I've been reading the book Fat Chicks Rule! by Lara Frater and it is AWESOME. So far, I highly recommend it. The author ranks stores for fat chick fashions, lists movies, books, and shows that have fat-positive characters. Its full of lots of good information for being fat-positive. This particular blog post is about the fat advocacy portion.
Amazon summarizes the book as: A fun, fact-filled guide to living the big girl’s life with style, Fat Chicks Rule!: How To Survive in a Thin-Centric World, tackles the weighty issues that large women face in our thin-obsessed society. This lavishly illustrated book provides information on everything that the plus-size woman needs to know, including where to shop, the dieting scam, how to be fat and sexy, the fat acceptance movement, famous fat chicks in history, fat chick entertainment, snappy comebacks against the fat-phobic and much more. Dedicated to every woman who feels she needs to lose a few pounds but really doesn’t, Fat Chicks Rule! shows you how to live fat and happily ever after.
So today I've decided to blog a bit about Fat Advocacy. :) There are a bunch of fat advocacy groups that you can check out if you want to get involved, which I'll write about in a moment. According to Lara Frater in her book, these are "Nine simple things you can do to fight back and increase size acceptance:"
FAT ADVOCACY GROUPS
I disagree with Ms. Frater on one thing, though. She says (about joining an online fat advocacy group): "You needn't do more than use your computer, pay a small fee to join, and presto, you can call yourself an activist!" That isn't being an activist. That's supporting an advocacy group, but not being an activist. In my opinion, you have to be ACTIVE to be activist. Write letters to companies with negative fat policies and write letters to those with good ones to thank them. Write to politicians. Become informed. I do not consider myself a fat activist because I am not ACTIVE. I support it, I try to help other fat people accept themselves with this blog, but I am not an activist. I am a supporter. Hopefully, this has helped you want to do a bit more to support the cause. :)
<3 - CFC
Amazon summarizes the book as: A fun, fact-filled guide to living the big girl’s life with style, Fat Chicks Rule!: How To Survive in a Thin-Centric World, tackles the weighty issues that large women face in our thin-obsessed society. This lavishly illustrated book provides information on everything that the plus-size woman needs to know, including where to shop, the dieting scam, how to be fat and sexy, the fat acceptance movement, famous fat chicks in history, fat chick entertainment, snappy comebacks against the fat-phobic and much more. Dedicated to every woman who feels she needs to lose a few pounds but really doesn’t, Fat Chicks Rule! shows you how to live fat and happily ever after.
So today I've decided to blog a bit about Fat Advocacy. :) There are a bunch of fat advocacy groups that you can check out if you want to get involved, which I'll write about in a moment. According to Lara Frater in her book, these are "Nine simple things you can do to fight back and increase size acceptance:"
- Create a fat positive website. (DONE :D)
- Wear a fat-positive button.
- Support movies, TV, books, etc that portray fat women in a positive light. Remember, money talks! (Fat Chicks Rule! has a list of books and movies that are like that.)
- Join a fat advocacy group (links below).
- If you feel like you have been discriminated against, fight for your rights. The more cities that adopt laws against size discrimination, the better.
- Report to the Federal Trade Commission any diet program making outlandish claims. http://www.ftc.gov.
- Tell a fat-positive joke.
- Try to start a plus-size exercise program at your job or gym, or even start a walking group. Many fat women don't get enough exercise because they are embarrassed.
FAT ADVOCACY GROUPS
- Council on Size and Weight Discrimination (CSWD)
- Largesse: The Network for Size-Esteem
- The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA)
- National Organization of Lesbians of Size (NOLOSE)
I disagree with Ms. Frater on one thing, though. She says (about joining an online fat advocacy group): "You needn't do more than use your computer, pay a small fee to join, and presto, you can call yourself an activist!" That isn't being an activist. That's supporting an advocacy group, but not being an activist. In my opinion, you have to be ACTIVE to be activist. Write letters to companies with negative fat policies and write letters to those with good ones to thank them. Write to politicians. Become informed. I do not consider myself a fat activist because I am not ACTIVE. I support it, I try to help other fat people accept themselves with this blog, but I am not an activist. I am a supporter. Hopefully, this has helped you want to do a bit more to support the cause. :)
<3 - CFC
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