Introduction

Anti-fatness is everywhere. In fact, it is so commonplace that people do not often recognize that it is around us at all times. Think for a second of a time that you have been told that fat is bad, and that being thin is good. Too many to count, right? Perhaps you have been told that fat people are unhealthy, or that fat people are failed thin people. Maybe your romantic preferences have always leaned towards thinner suitors. Anti-Fatness is a part of the culture that we live in. It is a normalized part of our society. It is an important and overlooked tool of societal control used by regimes under capitalism. Sexism and racism are some of the most explicit forms of the inequities enforced by capitalism.  Fat people make less than thin people. Wegovy, and other weight loss methods are making billions while the rest of us stay in our class.  It is clear that we are living in hard times. The rich are getting richer, and the poor poorer. Anti Fatness is to us, part of the parcel of that capitalist system. It serves as a tool of the powerful to keep women in their place by objectifying their bodies for a male gaze. It keeps pharmaceutical companies, advertising and diet companies, primarily based in the global north, relevant. It serves as a tool to show class; showing white thin women as the rich ideal, and anyone who strays unideal. Not only does anti- fatness keep us down, make us hate ourselves, and face constant barriers to wellness and life, it takes our money, too.

WIA, simply put, wants to completely change this. We have been disillusioned and radicalized, eyes opened to the violence and inequality of capitalism, due to witnessing and experiencing the inhumane treatment of fat people. We are vested in changing the way things work. We think that it is vital to create a new world, one where the violent machine of capitalism ceases to exist. We are driven to build a world based on celebrating diversity, and an economic system based on equity. 

What does a Fat Liberated world look like?

If we allow our minds to think freely about the potentials of a world without the inhibitions of (body) fascism, endless ideas of a new world can emerge! If we think critically, what would the world look like in the near future? What about the long term? What legacies do we want to leave to our future generations? These are all important questions to explore. They can help us orient ourselves in the movement, and see the bigger picture. 

Some guiding ideas and principles for Weight Inclusive Alberta are:

1. We want to see a world where people are not socially, politically, or economically privileged nor disenfranchised due to appearances and abilities. Through this we aim to shift dominant views of appearances to acknowledge appearances as morally neutral, embrace diversity, and to end the reward/ punishment system based on looks.
2. To create changes in the short term that have material changes for people, positively impacting their lives. This looks like education on the harms of anti-fatness and dieting, sharing resources, and creating a Fat culture and community.
3. To celebrate body diversity, find joy, and honour that humanity is diverse!
4. To recognize that anti-fatness is a tool of capitalism, imperialism, sexism and racism. This means that the struggle for Fat Liberation must be enmeshed with broader struggles.
5. To connect people, fat or otherwise, to build important and long lasting connections based in good faith and care.
6. To put an end to modifying our bodies to fit the capitalist standard of beauty; standards that are perpetuated in popular culture, media and everyday life.
7. To struggle for a Fat world is to struggle for the end of capitalism while fighting for socialism.

Performing an Anti-fatness Inventory 

Performing an inventory can help one see where Anti-fatness shows up in their life. This can help us notice Anti-fatness in their life, and importantly, start to ask why? Why does it show up the way it does? Who and what does it serve? How can one push back against anti-fat bias in these specific spaces? A person can easily notice where anti-fatness shows up if they perform an inventory truthfully and honestly. 

Diving into Anti-fatness as a Tool of Capitalism and Fascism

Anti-fatness shows itself as a tool of oppression, most commonly seen directed at women, non-white people, and disabled people. One does not have to scroll long on any social media platform to see ads targeted at women and girls to diet, or alter their body. Doctors commonly prescribe dangerous weight loss tactics as a “solution.” People are denied jobs, insurance, and dignity off of their weight. As with all expressions of sexism and racism, anti-fatness is a structural issue caused by capitalism. Contemporarily, anti-fatness most notably became a cultural phenomenon right after initial European colonization towards the Americas. In the initial era of Eugenic experiments in Europe and America, people were pseudo-scientifically classified into categories of ability, intelligence and health by false, racist, and sexist experiments. This is most infamously seen in the debunked theory of head size relative to intelligence. Less known though, is the way that these experiments also intentionally invalidated disabled and fat people. Theorized as a way to separate people into classes, eugenics intentionally claimed that the further one strayed away from the white, able bodied ideal worker, the further one is less valid, and becomes an antagonist to capital accumulation. This has had long lasting implications, implications that we still see today. Today, fatness is claimed as a health issue, a disability, and something to be avoided at all costs. We see it marketed as personal failure, an individual's problem. We are told that women are to be slightly attractive to men, to get good jobs and, most insidiously, we see marketing towards weight loss as a girl boss, or feminist approach to “reclaiming oneself by making choices for herself.” As if. Regardless, linking anti-fatness to capitalism is key to analyzing our current state.

Saying no to the Capitalism Co-Opting of Body Liberation

Our struggle for body liberation goes far beyond pushing for plus size mannequins at fast fashion stores. Many fat activist groups, such as Fat Rose, have shown us that as important as representation is, representation should never be a marketing tool. This is simply the co-opting of the struggle. This is not a new or novel idea, capitalism has done this since its inception to try to appear as an ally to the people. It is a survival tactic. One can see this phenomenon with a trip to Walmart. Shirts, mugs, and posters that you can buy have catchy slogans like “Proud Feminist”, or “Save the Earth,” or “Peace.” Does Walmart really care about any of these principles? No. Let us be clear, capitalism is the enemy of Fat Liberation. Do we want our enemy to co-opt your language, culture, and community? 

Broadening Your Struggle…

We build power by connecting with others. People have power, and we have more power when we work together. Working together is our best strategy to win, plain and simple. Why? People are more powerful in numbers. We can do more, build capacity, and model to others just how many people really do care.

As explored earlier, we can see that anti-fatness is in itself not a novel cultural phenomenon. We know that anti-fatness is an intentional form of oppression based in sexism and racism, key structural tools in the proliferation and upkeep of capitalism. Therefore, we cannot fight for a fat world without fighting to free us from all of our chains. This means that we must confront the roots of the injustice, violence and suffering that anti-fatness delivers. When we broaden our understanding of systems, we can see how they are all working with one another to create the material conditions that we experience. It is necessary to link our struggle for Fat Liberation to other movements; workers movements, women, and 2SLGBTQIA movements, Indigenous and decolonial movements, immigration and newcomer movements, and so on.

…And Finding Your Niche

What's in it for you to fight for a fat world? Is it about building community? Fighting for equitable healthcare for Fat people? Culture and arts? There are so many paths! Fat Liberation has many domains, and organizing has many tactics. Perhaps writing is your calling… or event planning, or…. public speaking! As we have seen in other struggles, the broader the skill set, the more that can be done to further the movement. Your work is needed!

Keep Fighting

We have to keep up the fight. We are up against so many challenges. Luckily, we come from a rich history of fighters, resistors and dreamers. We are not alone, and we have power.

Importantly, we must stay true to our principles, and not settle for the petty concessions that capitalism “gifts” us through co-opting the movement, like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Here are three tangible calls to action

1. We must stay true to anti-capitalist, people first, and socialist principles in our work.
2. The personal is political. We must continue to model our values, while fighting for the world we want in any, even small ways that we can. 
3. We are more powerful together. Working together and building power are necessary to create lasting, cultural change. Those who are interested in Fat Liberation must work together, build coalitions with other struggles, and incorporate their work into the work of others.