WHAT WE'RE ABOUT
We are constantly redefining our own perspectives, and therefore tend to write a lot about our personal experiences. Many followers and contributors are living with anorexia, bulimia, body dysmorphic disorder, depression, and a variety of other body image disorders or mental illnesses, so please be respectful and remember that health applies differently to everyone. Any and all potentially triggering content will be prefaced with a trigger warning.
RBI supports all races, genders, classes, and sizes. We try our best to make this a safe space for everyone. If we are not doing our job or checking our privilege, we invite you to please inform us.
Some of the artwork you see here has been created by our founder or moderators, some sourced when applicable. Please be kind enough to source this blog whenever you share it's content.
We are not health professionals. Any and all advice provided on this blog is supported only by our own research, studies, and personal experiences; nothing more.
This blog is part of the Safe Space Network.
The amount of rage I feel watching a rich white guy “starve” himself to learn about what it is like to live in poverty is making my head hurt. As someone who consistently worries about having enough money to pay for basic necessities I find it insulting that he thinks he is able to learn anything from “starving” for 5 days. This is fucking gross.
I need people to stop thinking that experiencing “food insecurity” for 5 days teaches them anything about the experiences of people who deal with it on a regular basis. I need people to stop thinking that they can understand what it is like when they get to go back to their normal lives after their little experiment is over and go on like nothing ever happened.
Fucking stop.
So…ignorance is preferred?
This is my tumblr pet peeve. People can’t even fucking learn anything without OH MY GOD LET’S ATTACK THEM.
He is learning what it is like to live on $10 worth of food for a week not what it is like to live on $10 worth of food a week for your whole life. Not what it is like to have anxiety over food or any of the other experiences that come from living in poverty. Even doing this “experiment” he is still going to be ignorant of what really happens. He can never understand with the privileges he has right now.
So yeah I’m going to be critical of someone acting like they are having a life changing experience and ignoring the absurd amount of privilege they have.
Because, let’s face it….. at the end of that week, he can splurge on a huge meal and spa day to relax over the “torment” he just suffered. Most people don’t have this option, they don’t have that hope he does, that it will all be over in just a matter of days. Maybe he was hungry for a few days, but again, knowing that it’s not going to last long is a wonderful balm for his “suffering”.
Maybe this gives him a little more added interest in the issue and maybe he’ll contribute to some charities and be a spokesperson…. but he still has money in the bank at the end of it all and doesn’t truly understand the experience.
This is no different than that woman who wore a burka for a day, or that man who shaved to understand the plight of women. Where are they now?
what he should be doing instead of playing Pretend to Starve For a Week is listening to people that actually starve about their experiences, and contributing to charities or creating one or speaking out to help them.
Here at RBI, we pretty routinely get submissions from thin people talking about their journey to body acceptance, or asks wondering why we don’t post more images of skinny people. The implication behind these queries is that we need to post images of thin bodies in order to be fully inclusive and truly body positive.
While we firmly believe that body positivity is for everybody, we don’t tend to post images/submissions from thin people, unless they are marginalized in some other way that we feel needs more visibility (trans*, disabled, etc).
The goal of this blog is not just to promote body acceptance or body positivity, but to actively redefine body image. We are not a general body-posi blog, our goals are broader than that, though they encompass body positivity. We are fighting against the dominant cultural norms that narrowly define the acceptable body as thin, white, cis, able-bodied. We are trying to create a space where bodies that are normally erased from the larger cultural conversation can find positive representation.
Therefore, we don’t post images of thin bodies very often, since thin people are very well (even over-) represented within the broader culture.
There are many many general body acceptance blogs on tumblr that accept submissions from everyone (there is a short list of more general body-posi tumblrs below - there are many more that we have missed), and these blogs post tons of images of thin bodies.
In fact, many body positive spaces cater primarily to thin women and RBI is dedicated to filling in the gaps that they ignore. We do not operate in a cultural or activist vacuum.
We believe that continually showing the bodies thin, white, able-bodied cis women in body positive spaces recreates oppressive standards of what a “good” body is. Seeking out bodies that are othered or different than the norm is incredibly important to not only finding self acceptance but also fighting prejudice and stigma.
If RBI was filled with images of thin, white, able-bodied cis women it would fail to redefine body image instead merely repeating what is already the dominant oppressive structure.
None of this is meant to minimize any individual thin person’s personal struggle with body image and body acceptance.
It is something everyone struggles with and it is hard for everyone regardless of size, and we are thrilled that thin people appreciate the blog and find it inspiring. We support body positivity for EVERY single body, but that does not mean we have to represent every body type equally, especially since our goal is to actively combat oppressive body standards by giving positive visibility to marginalized people.
Therefore, if what you are looking for is more images of normative thin bodies, this is not the place to find them in, and we suggest you check out some of the tumblrs below. Thanks.
List of more general body-posi blogs:
- stophatingyourbody
- tummyproject
- fuckbodyhate
- halt-the-body-hate
- fuckyeahbodyhair
- queerability
- vizzability
- you-are-beautiful-baby-22
- allbodies-goodbodies
- thebodypositiveproject
Thank you so much to Liz for putting this little explanation and list of resources together! This will be something we’ll be adding to our slowly-evolving FAQ, soon to come.
Our team has really been coming together and working diligently to help address many of the larger issues and most frequent questions we come across here. Thank you to my team and all our dedicated followers for being so fucking brilliant.
- if i don't shave my legs or pits: "oooooh badass feminist!!! ooooh fight the power!!! how cool"
- if a trans* woman doesn't shave her legs or pits: "ew gross that's just a hairy man in girl's clothes ew"
- if i don't wear makeup: "oooooooh natural beauty!!!! ooooohhhhh confidence!!!!!"
- if a trans* woman doesn't wear makeup: "ew gross if you're so hellbent on being a woman at least try to look like one ew"
- if i dress in androgynous clothing: "wow badass oh man so edgy wow rlly hot wow fighting gender roles!!!!!!!'
- if a trans* woman dresses in androgynous clothing: "ew if yr a woman why don't you dress like one hahahaha wow yr like 1000000 lightyears away from passing how gross"
- if i dress super femme: "whoa so cute so pretty omg wow yr so gorgeous"
- if a trans* woman dresses super femme: "ew yr totally upholding gender roles gross yr like a parody of a woman ew how stereotypical and awful"
Asked Anonymous
You aren’t bothering me at all! And you are exactly the kind of person I mean when I said that Fat Acceptance is for everyone. As long as you remain aware of the many ways your thinness gives you privilege in the wider world (jobs, health care, etc) I think you would be a really valuable member of the movement. People with EDs are in a unique position within FA, because you have clearly suffered greatly because of our culture’s hatred of fat yet still have thin privilege. By saying that, I don’t mean to dismiss or minimize your experience in any way! But as a thin person you are simply not subject to the obvious discrimination in health care and employment and dating and shopping that fat people are.
But you have felt the pain of fat stigma, through your ED. Eating Disorders are really complicated psychologically, and I have only a limited understanding of them, but I do know that, at least in part, they are a symptom of a deeply entrenched cultural hatred of fat. A hatred that teaches all of us from a young age that to be fat in any way means that we are worthless, lazy, ugly and unworthy of love. THESE ARE LIES! I CANNOT SAY THIS LOUDLY ENOUGH! THESE ARE LIIIIIIEEEEESSS!!!!
Every single body has value and every human deserves dignity and respect and love. This is the foundation of fat acceptance, and if it is a message that speaks to you than please please please know that you DO have a place in the movement. Fat acceptance is for everyone!
I love you all, fuck stigma, let’s get naked.
Asked Anonymous
Everybody is welcome in Fat Acceptance. I mean that sincerely. I don’t control the movement as a whole, obviously, but in the parts of it in which I have influence (namely this blog and my personal tumblr at reimaginefat) I try to be as inclusive as possible. And I do honestly believe that FA is a good thing for people of all different sizes. I want more thin people in FA! Changing our social prejudices against fat will liberate so many people from so much pain, and not just fat people. So yes, I think that that fat acceptance is a movement you can find a place in.
BUT! Part of joining any effort in identity politics is acknowledging the ways in which you are privileged. As as size 12, I would probably classify you as an “in-betweenie” rather than thin or fat. You have a lot of privileges that larger fats do not have: you can still shop at straight size stores, you probably have no problem fitting into seats in public transportation and schools, you are less likely to catch shit/have a serious medical problem ignored because your doctor is biased against fat, or to be discriminated against in your job because of your size. You do still experience erasure in the media and some judgement about your size from the people in your life. These experiences are real and terrible, but they are so very different than what larger fats go through. Your experience is different from a size 22 and even MORE different than a size 32 person. As long as you acknowledge that freely (which from your ask it seems that you do - good!) I don’t have a problem with you reclaiming the word fat for yourself, and I definitely think you have a place in FA.
You should also think about other ways you may or may not be privileged, i.e. race and class and sexuality and gender identity and ability. These are different axes of privilege that have a lot to do with body positivity and profoundly affect the lives of SO MANY PEOPLE, both in and out of Fat Acceptance. I have found that my own involvement with FA and feminism and other kinds of identity politics have really raised my consciousness of the ways in which I am privileged, which were invisible to me until I made a conscious effort to learn about them. That is the insidious thing about systems of privilege/oppression: for people on the privileged side, they make themselves impossible to see, and for people on the oppressed side they are impossible to ignore. Most people are privileged along some axis, and it takes real effort to confront those privileges, but it is impossible to be an advocate for any kind of social justice without doing so.
Anon, I think you are well on your way. Stay aware and make an effort to educate yourself, and I think any identity politics movement would be happy to have you.
- fat shame is not the last acceptable prejudice, seriously. Look around you. Get it together.
- if you blog diligently about thin privilege but are unable to check your own privileges? GTFO. Stop looking up at the privilege you lack and start looking at the ones you’ve got.
- yes fat phobia sucks but if you shout to the rafters about being fat bashed but then say nothing about racism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, ageism or any of the other bad isms? You’re doing it wrong.
- if your message is “fat is beautiful” but the subtext of every post you make is that fat is only beautiful when white, youthful, “beautiful”, able-bodied, hetero, cis-, economically advantaged, and always falling in a lockstep line with the slavish & brutal corporate fashion industries? umm you’re not helping, bro.
- let being fat inform the way normativity works in our world, how those of us with fat bodies fall outside the “norm” which is a system of classification set up to place on a pedestal the white, the young, the wealthy, hetero & cis people of this earth, and yes, thinness is part of that but only a slender fragment of the larger picture. Let your experiences being fat bashed inform the way you process race, class, gender, sexual orientation, class status, age, “ability”. Don’t just rally to be treated the same as other thin, young, white, pretty people.
thank you and much fatty loveness.
The above is very important. Read it, then read it again.
And WIN on the gif.
-ArteToLife
Fat people clearly should acknowledge all the intersectionality of privlege, but the way this is written, it sounds a like weight priviledg takes a back seat to the other ones mentioned. That is called oppression olympics and most people make a policy of not doing that. Fat people no more need to constantly be dealing with race in their activism than race activist should be dealing with sexuality. Yes, recognizing that no privileged and no oppression stand alone is important, but choosing one cause and making that your focus is also okay.
This last here? That’s privilege talking.
It’s bullshit. The OP takes thin privilege as a given, and does not, anywhere, engage in oppression olympics. What it DOES do is call on white, straight, cis, TAB, and/or male fatties to acknowledge their privilege in other areas because it’s the right thing to do. Because if you call other people on their privilege over you, but don’t acknowledge or talk about the privilege you have over others, you are a fucking hypocrite.
This is an absolutely classic privilege-person whine. I’m a white feminist, and I see other white feminists pull the same kind of bullshit when WOC try to talk about racism in feminist spaces.
White fat people ignore and talk over fat POC in fat spaces all the fucking time. And you’re doing it now.
If you cannot grasp intersectionality and different axes of privilege, or if you can’t stand to acknowledge ways in which other people are oppressed, then you need to go adjust your thinking and educate yourself. And in the mean time, get the fuck off my side.
To paraphrase Flavia Dzodan, my activist will be intersectional, or it will be bullshit. And when your activism is bullshit, I will fucking call you on it.
On of the places where fat acceptance is FAILING is in building an intersectional foundation. There’s nothing in the original post that plays Oppression Olympics, nothing that questions or hierarchizes the existence of fat hate. What there IS, and what we as fat people should in fact be conscious of as we work in an activist way, is the acknowledgment that we exist within a system that is built on oppression — and if we fail to let that inform our fat acceptance, then fat acceptance fails to be anything other than a movement for white pretty (mostly middle class and able-bodied) people who just happen to be a little bit fatter than the “norm.”
When we talk about making fat acceptance inclusive, this is the meat of it — we build a movement that actively welcomes EVERYONE by explicitly addressing the issues of intersectionality and using that as our framework.
The OP said, “Let your experiences being fat bashed inform the way you process race, class, gender, sexual orientation, class status, age, “ability”.” I would add to that — let all of those things inform the way you think about and talk about fat bashing. Because your experience is not universal and all of those things impact body politics on a fundamental level.
There is not, to my mind, any such thing as “choosing one cause” — we all have finite energy and we might put the bulk of our efforts under one heading but no cause is functioning in a vacuum and the movement we build as fat people should not simply replicate the current oppressive social paradigm in the way it deals with other oppressions. If you cannot even begin to make an effort to see how other oppressions are related, then you are not paying enough attention to the other people involved in your “chosen” cause.
Bolded emphasis mine. This thread addresses the some of what I was writing about a few days ago, around relative size privilege and the difference between body positivity and fat acceptance. It is impossible to make an effective, honest, and truly inclusive social justice movement without constantly acknowledging the intersectionality of oppression. Though, as Marianne said here, and I sad yesterday morning, it is totally OK (and in fact perhaps more practical) to focus your limited energy to one or a few areas of identity politics, but if you don’t remain vigilant and open about your own privileges and fail to acknowledge how the oppression you are fighting against intersects with others, your politics will fail. 
Privilege isn’t absolute.
Privilege is a bit abstract in this way. This is one of the things that naysayers cling to. You’ll see from time to time, “Well, I’M fat, and I’VE never had _______ experience!” or “I’ve never known any black people who’ve experienced racism!” This in itself is a privilege because people who say this are basing it on their own experiences, and their own experiences alone. It’s very important to realize that just because you haven’t had a specific experience, there are many, many people who have, and by not believing what they’re saying, you’re invalidating their personal experiences. This is definitely something to avoid! Privilege is relative and deeply personal, and one thing you don’t have the right to do is tell someone that their experience doesn’t matter. It’s also important not to judge the way an experience that you haven’t had affects someone else.
Privilege works on a sliding scale.
This one is especially relevant for thin privilege. The experience of a person who’s a size 16 is going to be extraordinarily different than a person who’s a size 32. Although both of these sizes are considered fat/plus size/what have you, you can ‘get away with’ a lot more if you’re a size 16. Lots of stores will still have clothes that’ll be able to fit you. Chances are you won’t have to think about buying two seats on an airplane. Movie theatre seats aren’t going to be too uncomfortable. However, if you’re a size 32, not only will you not be able to find anything to wear in a regular store, even most plus size stores don’t go up to your size. You will get stared at every time you leave your house. People will constantly talk about your health and your weight. The same idea applies in a situation with a person of color who’s light enough to ‘pass’ for white vs. someone with very dark skin.
Privilege is intersectional.
Intersectionality is super important when talking about privilege (I’m actually going to do a separate post on intersectionality because I think it’s one of the most important parts of any movement like feminism or fat acceptance.) Intersectionality is how different groups of oppressed/minorities meet, or intersect, (hence the name!) Example–a woman has less privilege than a man. A woman of color has less privilege than a white woman. Likewise, a disabled person has less privilege than an able-bodied person. And a fat disabled person has less privilege than a thin disabled person. In the case of a fat disabled person, many people will assume that they’re disabled because they’re fat, and judge them harshly for it.
READ MORE at Adipose Activist!
For one thing, the idea that there is only one right way of doing English – and everyone else is doing it wrong – is inherently flawed. And by “flawed” I mean illogical, elitist and even oppressive. Judgements about what counts as “right”, “good” and “correct” in writing and grammar always – ALWAYS – align with characteristics of the dialects spoken by privileged, mostly wealthy, mostly white people. We make these judgements based on learned biases, as well as a certain emotional attachment to our own way of doing things. But when people study dialects in an objective, scientific way (which is what cunning linguists actually do), they find that low-prestige dialects, such as African-American Vernacular English or Cockney English, have fully-formed grammar rules of their own that make just as much sense as any others. They are perfectly valid and functional forms of communication used by millions of people. The only difference is that they don’t have people running around telling everyone else to do it their way.
Fat privilege is not being told to “eat a sandwich” at every possible opportunity.
Fat privilege is not having all your friends think you’re weird because you work out even though you’re not fat.
No, I’m not told to eat a sandwich. But I am told to, “just stop eating,” very regularly. And I’m a recovered anorexic. So that’s not triggering or dangerous for me to hear or anything.
Everyone thinks it’s weird that I works out/doesn’t believe I work out because I am fat. I am told that people don’t want to see bodies like mine at the gym. I am told that people don’t want to see bodies like mine in sports bras and yoga pants. I am told that to see me exercise is grotesque.
Seriously, thin people need to take a seat and recognize that regardless of individual experiences which are valid, thinness is glorified on a societal level and institutionalized via the health care system (by which I mean my health insurance costs more because I am fat) and government initiatives to end obesity.
lololol “fat privilege”
“having all your friends think you’re weird because you work out even though you’re not fat”
what is even going on in that sentence right now
“What’s Your Excuse?” Yet another meme that I deeply hate.
By saying that people need an “excuse” in order to have a larger body or not exercise regularly, you are diminishing their own personal goals and motivations in life. You’re saying that all other aspects of their life are completely unimportant. Any valid reasons for focusing their attention on other goals are nothing more than “excuses” that should be brushed aside.
This is a huge problem. Your body should only be one section of what makes you you. Your hopes, your dreams, your passions and your loves are also important parts of your life. If those involve fitness? Hey, then I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun weight lifting and running and attaining that dream body of your’s. But if they don’t? Then I’m sure you’ll lead an incredibly happy and fulfilling life while doing whatever it is that you enjoy most. If that means that you don’t have the time, energy, or the desire to have 6-pack abs, then that’s a perfectly valid decision that you have the right to make. It is never an “excuse.”
What’s more, the majority of these “What’s your excuse?” memes tend to exploit people with physical disabilities. 9/10 will contain a person with prosthetic limbs or birth defects that have caused them to have no arms/legs. This is then put forward as something that could have been an “excuse,” yet the person instead rose above it and pursued a fitness lifestyle. Holding them up as this prime example of fitness is just a way of ignoring all the other aspects of their lives. It’s saying that their physical accomplishments are the only ones that matter. It’s saying that they solely exist as a way of inspiring other people towards a life of thinness. That’s….twisted.
Trying to compare our lives to the lives of these strangers is a false correlation. You can’t simply say “Look! They’re exactly like you! Except their life is harder and they still managed to look better than you!” That will never, ever be the case. These memes ignore the other privileges and hardships that people have in life. Wealth, access to a variety of food, “good” genetics, medical care, an emotional support network - Not everyone has access to these, yet these are some of the most important parts of attaining that stereotypically fit body type.
Don’t do this - Don’t compare your situation to that of anyone else. I don’t care if you’re the love child of Jillian Michaels and Arnold Schwarzenegger - You are under no obligation to exercise daily or have a muscular body. You are perfectly justified in sitting on the couch all day long, if that is what you want to do. Your personal desires and goals in life are not an “excuse” for not exercising.
So if someone asks “What’s your excuse?” just reply “I don’t want to.” That’s all that they ever need to know.
I think this is the most concise summary of privilege I’ve seen yet
Asked Anonymous
Thanks, babe!
Privilege is a hard thing for people to wrap their brains around, sometimes. Calling people out on their bullshit and holding them accountable is just that - being critical, calling them out, creating an awareness. It has nothing to do with hate or character and everything to do with being inclusive, intersectional, and politically conscious.
And as a white feminist, I am often ashamed of those of us who refuse to hold themselves accountable - especially Lena Dunham and others like her in such high-profile positions. It is part of my assumed responsibility to call out fellow white feminists who refuse to acknowledge their privilege. POC have their hands full enough as it is without having to educate or refute all the problematic white feminists in the world.
YA.
Are we a “social justice” blog? I suppose we are? I don’t know? We are what we are and that’s all that we are. :3
As for the rest of your message…
