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.
I saw this cool pro-feminism license plate the other day and though you all would appreciate and enjoy it! :D
About 2 1/2 years ago, I was hospitalized after a severe PTSD episode caused me to lose consciousness. This picture was taken by my girlfriend the day I was released. My arms were bruised from IVs and blood drawings, and there was residue left on my skin from the five heart monitors that had been adhered to my chest. I grew up paralyzingly self-conscious of my flat chest and pale, veiny skin, but seeing this photo of myself in such a vulnerable state helped me see the beauty in my own perceived “imperfections”. It has ultimately helped me in my ongoing journey towards recovery, both from PTSD and from disordered eating and body dysmorphia.
Don’t know if this really fits with FATshion February but I love this outfit and picture. I’m on the right, my lovely small sized friend and I having some fun. Happy, silly superfatty FTW!
Dress and leggings: Old Navy 26/28
Caveman and cheetah cutouts: posterboard and pure skills :)
Hi there!
Thank you for the call out for submissions, and I figured I’d add in my piece.
I’m a fat black disabled woman, size 22. I have an Illeostome bag that when I’m naked or in revealing clothes show plain as day. The scars and the bag added that extra layer of shame that not everyone experiences. “sure I can wear revealing clothes, but what if this shows? Even if they don’t mind the rolls there’ll surely be SOME teasing about this. This is not MY movement, this is for the people who don’t have these issues.” I almost always wear not revealing long baggy clothes because of those thoughts.
I’m still new to the FA movement, and all the women I see in it are lovely, but I agree that I almost always see the small end of the spectrum of white women. The last fat black woman I reblogged had all of my extra bits and spots and I nearly cried. I want more women to have that moment where they see someone in a movement and say “they look just like ME” and realize this is their movement too.
TW: Self harm, ED,
Hello all! My name is Mel and I am 17 years-old.
I’ve been diagnosed as being Bipolar and what is now, a mild eating disorder. No-one who looks at me would ever imagine that I struggle with eating and keeping it down, but all I can say is; I’m ill, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m trying to be as strong as I possibly can, and I’m determined to be mentally strong enough to be on my own in a few months. I have scars, and I have days where I don’t do all too well, but you always have to remember that your disorder does NOT define who YOU are.
Big girls have eating disorders, and that is never going to change. That’s what people have to realize.
I have a really hard time with loving myself sometimes,
and when all else fails I take to drawing on my body and trying to rely on what I know to be true rather than what I think I see.
Even if those things were true, “I’d still be worth loving”
“St. Fatty 2x4 Purifies the Holy Kingdom”
30” x 22”
Relief on muslin with gold leaf, dye
2012
(tw: fat shaming, bullying, discussion of mental illness, discussion of weight,thin privilege )
I thought that this might be of interest to several of this blogs followers, and many in the fat acceptance/body positivity communities. There’s a new show starting on British television tonight (14th January at 10pm) called My Mad Fat Diary ‘It features a 16 stone 16 year old who has just left psychiatric hospital, where she had been for four months. She is looking for love - but worries if she will be too big for the world, or if the world is too big for her’. It just shows the amount of thin privilege and discrimination against not only fat people, but those with mental health issues. Most of the responses to an advert for the show on Facebook were loaded with fat hate and discrimination. Sometimes the bubble of safety and inclusion Tumblr creates is suddenly popped when I stray too far into wider society, or even social networking sites and I forget that a lot of people are still denying fat people the right to the same life experiences as their thin counterparts. There were those willing to defend the fat girl who plays the protagonist, and fat people in general, but they were few and far between and heavily criticised for it. This isn’t just damaging to fat people, but to any person who has BDD or negative views about their body in general. Spreading the body positivity message on Tumblr is one thing, but it needs to reach so much further. We might be winning the small battles but there is still one hell of a war out there that needs vocal body positive warriors to join the cause.
I think this is really excellently written, I just wanted to note (because I had to look it up myself) that 16 stone is equal to 224 lbs, and for the person who says the girl is 22 stone, 22 stone is equal to 308 lbs.
Not that her weight makes ANY of the fat shaming acceptable, I just wanted to make a factual note because she IS coming out of a mental health unit and there is something to be said about the link between eating disorders and weight. If she was leaving a mental health unit and was emaciated looking - she would be more accepted. But due to her weight, she is shamed for not only her weight but her illness.
I never liked this photo cos I felt it showed too much of my body and that I should be ashamed of my curves. I always hid behind my art rather than becoming part of my art but I am realizing more and more each day that I too am a beautiful piece of art. This journey continues to be hard but with blogs like these it becomes easier.
Annie, size 20 (South African)
Artist, musician and chubby warrior
My name is Shayna,
I’d like to share a story with you.
Through my whole life I have been told I was obese by doctors, my parents, friends, etc.
My family to this day still comment and choose what I eat when a family dinner rolls around.
I was placed in weight watchers at the age of 12 and was forced to continue until 15. I was never told that I was pretty by anyone but my mother. My whole life has been filled with personal trainers, fitting in to corsets, and constant struggles with eating disorders. It took me until the age of 20 to realize,
I am so much more than my weight,
I am a GO-GO dancer, I am a soldier, I AM beautiful.
Everyone of you, please remember that YOU are beautiful too!
I am fat.
And for the first time in my young life…
I am okay with that.
As I write this, I am sitting in my size 20 dark-wash skinny jeans.
You read that right. Skinny jeans — that somehow miraculously hug my butt, hips, thighs, and calves without making my stomach protrude unnaturally. Skinny jeans that make me look, well, really good.
On top of these magical jeans, I am wearing a size XL faded teal 3-quarter-sleeve fitted shirt with buttons halfway down the front, mostly unbuttoned so I feel neither choked nor awkward. It hangs just at my hips, which is remarkable considering my tall torso.
I am happy with how I look, even though I still have bulges I’d rather not have.
But it most certainly has not always been the case.
Read more about the body I have on Crooked Neighbor, Crooked Heart.
Here’s a shoutout to anyone who hates their body and wishes they looked different: LEARN about the power of media. The above ad is from the 1950s. Advertising thrives on making you feel insecure. Over the decades, thanks to feminism, ad designers were forced to become (less patronising, misogynistic and outright sexist in their content and) more subtle, but otherwise nothing has changed - the media still throws images at us which make us feel insecure or deepen our insecurities. Why? Because ultimately, they’re trying to sell us things. Back then it was exercises and diets that will increase your bust or help you put a few pounds on, now it’s plastic surgery and diets which will help you shed those pounds.
The good news is, you can fight it - knowledge is power - so educate yourself. Think about the ‘perfect’ model back when you were young, and how has she changed. Learn of the power of Photoshop. Look at quality retouching: before and after. These women that media wants us to emulate are hardly real anymore. Things are turning around, but slowly, so in the meantime, learn.
I hope this gives some a little bit of perspective. Don’t fall prey to the media, you’re too smart for that, and way too beautiful all on your own.
——
[mod note or whatever: fucking THIS. cosigned. always. - haley <3]
(TW ED)
I have been recovering from bulimia nervosa/substance abuse problems for nearly a year now. There has never been a point in my life where I have been happy with myself or my appearance so I would always try to change and numb myself out through weight-loss and getting high. Through recovery I am slowly learning that size is of ZERO importance, and has absolutely nothing to do with my happiness or self-worth. Despite continuous relapses I am still pushing towards health and happiness and a positive body image. Because I deserve it.