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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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.
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.
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.
In Celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Month
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. To our Asian and Pacific Islander community members, we honor you and past generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have made positive contributions to American history, laying the groundwork for future generations to continue their important work.
NAAFA Statement of Support and Accountability
We at NAAFA have been closely monitoring the situation Mikey Mercedes has brought to the community’s attention involving the harm that Lindo Bacon has caused to members of the Health at Every Size (HAES) and fat activist communities. We strongly oppose any institution or person that discriminates, causes harm, or impedes any fat person from the respect, equal opportunity, dignity, or rights we deserve.
We share this post as an offer of transparency around our own relationship with Lindo and HAES, and we encourage anyone who has still not done so, to read Mikey’s statement, as well as her follow-up tweets outlining accountability steps.
How A Doctor’s Allyship Is Changing My Life
Medical avoidance was the norm after my teenage years. The loathing and judgement from medical systems was too much. Avoidance put me in the hospital twice. I could not bear the thought of going to the doctors. I would cry at the thought of it. If for some reason I had to go, the entire time was panic-inducing.
Fast forward to 2020 and my forties. I was a few years into learning about Health at Every Size (HAES), weight biases, and Fat Liberation. I decided to take the leap and sought after a weight-neutral doctor. After researching in my area, I found one.
Introducing Ally Week
Our 2022 Ally Week explores the meaning of allyship in fat community -- how others show up for us and how we show up for others. We know thin people have a lot to learn about how to be allies to fat folx; we also know that fat folx with other privilege have a lot to learn about how to center marginalized people in fat community and how to show up as allies for other oppressed groups. NAAFA volunteers, guest speakers, special bloggers, and others have worked together to create programming about being allies; how we operate in our relationships of all kinds; how we invest our time, energy, and money; and more.
All events are free. Most are open to everyone, but our Fat Fridays Virtual Social Club is an affinity space limited to fat people. If you don’t understand why, our Intro to Allyship workshop will include discussion of safe spaces and why sometimes not showing up is an important part of allyship.