What is activism? Do I qualify as an activist?

21st March 2008

What is activism? Do I qualify as an activist?

posted in Body Image, Body-Affirming, Eating Disorders, Fat Acceptance, Pop Culture |

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” ~Margaret Mead

So my last post on “coming out” as a fat rights activists sparked lots of “I don’t consider myself an activist because….” kind of disqualifiers. I probably ought to have been more clear on how I personally define activist and for me, it’s not always the militant devotionalist marching on Washington.

I consider activism to be any action that serves to disrupt, oppose, or defy the established social or political status quo. The most effective and successful forms activism aren’t always the big think tank mega-conglomorganizations with big budgets and a paid full-time staff who can chase legislators around Washington all day throwing big wads of incentives their way; rather, its the thousands upon thousands of small personal choices individuals make every day that have the most far-reaching impact in producing changes in attitude and heart that truly make a difference. The personal is very much political.

Don’t think you can be an activist? Here are some of the many small and non-confrontational ways you can start fighting sizeism (and this applies to eating disorders activism or fat rights activism):

Don’t contribute financially or otherwise to the already obese diet company coffers. Don’t purchase diet products. If a diet commercial comes on television, change the channel.
Don’t support media publications that glamorize heroin chic or bony as beautiful. Do support media publications that show a diversity of sizes and an emphasis on health, not weight loss.
Slap a sticker reading “This Promotes Eating Disorders!” or “This Promotes Healthy Body Image” on ads and articles and mail them to magazine editors. Stickers available for $5 a sheet (20) from the Renfrew Center.
Spend your dollars at stores, doctors, restaurants that are size-friendly. For a list of winning and offending companies, see About-Face.
Don’t engage in fat talk – that is, if a group of people start bemoaning the size of their thighs and how “bad” they are because they indulged in cheesecake, avoid it or talk up the positives about your own body. Don’t feel pressured to laugh when someone makes a size-related joke.
Participate in size-friendly communities, comment on blogs, and join the conversation. Or start your own blog about your life, your lifestyle, your kids, your dog. Show the world you are human, and not a statistic.
Take Harriet Brown’s “I Love my Body” pledge and reread it often.
Support national and international organizations like NEDA, ASDAH, or COFRA in working towards larger change.
Raise your children to be appreciative of size diversity and work to instill good self esteem in them. Be a mentor and a good role model for young girls in your life.
Throw out your scale. Or, if this is too drastic, make the commitment to go a day without weighing yourself, then a week, then a month.
Vote. Support candidates who promote mental health parity in health insurance and other issues important to you.
Let go of fear. Don’t be afraid to do things just because you may be laughed at or criticized. Dare to wear tank tops in the summer or to go jogging in the park. Order what you really want off the menu, make a splash at the community pool, go to the gym. Learn to delight in the thump of your step, the resiliency of your body, the size of your heart.

And keep in mind, sometimes the best form of activism is not in trying to change the world, but in refusing to allow the world to change you.

What are some other ways we can empower ourselves and work towards fighting sizeism?

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 10:06 am and is filed under Body Image, Body-Affirming, Eating Disorders, Fat Acceptance, Pop Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

1 On March 21st, 2008, Jackie said:

I really like the last line, sometimes the best form of activism is not changing the world, but not letting the world change you. I really find it hard at times not to want to explain fat acceptance to everyone, but your right, you can’t convince everyone of what I see as obvious. That body size shouldn’t matter. Being happy being yourself is much more of a statement, than anything you could convey with words.

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 11:13 am

2 On March 21st, 2008, zmama75 said:

Well, I can check off a few of those already and I’m still pretty new to all of this.

I’d love to hear about magazines that promote health, shows a variety of body sizes, and doesn’t promote weight loss. I would subscribe ASAP.

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 11:48 am

3 On March 21st, 2008, Jen said:

I refused to let myself be weighed at the doctor’s the other day. It had absolutely nothing to do with why I was there so I just said “You don’t need to weigh me” and the nurse was like, “Um…ok then.”

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 11:53 am

4 On March 21st, 2008, Elizabeth said:

I have been called fat my whole life. In junior high I was weighed in front of everyone, the gym teacher sighed and announced my weight for everyone to hear. I was called fatty for a whole year after that. But what really pisses me off, is that I was in no way fat. I was a good foot or more taller then any one in my class, and had just gone through puberty. I had breasts and hips, of course I weighed more then the other girls.

It took me a long time to deal with how I was treated when I was younger. For a long time, my weight defined me. “Oh, today I lost a pound” I would have a good day. “I don’t fit in those jeans that I had to starve myself to get into” I guess today I will hate myself.

What a waste!!!! I still struggle, but mostly I love myself for me. It was the birth of my children that made me realize, I have to love my self so they can love themselves.

I weigh 271 lbs. But more importantly, I am a wife, mother, sister, daughter, aunt, friend, and a Christian.

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 1:08 pm

5 On March 21st, 2008, Twistie said:

I must admit I spent a lot of yesterday considering how much of an activist I am or am not. I’m new to FA and still learning a lot. I’ve come to the conclusion, though, even before reading this post that I am an activist in the FA movement. Simply by taking the time to eductate myself about the way I’ve been miseducated about fat my entire life is an activist choice.

How much do my actions change the world? Well, they’ve changed mine, for one. If one thing I write in someone’s blog, or one thing I say to a friend, or one thing I wear or do in public inspires someone else to stop worrying about his or her weight and just LIVE, then yes, I’ll have changed the world for someone in a positive way.

So I’m going to keep acting in small ways. I may not be a big name in FA, but I’m already an active member of the community, and that’s activism.

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 1:24 pm

6 On March 21st, 2008, Alice said:

“[S]ometimes the best form of activism is not in trying to change the world, but in refusing to allow the world to change you.”

Damn. Just damn, Rachel. That’s one of those things that I often tend to forget in the moments of being overwhelmed, wanting to make the world change NOW. Thank you for reminding me of it.

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 1:42 pm

7 On March 21st, 2008, Gina said:

THANK YOU! I whole heartedly agree. It always bothers me that there are people in every activist movement that think that their way of activism is the only way. It’s interesting to me to see people who think they are liberal and oh-so-evolved talk like and Christian Fundamentalist.

Thank you for NOT being that way!

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 2:23 pm

8 On March 21st, 2008, Rachel said:

It always bothers me that there are people in every activist movement that think that their way of activism is the only way.

Yeah, that bugs me, too. Even more so when they are so vocal that outsiders assume that the beliefs of these other activists are also my beliefs. I don’t portend to speak for “the movement” – in fact, before I began blogging, I didn’t even know there was a movement. I blog my beliefs and my truths, period.

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 3:19 pm

9 On March 21st, 2008, MAY said:

I am 100% with most of it but the changing the channel will not help unless your a Nelson family there nothing in your box that tell the net work if your watching or not

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 3:41 pm

10 On March 21st, 2008, Stef said:

[S]ometimes the best form of activism is not in trying to change the world, but in refusing to allow the world to change you.”

That’s beautiful.

OK, how do you support COFRA? The site seems to be by invitation only.

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 4:14 pm

11 On March 21st, 2008, Charlotte said:

Wow…I’ve been an FA activist all along, and I didn’t even know it. Awesome.

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 4:26 pm

12 On March 21st, 2008, Rachel said:

Stef – if you click on the login button, you can register for an account. I think applications are moderated.

And May – it has nothing to do with ratings. Changing the channel DOES help; it helps YOU, the viewer, to not absorb and internalize dieting messages and personally, I always feel a little bit better in refusing to allow such harmful messages to reach my ears and mind.

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 4:27 pm

13 On March 21st, 2008, Tiffany said:

I’m a graduate student and I TA and tutor in the Writing Center at my college. One thing I always try to do when I’m working with students is point out unintentional “isms” in their papers. The other day I was working with a student who was writing about the impact of environmentalists. When she was writing about taking the bus, walking, or biking instead of driving, she had written that those who don’t do those things are taking the “lazy way out.” I had to point out to her that some people may not have the option to do those things and that using the word “lazy” had extremely negative connotations. She looked shocked. When she came back a few days later with a revised draft, she had changed that part.

Another thing I do that does not take much time or effort at all is forwarding links to blog posts or articles that I find to people who need to hear about the FA or HAES movement.

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 6:21 pm

14 On March 21st, 2008, Kyla said:

what a great activist list!

posted on March 21st, 2008 at 8:44 pm

15 On March 22nd, 2008, peggynature said:

I find it interesting how many people shy away from the “Activist” label. I’m not sure if it’s because we all believe we need to be moving mountains before we can be considered good-enough activists, or if people are genuinely sometimes afraid to put their money where their mouths are.

In at least one instance on my blog, I had people applauding me by the dozens for my PSA, which was part of a larger social marketing campaign designed to bring about real changes at my school. But then when I actually talked about the changes I wanted to make, one single concern troll (a person who I know, for a fact, does not support fat acceptance and doesn’t really understand it) managed to derail the conversation to such an extent that self-identified fat activists were agreeing that maybe taking the action I suggested was just a bit too extreme.

Now, I am probably being over-sensitive about that because it stung my own ego, but it made stop and reflect: if people can get all worked up and fiery about fat activism online, why are our efforts in the real world sometimes so hard to spot? Are people afraid?

Anyway, I agree that activism is about taking small steps, maybe of them personal. And I DEFINITELY consider myself an activist, even if that activism is at times only confined to keeping myself sane in an insane world. And occasional well-intended vandalism

posted on March 22nd, 2008 at 11:02 am

16 On March 22nd, 2008, peggynature said:

OMG, Stef, you need to join! Just click the “login” link, then “Create new account” and fill in the form to request to join. Please!

posted on March 22nd, 2008 at 11:05 am

17 On March 22nd, 2008, Mary said:

I definitely consider myself an activist, though I take small steps. I correct people when they divide foods into good and bad, and speak out about the harms of anti-obesity school campaigns. I praise fat kids. Not always for their bodies, because they might think I’m mocking them, but for anything that stands out about them. They are so used to discrimination and rejection, even by their own families sometimes, that any positive remark acts like a life boat when they start to drown in the hate. I make a point of saying “but I am fat, and isn’t it great that the world has all kinds of people?!” if little kids point me out as fat. This sometimes confuses their parents or makes them angry, but I explain why I refuse to take the word fat as an insult. I model loving my body AND referring to myself as fat. I wear my fat hate bingo tees. All of these things count, I feel.

posted on March 22nd, 2008 at 9:35 pm

18 On March 22nd, 2008, Rachel said:

Mary – I have three nephews, a niece, and a friend with two little girls. I try to praise all the kids not on superficial qualities, but in how smart or funny they are.

And I regularly identify and use the word fat, even in my academic papers, where such euphemisms as “rotundity,” “obesity,” and “plumpness” are usually preferred by other historians and sociologists.

posted on March 22nd, 2008 at 10:07 pm

19 On March 23rd, 2008, L said:

Regarding the scale -
It’s NEVER too drastic.
During my first relapse into ED, the only way I could actually bring myself out of my hole was telling someone that I saw daily, my mother, to take my scale and hide it in a location that I wouldn’t ever discover, and to give it to me if I asked for it. I have a lot of pride. Going up to my mother and asking her for my scale would have been the end of everything – admitting defeat, having to talk to her about my problems, making her worry about me… I can’t do that. I haven’t weighed myself in about 6 months, and I have no intention of changing that. Now I have the option to, on an almost-daily basis, but I don’t because I know that it wouldn’t be good for me.

Get RID of it. It’s absolutely possible to go from weighing multiple times daily to not at all, no matter how scary it is.

posted on March 23rd, 2008 at 8:17 pm

20 On March 24th, 2008, Cynthia said:

I just started an “activist” blog on my own, which happens to be the FIRST one ever published for Brazilians and in Portuguese.
With only two days I had about 400 hits which surprised me a lot.
If things are difficult for us all over the world, you can’t possibly imagine how hard it is to grow up overweight in a country like Brazil, where the whole culture revolves around promoting tanned, g-stringed, perfect beach bodies.
The hatred against fat people is viciously encouraged by the media with offensive, rude ads and blunt public attacks and as a result, we end up internalizing the hatred, accepting it and even echoing it ourselves.
So I was really surprised with the reception. Apparently Brazilians are also fed up with the prejudice.
Well lets get to the point. I would like to translate this “activism” check list, with the proper credits of course, and publish it in my blog with back links to yours.
Even though our readers do not speak the same language, your blog’s message is pretty much the kind of message I am trying to convey in mine.
I appreciate any support you can give me

posted on March 24th, 2008 at 1:54 am

21 On March 24th, 2008, Rachel said:

Hi Cynthia – feel free to translate and repost with a link back to my site. Thanks for helping to spread the good word!

posted on March 24th, 2008 at 11:20 am

22 On May 7th, 2008, Bras, bleah « spacedcowgirl said:

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posted on May 7th, 2008 at 3:06 pm