Posts Tagged: fat acceptance
Weight, What? How Fatphobia Impacts Reproductive Care
Fatphobia, the institutional bias against plus-size bodies, is rampant in the way we view ourselves and each other. Popular culture depicts the slim woman, (size 6 at most) as normal, despite sizes 16-18 being the true average women’s size in the US. Anyone outside this cultural norm or skinniness is deemed undesirable—as literally taking up too much space in society. This can be seen in the othering and separation of plus size clothing or models, the cultural obsession with dieting and weight loss products, and the fetishization or degradation of fat women on social media. Everywhere we look, we are flooded with false messaging telling us that to be fat is to be different and unwanted. Fatphobia is perhaps at its most harmful when it influences healthcare. Weight bias in… Read more »
Chubby Not Chastity: Guess What? I’m Fat and Want Plan B
During finals week this past April, I found myself slumped over a frequently dying PC, empty Starbucks double shots and a series of text messages about Plan B. My sole sexual partner at the time was trying to convince me that sex with condoms is lame and that au-naturale was the way to go. Now, of course the break from studying piqued my interest so I listened to his various arguments for why latex-less sex was what all the kids were doing. After a few misguided attempts to convince me, he offered up what I’m sure he saw as the winning argument: “how about I buy you Plan B afterwards.” There it was, the end all, be all of preventative methods. Except there was one flaw with this holy… Read more »
The Body Positive Revolution Will Not Be Commodified
One of the world’s most iconic dolls went full feminist this week. Mattel, the company that owns and operates the Barbie brand, finally acknowledged that marketing a white doll with physically impossible proportions as the “ideal woman” to young girls was dangerous. Because of Mattel’s brave move, little kids will no longer be sold toys that conform to white European standards of beauty and that tell young girls that their value stems solely from their ability to attract their very own Ken. Mattel apologized, pulled all Barbie dolls from the shelves, and used the money they would’ve spent on marketing to finally pay their workers fair wages. No, I’m kidding. Of course Mattel didn’t make these far-reaching changes. But they did add almost half an inch to one of the doll’s waist, died… Read more »
