Body Positivity Stuff

Finding body positive and fat activist communities literally changed my life. I can’t even express how fantastic it is to wake up and not have the first thought of the day be how disgusting and worthless I am – it has taken me time and effort to get to that point, and I want that freedom for you, too!

I often get asked what I did to begin my journey of self-acceptance and eventual self-love, and the answer is: I engaged with the community. I actively decided that I did not want to feel that way anymore, and I surrounded myself with every piece of media (and eventually, people – they will come in time) that I could find to help educate myself and begin reprogramming harmful thought patterns.

So, this list is some of my favourite resources relating to body positivity, fat activism and feminism (because they’re all related, yo). It is ever-expanding and certainly not definitive, but I hope it will serve as a starting point, if need one.

And do feel free to contact me with any questions/concerns/suggestions for this page!

THE BODY POSITIVE RESOURCE LIST

(in no particular order)

~ LITERALLY ANYTHING EVER WRITTEN OR SAID BY JES BAKER ~

This lady was the real turning point for me a few years ago, and continues to be a shining beacon of intelligent fat fierceness and outstanding moral aptitude. In other words, total boss.

Jes has an incredible book – you can get it here in multiple formats.

The Militant Baker is her amazing blog, on which some of my (many) favourite articles are ‘Why I’m Fat’, ‘6 Thing I Understand about the Fat Acceptance Movement’, ‘Why People Hate Tess Munster (and Other Fat People)’, and of course her open letter to the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch,

And she (the cat’s mother) also writes for other websites, and some of my fav articles are; this one on Ravishly called ‘We Need to Start Letting People Define Their Body Without Refuting Their Truth.’, as well as this article on Everyday Feminism titled “Why We’ve Learned to Hate Our Bodies”. SUPER IMPORTANT STUFF.

AND (as if all that wasn’t enough), she’s also the founder and organiser of The Body Love Conference which is exactly what it sounds like it is, and it’s my dream to one day attend!

~ ANYTHING THAT COMES OUT OF THE INCREDIBLE MIND OF VIRGIE TOVAR ~

My first encounter with Virgie was through a book she curated called Hot & Heavy: Fierce Fat Girls on Life, Love and Fashion, which was the first book I ever bought on the subject of fat positivity and I highly recommend it as an excellent starting point. It’s got lots of touching/hilarious/interesting stories written by fierce fat babes about existing in a fat body at different points in their life. I regularly re-read it.

Virgie’s perspective (and hashtag) is #LoseHateNotWeight – and she totally justifies the logic for that on her most excellent website, through which she also runs ‘Babecamp‘; an intensive virtual course for people who want to “break up with diet culture”. HUZZAH!

She also covered that joke of an event (#PlusIsEqual) held by Lane Bryant in NYC, and not only is the article on point but it’s peppered with other great reads suggested by her.

AND – she has a regular column on Wear Your Voice Magazine called “Dear Virgie“.

~ ALL THE WORKS OF QUEER FAT FEMME AKA BEVIN BRANLANDINGHAM ~

Check out:

Queer Fat Femme blog
‘7 Ways to Be a Good Ally to Your Fat Lover’, on The Frisky
‘Be a Great Ally to Fat Folks By Getting Neutral About Food’, on The Militant Baker
‘How to Be a Good Ally to Fat People Who Appear to Have Lost Weight’, on Everyday Feminist

Are you sensing a theme? Although these articles are enlightening for the non-fat (go on, send one to that fat-shaming relative of yours) they were also really helpful in sorting out some of my own (fat) messy mindspaces.

~ LESLIE KINZEL, LESLIE KINZEL, LESLIE KINZEL ~

Leslie Kinzel is another fab author who has such razor sharp wit and intelligence, that the 2 combined is hilarious and magnetic. She has a book called Two Whole Cakes: How to Stop Dieting and Learn to Love Your Body, which very sadly hasn’t made it onto my book shelf just yet. I came across her writings on XO Jane and fell madly, truly, deeply with her delightfully conversational writing style. Some of my fav articles are: