Thread by @yrfatfriend, The last 24 hours have been a brutal reminder of how fucking [...]

Aubrey Gordon (she/her/hers)

yrfatfriend

The last 24 hours have been a brutal reminder of how fucking horrible people can get when fat people make a quiet, respectful request to stop doing one (1) thing that hurts us.

(Thread.)

Thin people: read the hashtags about Tr*mp being fat.

Look at the things people say about us, about our bodies, and about the conclusions they freely draw about us as a result. Look at how they laugh at and celebrate our deaths.

Watch how carefully the majority of fat people state their requests. Watch how gingerly we approach the conversation, knowing how likely we are to be laughed at, rejected before the request is even made.

This is learned behavior from a lifetime of experience.

Think about HOW IMPORTANT that request must be for us to go willingly into this conversation.

Think about how it would feel to see so, so, so many people gleefully, proudly hurting you, then laughing at you for being so foolish as to think they& #39;d stop when you ask them.

If you feel tempted to defend "good thin people," look at who& #39;s defending fat people in this moment. On my timeline, it is overwhelmingly--and almost exclusively--other fat people. There are a few thin folks speaking out, but there is FAR from a critical mass.

Think about how profoundly isolating it is to ask someone to stop intentionally, repeatedly hurting you, to be met with derision and laughter, and to see that virtually no one stands up with/for you.

Imagine how alone you would feel. How hopeless.

In moments like this, silence sends a powerful message. It says that behavior like this is acceptable, unremarkable because it is unremarked on.

So if all those "good thin people" are silent, how does that help?

I know it& #39;s easy to think about your own discomfort, your own uncertainty, your own fear of stepping into this conversation.

But remember that you aren& #39;t its target. Imagine how much harder it is when you don& #39;t have a choice but to defend your own dignity, bc *no one else will.*

The problem here isn& #39;t thin people stepping in to defend fat people and saying the wrong thing. The problem here is that the vast, vast, vast majority of thin people aren& #39;t saying ANYTHING.

Just say SOMETHING. Do SOMETHING.

You can follow @yrfatfriend.

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