Today I want to talk about a question that I get asked a lot in many forms. From “Why would you call yourself fat” to “how can fat be a good thing” to “Do you have to call yourself fat?” The word “fat” can definitely stir a lot of emotions which is one of the reasons that I use it. I consider fat a reclaiming word. It’s been used by people whose goal was to bully, intimidate, and stigmatize me by its use. My use of it is one of the ways that I tell the bullies they can’t have my lunch money anymore. This reflects my belief that I can shift power around the words that are used to oppress me by reclaiming them and using them as my own. Of course that’s my belief, others may choose something else and, as always, your mileage may vary. I also use fat as a tacit rejection of euphemisms. For me, calling me anything but fat makes it seem that my size is something that requires “dancing around” – a fat body is like Lord Voldemort – that which must not be named. I would rather be called fat than fluffy (I’d rather be called almost anything than fluffy.) Of course, like all of this, that’s just me. There are plenty of people who love being called “fluffy” or prefer to use any term besides fat and there’s nothing wrong with that. Finally, I use the word “fat” as a rejection of the medicalization/pathologizing of fat bodies – terms like “obese” and “overweight” suggest that body size should be the same as a diagnosis and I strongly disagree with that. Over what weight? I’m over some weights and under others. People come in different sizes, this is the size I come in. As I once heard The Fat Chick say, I’m fat – not overweight in the same way that I’m also short- I’m not medically undertall. The word fat is just a physical descriptor on which people have been allowed to heap negative beliefs. When I go to meetings with people I haven’t met I’ll say “I’ll be the short, fat, brunette.” Very often they’ll respond “Don’t call yourself fat!” Nobody has ever said “Don’t call yourself brunette!” The problem isn’t the word fat, it’s the way that people have tacked on their negative stereotypes and preconceived notions onto the word fat, and the way that they’ve used it to oppress those of us who fit the description. We’re fat whether we call ourselves fat or not. What we do once we realize that is up to each of us.

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