When I talk about fatphobia, I'm often viewed with confusion and disbelief. I mean, we laugh at fat jokes, discuss at length banning fat marriage, make comments about how fat people should exercise or kill themselves. We may be threatened with murder for making a documentary on fatness.

But fatphobia isn't real, right?

First, a little bit about me. I'm an American who has lived on one coast or the other, who has spent extended time in Poland and in London. I've been familiar with fatphobia my whole life, as my mother is fat, my grandmother is fat, and I became fat during my teenage years due to a combination of medication and genetics. I'm larger than the "average" size, which as of 2013 was about a size 14. I'm a size 24 US, size 22 UK. I eat about 1800 calories a day, snack on nuts and rice cakes, have a green smoothie a day, work out twice a week, and am reasonably active. I have mostly cut dairy out of my diet, never eat beef, and am about 50 percent gluten free.

I get at least 20-30 comments a week on average telling me that my fatness means I must be inactive, eat poorly, and am unhealthy. When someone wants to insult me, the first thing they turn to is my weight. The contents of my grocery basket is analyzed by people I don't know when I go to the store and I regularly receive diet advice I haven't asked for. I have had my ass grabbed, my stomach touched, and my arms pinched by strangers commenting on my weight.

And it's not just civilians -- when I go to my GP, they often tell me that while my heart is healthy, my cholesterol is perfect, and my risk for diabetes is low, any health complaint I have is due solely to being fat. I have never gotten treatment for severe back pain or my knee ligament injury. I've had people working at clothing stores ridicule my body. I've had police officers taunt me when trying to make a report as a victim of a crime. I've been threatened with rape, assault, and murder *for being fat.*

This is why when I saw this piece by Carolyn Hall on Thought Catalog (and worse, the comments when someone posted it) I knew I had to explain why the Fat Acceptance Movement is a thing that exists, and why it's important. I mean, stories like Lindsey Averill's about the phone calls and death threats she received for doing a fat documentary should be more than enough proof, but just in case you're still dubious.

1. America manages to champion terrible food while also hating fat people.

It's impossible to talk about obesity without also talking about poverty. Anyone who has lived in poverty can tell you that when shopping for a limited budget, it's cheap, nutritious, and quick -- pick two. America loves processed food -- it makes up 70 percent of our diet, more than pretty much any other country in the world. If you want proof of how shitty processed food is for health? Compare Britain during rationing with Britain after it. Many foods and drinks contain high fructose corn syrup, a cheaper alternative to other sweeteners. We are obsessed with weight, yet our cultural eating habits encourage eating junk, and often. Schools don't want to provide healthy food options, because they're expensive and take more time to prepare than frozen pizza. We have food deserts all over the place, where the closest thing to a local grocery store is a 7-11 (and yes, that's more processed food and sodas).

Even more interesting, healthy food isn't the only contributor to fatness, yet it's the one we focus most on.

2. The medical industry regularly risks fat people's health by refusing to take health issues seriously.

Many fat people refuse to go to medical professionals because their doctors answer every medical concern with "lose weight." We are often not asked about our eating habits or how active we are, but are told that everything we suffer is due to our lack of self-discipline. Our doctors humiliate us, insult us, exhibit disgust. We run incredible risks when our GPs don't listen to our complaints: cancer goes ignored, ligament issues worsen and give us early arthritis, we're told to stick to diets that almost kill us.

We still use BMI as a yardstick for health, and penalize people who are deemed unhealthy by it, even when that's clearly wrong. We ignore the fact that the mathematician who invented the BMI formula (in the late 19th century, mind, when we were still eating lead) said that using it to measure fatness was a stupid idea. Somehow society calls this "looking after our health," despite proof to the contrary.

3. Despite the fact there's more women over size 12 than not, clothing retailers refuse to cater to plus sizes.

When I lived in London, I could find clothes that fit my body in a good number of high street shops. Not all, certainly, but many. I didn't feel too limited in my options, and I could buy tights, trendy clothes, and lingerie that looked cute as well as fitting me comfortably (and without spending a lot of money). It was the first time I didn't have to choose between dressing like a Goth and dressing like a 40-year-old soccer mom.

Imagine my surprise when I came back to the U.S. only to find companies like H&M, who served me so well in the UK, didn't carry clothes in my size in the U.S. Lots of clothing companies have been getting shit for fatphobia, from Abercrombie and Fitch to American Apparel to Lululemon. It doesn't matter that we're a, well, huge market -- companies see making clothes for fat people as "bad for (their) image." It's apparently worse to have fat people wearing your clothes than it is to get bad PR for shaming fat people. It's pretty clear that "fat" is also seen as related to class as well as race. Many of these companies are pretty invested in a slender, middle class, white average consumer... despite the fact that niche markets are expanding over in the UK, and size 16 mannequins are being introduced. This is another example of how the U.S. is actively hostile towards fat people.

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In short? Fatphobia is real, and fat acceptance/HAES is seriously needed. I guess you're pretty lucky, Carolyn Hall, to not have experienced the myriad acts of institutionalized oppression placed on fat bodies, so that you can just "not get it". I at least hope you try to learn a little bit from people whose lives are affected by this every day.

Photos to illustrate that it's perfectly possible to be fat, fabulous, and fierce. And fat middle fingers up anyone who tells you differently.