Member-only story
Can We Center the Fat Person?
Validity in representation
Amid the flurry of Ozempic strategies and parade of ever smaller people glossed up on the covers of magazines, it begs the question: Can we center the fat person?
Can we center the fat person without it being a weight-loss story or a health cautionary tale? Can we just talk about people as people and have fatness be one aspect which is easily discussed without shame?
It’s daunting to be in spaces where white beauty standards dominate. It’s hard to not feel judged. And while we could remove ourselves from said spaces, we also have a right to be places. It’s like being able to go to the grocery store without incident, not even the gym or some such arena. You would think it would be a plain old experience to shop for food but there are times of judgement for what’s in your cart. It’s preposterous.
There’s a need to talk about fatness and we have the ability to do so now. We have words and activists and materials. Words and activists and materials that paint a different picture of how things can be — and sometimes are, if we’re lucky.
But more to the point is a need to embrace our fat selves. To enjoy the representation of other fat people. And that’s made by centering the fat person. Not with poison arrows of too many questions or the like, just a simple way of just being with each other. To get curious about our experiences in a non-shaming, non-prying way.
Wouldn’t that be something?
Just as trans actors need to play trans parts on screen, fat people portraying fat people are called for. No more fat suits on smaller famous people. And how about more interviews in magazines? Media representation matters.
Can we do this in our own lives, too? Putting away the stigma and paving the way for our ability to love ourselves and each other just as we are. We can center ourselves in conversations without taking over; we can center ourselves in conversations without being aggressive. We can assert our stance as a fat person who cares deeply about their life.
My first girlfriend was fat — she and I both. And there was something so reassuring about it. A shorthand we both had of loving our bodies and being confident in that. It was magical…
