Read on Twitter
Hey, authors, this is a thread of some *very* basic advice for writing about a fat character.
First: treat fat characters like all your other characters, not like comedic props. Like, this may shock you, but if a fat person falls, we don& #39;t bounce. Many of us are even graceful.
First: treat fat characters like all your other characters, not like comedic props. Like, this may shock you, but if a fat person falls, we don& #39;t bounce. Many of us are even graceful.
If you have three or four fat characters, sure, one can be super clumsy, because that& #39;s a normal human trait, but if you only have one fat character, or if they& #39;re all super clumsy, it becomes a problem. We (usually) know how to move in our own bodies.
Fat characters aren& #39;t usually more fixated on or obsessed with food than anyone else. The person I know who complains most when not fed for two hours or so is about a size four.
Sure, if a fat character hasn& #39;t eaten all day, they& #39;re hungry, but they& #39;re not going to gnaw a hat.
Sure, if a fat character hasn& #39;t eaten all day, they& #39;re hungry, but they& #39;re not going to gnaw a hat.
Fat characters can have whole conversations over a meal or in the presence of food. I can promise you that every single fat person in the world is capable of this, and that none of us are so overtaken by the sight of our burrito bowl that we can no longer form coherent sentences.
Fat characters should have interests outside of food! Like most people, sometimes fat people are so interested in or excited by what we& #39;re doing that we lose track of time and forget to eat entirely. Yes, even though we& #39;re fat. Sometimes you just forget!
Similarly, fat characters are probably not uniquely into food as an erotic experience. Moaning, sighing, being aroused by itâI know that Nigella and Giada and their lot go in for the sexualization of food, but that& #39;s about sweet cash money.
Most people aren& #39;t turned on by food.
Most people aren& #39;t turned on by food.
Like, let fat characters enjoy food! But unless they& #39;re being intentionally performative, they& #39;re probably not going to drag their finger through thick, luscious cream and suck it off, working their tongue against the tip of their finger.
You can see where that& #39;s gross, right?
You can see where that& #39;s gross, right?
Speaking of, fat people eat stuff that isn& #39;t, uh, thick, luscious cream. Like, we eat broccoli and pasta and ice cream and rice and kale and eggs and basically every other food that people eat bc fat people are also people, and your fat characters should be treated like people.
Many fat people do not obsess over how much they weigh, or how many chins we have, or any other body measurement. Your fat characters don& #39;t need to look in the mirror and tell us that they can see the cheesecake they ate last night in their extra chin. That& #39;s not how bodies work.
Also, you can just say that someone& #39;s fat. You can even describe a fat body in positive terms, if you want to. You could even describe it *appreciatively*.
Lumpy, lardy, corpulent, gargantuan, mammoth, tubby, obese, blubbery, et fucking cetera, are almost never good descriptors.
Lumpy, lardy, corpulent, gargantuan, mammoth, tubby, obese, blubbery, et fucking cetera, are almost never good descriptors.
If you can& #39;t follow these simple guidelines, which boil down to & #39;treat fat characters like any other characters and at least pretend like you& #39;re not actively disgusted by them and, by extension, fat people& #39;, consider: just don& #39;t fucking write fat characters.
I& #39;d love to see more fat characters in books but if you write one and call them "gluttonous" and they can& #39;t hold a conversation if there& #39;s a teacake nearby and their body is "lumpy" and their slight double chin is "disgusting", it& #39;s not representation, it& #39;s a slap in the face.
