Setting body boundaries

Even though it’s 2022 and by now we should all know better, some people insist on making comments about other people’s bodies. How big or small they are, how they’ve changed, unsolicited opinions … yuck. Can we just not? Over the years I’ve gotten better at setting boundaries around how other people talk about my body, and how they talk about bodies around me. Part of this has come around from being a parent, and part of it because I got to a point where I realised that I don’t have to tolerate other people disrespecting my body.

We are heading in to the holidays and some of us will be seeing family members who like to make comments about our bodies. We are also heading in summer in Aotearoa New Zealand, and on top of that a new year. Basically it’s prime time for diet chat, unsolicited comments and general body bullshit. View Post

Fat Shaming and Family

Meagan sits at Wagamama restaurant wearing a black dress with hot pink piping around the collar. In front of her is a table with various dishes of food

A lot of people find the holidays incredibly stressful for many reasons, and one of those is the time they spend with family. If loving your body or finding body peace/neutrality wasn’t hard enough, the added influx of body negativity from others makes it doubly hard. Comments about weight gain/loss, equating weight and health, comments about food eaten/not eaten, diet talk, negative comments about our bodies, fat shaming … it’s exhausting. I’ve got a few ways of dealing with this, not just for the holidays but all year round, so I thought I’d share them with you – let me know if you’ve got anything to add. View Post

Fat is not a four-letter word

Meagan Kerr existing while fat

Hands up if you’ve ever been called fat.

Whether you’ve heard it as a schoolyard taunt, an unkind remark from a stranger or a “well-meaning” comment from a relative, chances are that if you’ve ever been called fat it hasn’t been in a positive way. So understandably, it’s a word that you might have a few negative connotations with.

“Please don’t refer to yourself as fat it’s not helping one bit … I understand you feel comfortable, but that word should never be used on anyone – it’s not a positive…”

This comment came from someone following me on Instagram, and it’s similar to things I hear on a semi regular basis, which prompted me to write this post. View Post

Fat Studies Conference + Giveaway

Fat Studies: Identity, Agency and Embodiment

As a plus size woman in a culture that promotes only one kind of body and only one kind of lifestyle as acceptable, I am very aware of how fat bodies are viewed in our culture. On a daily basis I encounter anti-fat attitudes, experience or witness bullying of people based solely on their size and am well aware of the different ways in which fat people face discrimination in various settings (from education to employment to healthcare). You only have to look at the comments section on a positive article about a fat person within the mainstream media to see these anti-fat attitudes in practice. View Post

Maya

I’ve been fat all my life. Seriously, my baby pictures are ridiculous with my huge chubby cheeks and folds in my elbows and knees. Super cute.

maya delacey derby girl referee uniform skater striped shirt monochrome black and white fat girls shouldn't wear stripes plus size fashion sportswear mental annie View Post

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