; how food hierarchies can be antifatness, classist and racist; a petition against weighing children in school, and more!
NAAFA is a proud sponsor of the Queer Women of Color Film Festival
NAAFA is excited to show our support to QWOCMAP’s Queer Women of Color Film Festival. QWOCMAP’s Queer Women of Color Film Festival, their signature event, is hosted this weekend in San Francisco (June 10-12). The festival is FREE to attend (registration required). There is fat-friendly and accessible seating available. Be sure to check out the COVID safety procedures if you are planning to attend in person. The festival will also have an encore virtual screening. Join QWOCMAP’s mailing list for more info. NAAFA is a co-sponsor of Saturday night’s Centerpiece Screening, Hearts Aflutter. Hearts Aflutter features several short films, including fat protagonists on screen and fat filmmakers behind the camera. Additional info and registration at link in bio.