Oh. Perhaps a more clear explanation of why I don't tell people they aren't fat enough to call themselves fat. So fat, and I'm quoting Marilyn Wann here, is a floating signifier that gets attached to a subject by themselves or by someone else

A person may be fat at work but not fat at the doctor's office, fat at the doctor's office but not fat to their community, fat to themselves but not to the people around them, fat in their family but not to their friends, in their country of origin but not where they live now

A trans woman may suddenly become "fat" when seeking surgery though she hasn't gained weight

Who is labeled fat has to do with geography, ability, gender, race, immigration status, occupation, education level, and wealth.

There are some who ALWAYS have this label. There are others who only SOMETIMES have this label. Personally, as long as the Always group is being centered, I don't have time to yell at the Sometimes group.

The exclusion of those who are Always Fat by those who are Sometimes Fat, especially if there is monetary gain to be had for the Sometimes, is fucked up and bad and needs to be called out

But I don't have time to yell at a Sometimes Fat who just wants to be part of a fight against fat hate, because the system of fat hate hurts that Sometimes Fat too and I'm also busy fighting that system

I also don't tell fat people how to be fat anymore. I let them know when they say things to me about their fatness being their fault that they don't need to apologize to me about their body and I have nothing against their body

But I understand and hold that pain as valid

I do this stuff because I have made mistakes in the past where it became more important for me to defend fat than it was for me to defend fat people and their bodily autonomy and their dignity and their humanity

So I don't take it personally anymore if people diet or get surgery. I hope you look into the risks and failure rates. I hope you know if you decide not to, you're good. But if you decide to do that, I'm not angry at you. It's YOUR body and you gotta live in it

I'm not here to judge you for struggling to love yourself, and loving yourself wouldn't be enough. I'm here to tear down the cage around us. You aren't a guard, you're a prisoner as much as I am

Emma said something to me that rings in my head constantly. It's a quote from a Grant Morrison comic and it's utterly changed my fat politics.

This isn't a war. It's a rescue mission.

I think about that line every damn day. It drives me. It changed how I approached everything

For whatever reason, I can engage here, at this place, and it doesn't hurt me. And I feel, arrogant as it sounds, needed. Fat liberation is needed

It's weird, I always said I wouldn't do 101 stuff but I'm starting to think that's where fat liberationist rhetoric might be needed the most

And where I might be needed, where I can do some good. There's people being left behind but I think, maybe, I can help a little