Virgie Tovar

I don’t want to move the line of the socially acceptable body by 50 or 100 or 150 pounds. I want to get rid of the line altogether because the line hurts everyone — even the people who are seen as the “winners.”

Fat positivity creates room for fat people to be seen with full humanity — not as failed thin people, but as complete and precious.

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!

So, recently I started dipping my toe back into the poisonous dump site that is straight dating. Deep breath.

Fat people are not obligated to be disproportionate emotional laborers. They get to be angry, frustrated, and even difficult, just like everyone else.

This is a love song for those who showed me there was a thing called freedom, and it wasn’t closed-legged, and it wasn’t passable, that it was expensive and gaudy, and I wanted it, and I didn’t want it.

This week in Babecamp we were talking about Sarai Walker’s novel Dietland.

It’s important to recognize that tiny or unsupportive seats (no matter how beautiful) send a silent but powerful message about who has the right to sit down. This message has strong ripple effects for a community that is already facing quite a bit of discrimination.

When it comes to plus-size fashion, we’re all outsiders to this world — a world that makes amazing garments in our size and welcomes us with open arms full of bubbly water and tiny cakes.

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.