body image

From selfies to shout-outs, girls are using social media both to build up and break down their self-image.

2. Fat People Are In Survival Mode. I then moved onto a very basic reality: fatphobia is unjust, fat people are oppressed, fat people are being forced every, single day to navigate fatphobia while attempting to keep their dignity, heart, and spirit intact.

A lot of people don’t know this, but fat activism has been around in the United States since the 1960s. Yes, it’s true!

This was the first time in my adult life when I had become really crystal clear on what I wanted and needed from others. I have been so used to letting others lead the exchange, unsure how to navigate, unable to access my own needs.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with loving my body. I don’t have to choose between being fat and beautiful, I can be both.

I hadn't been to a club like this one — the kind full of straight men who are probably homophobic and at least a little coercive, who smell like Old Spice deodorant and have enough disposable income to keep an open tab (the kind of men I'd been taught were "a catch") — for a very, very long time. I tried to remember exactly how long. A decade? More?

I got tired of waking up and being terrified for my health and so I decided to do what I’d been taught to do in moments of distress: craft.

How's this for a scary statistic: Studies show that kids as young as 5 say they don’t like their bodies. We need to raise body-positive kids!