Ragen Chastain 5’4, 284 pounds. Photo by Richard Sabel.
It will probably come as no surprise to my regular readers that I love the show So You Think You Can Dance. This season during the Vegas eliminations there was a dancer who wasn’t shining through – she was asking for her spot but not demanding it. One of the judges told her that her attitude needed to be “I’m not leaving here until you see me!”
I think that’s a lot of what fat activism, or at least my particular style of fat activism, is about. When fat people do things that defy stereotypes like dancing, being athletic, being happy with our bodies etc, we’re not asking people for their approval. We are giving people an opportunity to examine their own prejudices and bigotry and make a better choice. We’re doing them a favor.
When fat people refuse to be judged based on our bodies, our health, or how other people think we should look or act, we aren’t begging for acceptance. We are saying “I set the terms and boundaries by which we interact and when I want your opinion on my body you’ll be among the very first people to know.”
When fat people refuse to bow to the pressure of the war on obesity to attempt weight loss (which nobody can prove is possible) to be healthier (which nobody can prove is valid) we aren’t begging for mercy. We are saying that we have the same right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as everyone else and that includes the right to live in our bodies without the government waging war on us for how we look, so how about you back the hell off.
When fat people refuse to be hidden or dismissed by society we aren’t begging for recognition, we are demanding it. We are saying “I’m not leaving here until you see me and I won’t stop until you treat me with respect and equality.”
When it comes to respecting size diversity the world is fucked up. It’s not our fault but it becomes our problem and I think it’s important to remember that there is absolutely nothing wrong with us, and that the way fat people are treated is completely, utterly, unjustifiably, wrong. It’s not us, it’s for damn sure them, and I for one will keep fighting until it gets better.
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(straps on armor)
I’m up for a little windmill tilting. Let’s go!
Many times I come to this blog and get a nugget of inspiration that I can apply to just about any aspect of my life. This is one of those times.
“I’m not leaving until you see me.”
Thanks!
I am struggling right now with me and being who I am. Thank you for giving me some hope that someday I will be able to say “I am not leaving till you see me.”
Katie
You inspired me today (as you do most days!).
I paid for a webinar at work today that was supposed to be about writing goals and objectives for grant proposals. Do you know what the presenter used as an example? Dieting! As in, “If my goal is to lose 20 pounds, then my objectives are to attend Weight Watchers, etc.” Complete with “headless woman with measuring tape” slide! I would have been appalled even at this mention, but then she kept referring to weight loss and dieting over and over again. It was ridiculous. I would have left except that I was viewing it with another colleague. I thought quite a while about whether to say anything about my concerns in the evaluation, and I finally decided that I really needed to. I wrote a note in my evaluation explaining that her talk of dieting and weight loss was inappropriate for the setting and not inclusive to people in the audience. I sent it off and figured that would be the last I would hear of it. Instead, I got a response back within two hours apologizing for the overall quality of the webinar and offering me a full refund! I would never have made this complaint even a year ago. Thank you!
You are awesome, Regan! Thank you for this post (and every other post). You inspire me every single day.
This blog post nailed it!!!! I live the way you put it out there. Like a rallying call to remind us the solid principles in this activism. So many times I struggle trying to articulate the mission. I’ve read your blog for a while and this sums it all up perfectly. Thank you again for all you do and stand for! Much love
Hi Ragen,
I saw this today and it made me think of your “one from column A, one from column bullshit” concept: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/diabetes-and-the-obesity-paradox/?ref=health
As in, ok, just because the data SAYS that obese type 2 diabetics live longer, how can we possibly re-interpret the data so that it doesn’t say that? Because OMG, that might call into question this thing that “everybody knows”!
Thanks for continuing to stand up, be seen, and encourage others to love their bodies and not accept disrespect.
I just saw this video, which I thought was pretty awesome, and wonder if you have any thoughts.