Fat feminism
Fat feminism, often associated with "body-positivity", is a social movement that incorporates feminist themes of equality, social justice, and cultural analysis based on the weight of a woman or a non-binary feminine person.[1] This branch of feminism intersects misogyny and sexism with anti-fat bias. Fat feminists advocate body-positive acceptance for all bodies, regardless of their weight, as well as eliminating biases experienced directly or indirectly by fat people. Fat feminists originated during third-wave feminism[2] and is aligned with the fat acceptance movement.[3] A significant portion of body positivity in the third-wave focused on embracing and reclaiming femininity, such as wearing makeup and high heels, even though the second-wave fought against these things.[2] Contemporary western fat feminism works to dismantle oppressive power structures which disproportionately affect fat, queer, non-white, disabled, and other non-hegemonic bodies. It covers a wide range of topics such as diet culture,[4] fat-phobia,[5] representation in media,[5] ableism,[6] and employment discrimination.[7]
Many outlets of fat feminism began originating in the late 1960s, but is more commonly viewed as a product of third-wave feminism. When the fat feminists did not get support from the National Organization for Women, they established new organizations to advocate size acceptance, such as Fat Underground,[9] the first Body Image Task Force of 1964,[10] and the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) in 1969.[11] Additionally, Lew Louderback's article “More People Should Be Fat!” was published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1967.[12]
In 1973, Vivian Mayer and Judy Freespirit released the Fat Liberation Manifesto,[13] which described size discrimination as sexism.[14] Their efforts were met with mixed reactions during that decade, when very thin models, such as Twiggy, became fashionable. Some feminists, such as Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda, believed that removing traits of "femaleness," such as feminine curves, was necessary for admittance to a male-dominated society.[15]
Susie Orbach's Fat is a Feminist Issue, widely considered to be the first fat feminist book, was published in 1978.[16]
More organizations and publications against size discrimination were founded during this time. The first issue of Radiance: The Magazine for Large Women was published in 1984.[17][18] Clothing brands and fashion magazines that targeted a plus-size audience became more common, but were not the norm in advertising.[19] Critics have pointed out that while concern about eating disorders rose during the 1990s, some teen magazines used thin models to represent positive body image and healthy eating.[20][unreliable source?]
Fat feminists also filed lawsuits against diet programs for fraudulent claims.[11] For instance, NAAFA found that 95-98% of diets fail within five years.[11] NAAFA also notes that the medical industry began labeling 65 million Americans as “obese,” subsequently developing new procedures, products, and pills to “cure” an obesity problem they created.[11] As a result, feminists were also attempting to counter the medicalization of fatness.[11] Similarly, due to the 1980s fitness boom, fat feminism had to fight the increasing popularity of the diet industry. By the late 1990s, Americans were spending over $40 billion on diet products and programs annually.[21]
