Taking Up Space (and Keeping it)
When Roxane Gay said that “weight loss, thinness really, was a social currency”, she hit the unfortunate nail on the even more unfortunate head. It’s a currency I lack, along with roughly two billion overweight others. Weight loss is a powerful industry and has the world within its grip; if it’s not fat-free yoghurt, it’s the brand new meal-replacement smoothie. If it’s not that, it’s fatphobia. Fatphobia is described as a “fear of fatness”, which is shocking enough itself. It gets more disturbing when you realise that the vast majority of fat people have had experiences with it.
Although there isn’t one specific cause of fatphobia, the media has played an important role in its rapid expansion. Quite frankly, the media is obsessed with weight. Rebel Wilson is on a diet? You can hear th...
