When I Say Fat, I Mean Fat

That’s it, that’s the entry.

Revolutionary as it might sound to some, when I use the word FAT to describe me or any other noun, I mean fat. The problem stems from what people think fat means rather than what it actually means. In this context, fat means “corpulent, bulky in body.” It means a person with varying degrees of fat—actual, literal fat—on their body. It’s that simple, and about as offensive as describing someone’s hair as brown (or whatever color their hair happens to be). No, the problem is that because of the toxic diet culture (oh, I’m sorry, I think we’re calling it health culture now) that has pervaded every atom of our everyday lives and the stereotypes stemming from the same, people use FAT as a shortcut to mean all kinds of negative things. People use fat when they mean things like lazy, ignorant, greedy, ugly, stupid, and unworthy.

I cannot tell you how many times I have had this conversation:

Me: I’ll get another chair. I’m too fat for this one.
Person: Oh, you’re not fat! You’re beautiful!

Now putting aside the fact I often have to advocate for my own accomodations in nearly every social situation, when I say, I can’t fit in this chair, or those pants, or whatever, I’m not saying that I’m ugly or too stupid to figure out how sitting works. I’m saying that chair doesn’t fit me and I’m getting one that will. By saying, “You’re not fat, you’re beautiful,” you are telling me that you don’t think fat can be beautiful. And since I’m a big, fat woman (whether or not you acknowledge this), I can’t possibly be beautiful.

Fat is a loaded word. I know many fat people who are uncomfortable using it, so uncomfortable and ashamed that other epithets like fluffy, chubby, or big are used. I use fat because it’s simple and it’s true. I use fat to reclaim it, to let the world know its assumptions about me and people who like like me are wrong.

TL;DR: Fat is a neutral adjective. Treat it as such.