Single Post Pride Blurbs: Fat Pride

In this gigantic world, there are many ways to have “pride”. One can be proud of a certain religion, sexuality, or race. Fat pride is no different. Individuals who claim this belief feel that those who are fat deserve the equality that every human being deserves. Fat pride also means rejoicing in your size and respecting who you are as a person. This way of life has seen a new light through publications such as Fat? So! and organizations such as the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), and has created a subculture that is swiftly gaining popularity and controversy.

Marilyn Wann is a woman who inspires a great deal of compassion and debate. Wann also claimed at one time to be five-feet four inches tall and 270 pounds… yet completely healthy. After a boyfriend told her that he was embarrassed by her weight, Wann took action by creating Fat? So!, a zine about loving one’s body at any size (a zine is an independently made magazine). The main idea is that as long as one lives a healthy life, they are healthy at any size. Fat? So! features such cutouts, lists, and exposes on the lies of the diet industry. The zine succeeds in destroying the notion that a society that is addicted to “skinny” is the right society. It also makes the reader feel a connection to a movement that is very taboo in today’s way of life.

The Fat Pride movement has inspired creativity that is displayed in many forms. The internet creates a new forum to those who love everything big. Case in point.. The Big Beautiful Wonder Woman Blog. In this blog the classic superficial All-American figure of Wonder Woman gains cellulite and a double chin. The result is pure gold. Some pictures portray a grotesque looking slob, yet in some pictures Wonder Woman actually becomes more appealing then ever before. Her flab is sexy, and her big breasts appear to blend nicely with her new figure. One can be surely convinced that fat Wonder Woman is so much cooler than the original stick figure that has haunted comic books the world over.

NAAFA has become the main organization for fat pride enthusiasts. NAAFA has protests for fat equality just like any other protest group. They believe that fat individuals have been discriminated against in the past just like any other group. NAAFA has a task force that writes letters to campaigns asking them to fight sizeism. Special interest groups such as Big Men’s Forums and Sleep Apnea are among the many groups that NAAFA has. One can join NAAFA just as easily as one can join any other group. NAAFA doesn’t seem like much, but they have given those who are fat a forum which to speak from. NAAFA is more than a dumb group to those who are members, but a symbol of how far they have come.

This movement is a shocking blow to today’s society, yet it has a beautiful message that many can agree with. The idea of loving yourself regardless of what others think is the same message that rings through in gay and racial advancement groups. Still, many protest against the notion that those who are fat cannot be healthy. Many cannot fathom that those who are considered “overweight” could possibly live a healthy and fulfilled life. Even though it may be crazed to some, in the end fat pride creates a beautiful culture. Big is no longer just beautiful, but a badge of honor for all to gaze upon.

Wann, Marilyn. Fat? So!. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1998.
Thanks to www.naafa.org and http://fatwonderwoman.blogspot.com/