Reclaiming "fat"

One of the things NAAFA stated some years ago was that they wished to reclaim the word "fat" and its use.

This is, not coincidentally, one of the things that the founders and builders of FatLand wished to do, as well. They especially wanted their children to be able to use and think of the word "fat" as neutral to positive - something they could all say without it becoming a negative or negative meme. As a matter of fact, one of the things that the early settlers, founders and builders found they had to do was set up positive memes for "fat" and its usage(s).

To that end they held a sign/graphics/poster contest. The winning poster portrayed a circle of dancing children and adults of all sizes. That of course was just one step in their effort to surround their children and the population with fat-positive memes.

In the real world today of the USA, we are just getting started with fat positive memes. Some posts and posters show fat people smiling, in sexy poses, in clothing that emphasizes their curves instead of hiding them. The next step, I think, will be to show fat people in nice casual clothing or attractive professional clothing. The second generation of memes will, I hope, bear the message that fat people are simple, well, people who happen to be fat, and have the same thoughts, concerns and ideas as others. Which, of course, should be evident, since according to those weird statistics that different organizations cite, 65 percent of Americans are "overweight" or "obese." So yes, the majority of Americans have the same concerns as the minority? Hmm..that sounds weird when it is written.

But in FatLand, people don't worry about what the "minority" of non-fat people think.

They don't have to.

State or Territory?

So the question becomes in Book III of the FatLand Trilogy: Should FatLanders now become a state instead of a territory, now that the stringently anti-fat Health and Diet Laws have been repealed.?

They could have better roads, a better economy, more places to market their products and services, interaction with many more people, more places to travel, better services in general, better monetary and financial infrastructure.

But..

Would they lose their souls in the process?

Love, shaming and courage

Yet another factor in FatLanders' strong and mutual bonding is that many of them had to escape to FatLand without their families, or without most of their families. (A study about how families on the Other Side reacted when their members were threatened with the Reeducation Centers has been begun, but has not yet been completed).

 The FatLanders whose families cared enough to send them to FatLand because they loved their fat members and feared for their lives managed to adjust quite happily and started quickly to like living in FatLand. The FatLanders whose families were embarrassed by them and merely wanted them out of the way so that they would not bring shame -or the Health and Diet Police- on the family at first were so shy and miserable that they would not participate in FatLand life or communicate with anyone. The block counselors, mentioned in FatLand 2: The Early Days, did a magnificent job of making them feel more confident and raising their self-esteem. In some cases they actually counselled members of the latter group not to communicate with their intolerant families for a while. When members did develop confidence, the counselors then discussed the possibility of their communicating with their families again. Sometimes block counselors actually stayed with these FatLanders when they took the step of communicating with their families.

Some people are praised for bravery in battle, or in sports competitions. The FatLanders who summoned the courage to talk to family members who sent them away because they didn't "fit" into (rather dictatorial) life on the Other Side were in their own way braver, even though they received no medals.

FatLanders Who Chunkydunk

Those FatLanders who are lucky enough or curious enough to find their way to the GymNotTrim Franchise may also participate in the Clothing Optional Swims Under the Moonlight in summer months. (They are held at an outdoor pool.)

And those of you who were lucky enough to participate in skinnydipping and now, as we call it, chunkydunking, are aware of how free you felt when you were swimming without clothes. I certainly adored it. You know something? I wasn't even thinking about my body when I was swimming in that cold cold natural spring water in an area near New Paltz, NY. I was just thinking how wonderful it felt not to have to wear a swimsuit. Swimsuits emphasize parts of one's body in order to sexualize them. When you're not wearing anything, you're not an object. Your body is not separated from anything. You are whole in it, not divided like your dinner.

In FatLand, people learn that their bodies are naturally good and free and easy when they are not wearing anything. They are not the sum of body parts. Their fat bodies are fine and appreciable for what they are and what they do, which includes breathing, laughing, shivering, sleeping, tickling, making love and so many other things.

 The song "I'm Free" by The Who comes to mind.. "And I'm waiting for you to follow me."

FatLand and teaching

I have not spoken much about kids in FatLand in this blog, but they are quite prevalent in FatLand, especially in policy formation about teaching guidelines.

There is a lot of discussion among FatLanders as to how their children should be taught. As a  matter of fact, they try to find textbooks they can use to teach their children, books they feel will be free of anti-fat bias or stigma.

Guess what? They can't locate any. Even when the books don't belittle (!) fat people, they use cliches and expressions that do so: "trim the fat from the budget." "Thin out that prose."

So they end up having to write their own textbooks. And even then, they have to figure out how to present history and culture without stigma or prejudice against fat people. But even more important is the mythos, the entire reason for FatLand's existence.

And this, they find, is not as straightforward as they thought it would be.

FatLand and Weight Stigma Awareness Day

Today is Weight Stigma Awareness Day. They don't have this day/commemoration in FatLand. They don't need it. As a matter of  fact, people are more apt to celebrate lack of stigma - all the time, since there isn't a particular day for it. They also celebrate health all the time, simply by doing what they wish and with ease and gusto.

GymNotTrim, Sandor Foreman's gym franchise, certainly goes out of its way to celebrate. It features, among other things, optionally clothed midnight swims, as well as optionally clothed volleyball games. We can joke about this, but GymNotTrim's activities actually help fat people to appreciate their own bodies and those of other fat people. They appreciate what their bodies do for them as they swim and play volleyball and ski and ice fish and play tennis - whether clothed or unclothed. (A few FatLanders are determined enough to jump into the lake in winter; FatLand has its own Polar Bear type club.)

Weight stigma hurts all, regardless of how much they weigh, because it means that even slim people live with the threat of getting fat hanging over them. Lack of weight stigma helps everyone because then no one worries about weight.

And not worrying about weight adds more peace and contentment to your years than any diet.

Making love fatly

A fairly thoughtful man just asked a fairly thoughtful question. He asked, "Do most men just want to poke women, or have some of them grown up along with you?"

This brings us to the subject of how we portray fat people as they have sex or make love.

I myself tend to describe curves and hills and valleys and softnesses. This does not mean that fat women cannot get fiery and determined and angrily passionate. It means that many of us are just learning how to talk about fat women as they make love. We are also learning, at the same time, to describe beautiful fat women, and the beauties of fat women. This goes for fat hot men, too.

There are other people who write about this. Hanne Blank is certainly one. Rebecca Weinstein and Virgie Tovar are others. Elle Hill/Lesleigh Owen certain does so, as well.

We have so much to learn about writing about sex fatly, about writing about fat people in sex and love.