Reflections on Fatness
“A call for “normalcy” in fat representation in the media is, at the same time, a call for fat people to be seen as fully human, good as well as bad, complicated as well as superficial, sympathetic as well as annoying, exciting as well as boring.”
(Kyrölä, Katariina. “Fat in the Media.” The Routledge International Handbook of Fat Studies, Routledge, 2021, pp. 105–16, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003049401.)
This section focuses on resources that are written or produced by fat people, but exist outside the academic domain. This section includes essay collections, memoirs, web resources, and podcasts.
Books
Heavy by ISBN: 9781501125669Publication Date: 2019-03-05A personal narrative that illuminates national failures, Heavy is defiant yet vulnerable, an insightful, often comical exploration of weight, identity, art, friendship, and family that begins with a confusing childhood—and continues through twenty-five years of haunting implosions and long reverberations.
What We Don't Talk about When We Talk about Fat by ISBN: 9780807014776Publication Date: 2021-11-16In What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat, Aubrey Gordon unearths the cultural attitudes and social systems that have led to people being denied basic needs because they are fat and calls for social justice movements to be inclusive of plus-sized people's experiences. Gordon pushes towards authentic fat activism, which includes ending legal weight discrimination, giving equal access to health care for large people, increased access to public spaces, and ending anti-fat violence. As she argues, “I did not come to body positivity for self-esteem. I came to it for social justice.”
Shrill by ISBN: 9780316348409Publication Date: 2016-05-17With inimitable good humor, vulnerability, and boundless charm, Lindy West boldly shares how to survive in a world where not all stories are created equal and not all bodies are treated with equal respect, and how to weather hatred, loneliness, harassment, and loss, and walk away laughing. Shrill provocatively dissects what it means to become self-aware the hard way, to go from wanting to be silent and invisible to earning a living defending the silenced in all caps. Shrill was adapted into a Hulu TV show, starring Aidy Bryant.
Hunger by ISBN: 9780062362599Publication Date: 2017-06-13New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and bodies, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health.
Landwhale by ISBN: 9781580056816Publication Date: 2018-05-08This memoir goes deeply into Jes Baker’s inner life, from growing up a fat girl to dating while fat. With material that will have readers laughing and crying along with Baker’s experience, this new book is a natural fit with her irreverent, open-book style. A deeply personal take, Landwhale is a glimpse at life as a fat woman today, but it’s also a reflection of the unforgiving ways our culture still treats fatness, all with Baker’s biting voice as the guide.
Other resources
Your Fat Friend
In 2016, Aubrey Gordon began writing anonymously about the social realities of life as a very fat person, publishing under the name Your Fat Friend. The website Your Fat Friend features an archive of her work, as well as a Fat Reading List with recommendations from Aubrey. She is currently a co-host on the podcast Maintenance Phase, which debunks health and wellness fads, with a special emphasis on diets and weight loss.
The Fat Zine
A zine by fat people for fat people & anyone who cares about them. The Fat Zine publishes physical and digital zines, and runs a blog and Instagram.
The Fat Lip
The Fat Lip podcast ran from 2016–2020. Over 80 episodes, host Ash Nischuk covered topics like: frank discussion of fat issues in popular media; exploration of fatphobia as it intersects with other forms of oppression; real stories about living, working, and dating in a fat body; big serious topics like the politics of the “obesity epidemic”; and tiny fun topics like fatshion and snacks.
Matter of Fat
Matter of Fat, co-hosted by Cat Polivoda and Saraya Boghani, highlighted community voices with a focus on body size, body positivity, & fat liberation. Matter of Fat also creates and shares resources, chats social justice, popular culture, & Midwest life—all as a matter of fat.
Fat? So!
Fat. So? is a podcast hosted by Ameya Nagarajan and Pallavi Nath about the joys and sorrows of being fat women in India–heavy on the joy!
She's All Fat
She’s All Fat was a podcast that ran for seven seasons, ranging from pop culture deep-dives and interviews with members of the Fatosphere to a down on the streets investigation of fatness in culture.