fat acceptance movement

The history of the fat acceptance movement can be dated back to 1967 when 500 people met in New York's Central Park to protest against anti-fat bias. Sociologist Charlotte Cooper has argued that the history of the fat activist movement is best understood in waves, similar to the feminist movement, with which she believes it is closely tied. Cooper believes that fat activists have suffered similar waves of activism followed by burnout, with activists in the following wave often unaware of the history of the movement, resulting in a lack of continuity.{{cite web |last=Cooper |first=Charlotte |title=What's Fat Activism? |url=http://ulsites.ul.ie/sociology/sites/default/files//Whats%20Fat%20Activism.pdf |publisher=University of Limerick |access-date=2017-09-25}}

Other scholars, such as Amy Erdman Farrell, have argued that the history of fat activism that traditionally gets told is a dominantly white history. The intersectional work of fat activists of color frequently gets overlooked within this traditional history.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

First wave activities consisted of isolated activists drawing attention to the dominant model of obesity and challenging it as only one of several possible models. This kind of political climate was the background of the fat acceptance movement, which originated in the late 1960s. Like other social movements from this period, the fat acceptance movement, initially known as "Fat Pride", "Fat Power", or "Fat Liberation", often consisted of people acting in an impromptu fashion. A "fat-in" was staged in New York's Central Park in 1967.{{cite news |title=Curves Have Their Day in Park; 500 at a 'Fat-in' Call for Obesity |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 5, 1967 |page=54 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9900E0DC133AE63ABC4D53DFB066838C679EDE}} Called by radio personality Steve Post, the "Fat-in" consisted of a group of 500 people eating, carrying signs and photographs of Twiggy (a model famous for her thin figure), and burning diet books.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1913858,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803084214/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1913858,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 3, 2009 |magazine=Time |title=The Fat-Acceptance Movement |first=Dan |last=Fletcher |date=2009-07-31}}

In 1967, Lew Louderback wrote an article in the Saturday Evening Post called "More People Should be FAT" in response to discrimination against his wife. The article led to a meeting between Louderback and William Fabrey, who went on to found the first organization for fat people and their supporters, originally named the 'National Association to Aid Fat Americans' and currently called the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA). NAAFA was founded in America, in 1969, by Bill Fabrey in response to discrimination against his wife. He primarily intended it to campaign for fat rights, however, a reporter attending the 2001 NAAFA conference notes that few attendees were active in fat rights politics and that most women came to shop for fashion, wear it on the conference catwalk or to meet a potential partner.{{cite book |last=Saggy |first=Abigail |title=What's Wrong With Fat? |year=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199857081 |page=55 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_kVC1XP05MC&pg=PA55}} Since 1991, Fabrey has worked as a director with the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination, specializing in the history of the size acceptance movement.{{cite web |title=Council Directors and Project Managers |url=http://cswd.org/bill-fabrey |publisher=Council on Size & Weight Discrimination |access-date=2017-09-25}}

In 1972, the feminist group The Fat Underground was formed.{{cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1913858,00.html |title=The Fat-Acceptance Movement |magazine=Time |first=Dan |last=Fletcher |date=31 July 2009}} It began as a radical chapter of NAAFA and spun off to become independent when NAAFA expressed concerns about its promotion of a stronger activist philosophy.{{cite web |url=http://www.radiancemagazine.com/issues/1998/winter_98/fat_underground.html |title=Life In The Fat Underground by Sara Fishman |publisher=Radiancemagazine.com |access-date=2011-12-31}} The FU were inspired by and, in some cases, members of the Radical Therapy Collective, a feminist group that believed that many psychological problems were caused by oppressive social institutions and practices. Founded by Sara Fishman (then Sara Aldebaran) and Judy Freespirit, the Fat Underground took issue with what they saw as a growing bias against obesity in the scientific community. They coined the saying, "a diet is a cure that doesn't work, for a disease that doesn't exist".[http://www.largesse.net/Archives/FU/index.html The Fat Underground] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021226042434/http://www.largesse.net/Archives/FU/index.html|date=2002-12-26}}, largesse.net{{full citation needed|date=April 2014}} Shortly afterward, Fishman moved to Connecticut, where, along with Karen Scott-Jones, she founded the New Haven Fat Liberation Front, an organization similar to the Fat Underground in its scope and focus.{{cite news |author=Swatek, Randall|date=March 12, 1978 |title=Fat Times in New Haven |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/12/archives/connecticut-weekly-fat-times-in-new-haven.html |access-date=May 31, 2022}} In 1983, the two groups collaborated to publish a seminal book in the field of fat activism, Shadow on a Tightrope, which collected several fat activist position papers initially distributed by the Fat Underground, as well as poems and essays from other writers.{{cite book |last=Simic |first=Zora |editor=Caroline Walters |others=Helen Hester |title=Fat Sex: New Directions in Theory and Activism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVjUCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT28 |year=2015 |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=9781472432568 |page=28ff |chapter=Far as a Feminist Issue: A History}}

In 1979, Carole Shaw coined the term Big Beautiful Woman (BBW) and launched a fashion and lifestyle magazine of the same name aimed at plus-sized women.{{cite web |title=BBW Past and Present |url=http://www.bbwmagazine.com/bbw-past-present/ |publisher=Big Beautiful Woman Magazine |access-date=2017-09-25 |date=2014-08-15}} The original print magazine ceased publication in May 2003, but continued in various online formats. The term "BBW" has become widely used to refer to any fat woman (sometimes in a derogatory way). Several other periodicals focusing on fashion and lifestyle for "fuller-figured" women were published in print from the early 1980s to the mid 2010s. From 1984 to 2000, Radiance: The Magazine for Large Women was published in print to "support women 'all sizes of large in living proud, full, active lives, at whatever weight, with self-love and self-respect."{{Cite news |title=About Radiance |work=Radiance: The Magazine for Large Women |editor-last=Ansfield |editor-first=Alice |type=Print Magazine |url=http://www.radiancemagazine.com |access-date=July 21, 2022}}

In the UK, the London Fat Women's Group was formed, the first British fat activist group, and was active between approximately 1985 and 1989. Other first wave activities included the productions of zines such as Figure 8 and Fat!So? by Marilyn Wann. The latter went on to become a book of the same name.

In the second wave, the fat acceptance movement became more widespread in the US and started to spread to other countries. Ideas from the movement began to appear in the mainstream. Publishers became more willing to publish fat acceptance themed literature. The 1980s witnessed an increase in activist organizations, publications, and conferences.{{Cite web |title=From New York to Instagram: The history of the body positivity movement |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z2w7dp3 |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=BBC Bitesize |language=en-GB}}

In 1989, a group of people including actress Anne Zamberlan formed the first French organization for fat acceptance, Allegro fortissimo. Organizations began holding conferences and conventions, including NAAFA. By the 1990s, input from the fat acceptance movement began to be incorporated into research papers by some members of the medical professions such as new anti-dieting programs and models of obesity management.{{cite journal |doi=10.1037/0735-7028.27.2.175 |title=The "If Only I Were Thin..." Treatment Program: Decreasing the Stigmatizing Effects of Fatness |journal=Professional Psychology: Research and Practice |year=1996 |last1=B.E. |first1=Robinson |last2=J.G. |first2=Bacon |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=175–183 |issn=0735-7028 |oclc=8996897}}

The fat acceptance movement has seen a diversification of projects during the third wave. Activities have addressed issues of both fat and race, class, sexuality, and other issues. Size discrimination has been increasingly addressed in the arts, as well.{{Cite web |title=Tantalising Glimpses (2020) |url=https://www.thisisliveart.co.uk/resources/tantalising-glimpses-2020/ |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=LADA Live Art Development Agency |language=en}}

The fat acceptance movement argues that fat people are targets of hatred and discrimination.{{cite book |last=Jaffa |first=Karen |title=Forming Fat Identities |year=2008 |isbn=9780549889717 |pages=169–70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2EGyNDnohMC&q=Are+fat+people+discriminated+against }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In particular, advocates suggest obese women are subjected to more social pressure than obese men. The movement argues that these attitudes comprise a fat phobic entrenched societal norm, evident in many social institutions, including the mass media, where fat people are often ridiculed,{{cite web |url=http://www.cswd.org/docs/media.html |title=Council on Size and Weight Discrimination – Weight Discrimination on Television |publisher=Cswd.org |access-date=2011-12-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220040815/http://www.cswd.org/docs/media.html |archive-date=2011-12-20}}{{cite journal |last1=Greenberg |first1=B. S. |last2=Eastin |first2=M. |last3=Hofschire |first3=L. |last4=Lachlan |first4=K. |last5=Brownell |first5=K. D. |display-authors=1 |year=2003 |title=Portrayals of overweight and obese individuals on commercial television |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=93 |issue=8 |pages=1342–8 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.93.8.1342 |pmid=12893625 |pmc=1447967 |citeseerx=10.1.1.530.9981}} or held up as objects of pity.{{cite book |last=Jennings |first=Laura Lynn |title=Place Settings: Social Aspects of the Body Image/Eating Relationship |year=2008 |isbn=978-0549641261 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCEtM886GHwC&q=Pity+fat+people+media }}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Discrimination includes a lack of equal access to transportation and employment.{{Cite journal |first1=C. L. |first2=A. F. |last1=Maranto |journal=Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal |volume=12 |pages=9–24 |year=2000 |doi=10.1023/A:1007712500496 |last2=Stenoien |title=Weight Discrimination: A Multidisciplinary Analysis |s2cid=142845902}} Members of the fat acceptance movement perceive negative societal attitudes as persistent, and as being based on the presumption that fatness reflects negatively on a person's character.{{cite journal |last=Murray |first=S. |year=2005 |title=(Un/Be)Coming Out? Rethinking Fat Politics |journal=Social Semiotics |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=153–163 |doi=10.1080/10350330500154667 |s2cid=145102272}}{{Cite journal |last1=Puhl |first1=R. |last2=Brownell |first2=D. |title=Bias, discrimination, and obesity |volume=9 |journal=Obesity Research |issue=12 |pages=788–805 |date=Dec 2001 |issn=1071-7323 |pmid=11743063 |doi=10.1038/oby.2001.108 |doi-access=free}} Fat activists push for change in societal, personal, and medical attitudes toward fat people. Fat acceptance organizations engage in public education about what they describe as myths concerning fat people.{{cite web |last=Hemmenway |first=Carrie |title=Dispelling common myths about fat persons. |url=http://world.std.com/~naafa/documents/brochures/myths.html |publisher=NAAFA |access-date=2017-09-25}}

Fat people experience many different kinds of discrimination because of their weight. This discrimination appears in healthcare, employment, education, personal relationships, and the media.{{cite journal |last1=Tomiyama |first1=A. |title=If Shaming People Reduced Obesity, There Would Be No Fat People |journal=The Hastings Center Report |date=May–June 2013 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=4–5 |doi=10.1002/hast.166 |pmid=23650055 |url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt2nx1p3hs/qt2nx1p3hs.pdf?t=njii67}}{{cite web |title=National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance |url=https://www.naafaonline.com/dev2/assets/documents/naafa_FactSheet_v17_screen.pdf |website=naafaonline.com |access-date=20 February 2019 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116014848/https://naafa.org/dev2/assets/documents/naafa_FactSheet_v17_screen.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |last=By |date=2011-05-16 |title=Some ob-gyns in South Florida turn away overweight women |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2011/05/16/some-ob-gyns-in-south-florida-turn-away-overweight-women/ |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=Sun Sentinel |language=en-US}}{{Cite journal |last=Vallis |first=T. Michael |date=2007 |title=Healthcare Professional Bias Against the Obese: How Do We Know If We Have a Problem? |url=https://www.canadianjournalofdiabetes.com/article/S1499-2671(07)14008-9/abstract |journal=Canadian Journal of Diabetes |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=365–370|doi=10.1016/S1499-2671(07)14008-9 }}{{Cite journal |last=Adams |first=CH |date=1993 |title=The relationship of obesity to the frequency of pelvic examinations: do physician and patient attitudes make a difference? |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8372479/ |journal=Women Health |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=45–57 |doi=10.1300/J013v20n02_04 |pmid=8372479 |via=NIH National Library of Medicine}} Fat individuals also argue clothing stores discriminate against them.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} For example, some women have complained that "one size fits all" stores, which offer a single size for each item, do not cater to those above a certain weight.{{cn|date=January 2025}} Public transport has also been subject to criticism due to lack of inclusivity to fat people as seats and walkways are often too small to accommodate them.{{Cite web |last=Pitter |first=Jay |date=2015-08-11 |title=Weighing In: Fat Discrimination on Public Transit |url=https://spacing.ca/toronto/2015/08/11/weighing-fat-discrimination-public-transit/ |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=Spacing Toronto |language=en-US}}

On the subject of horseback riding, there has been disagreement between fat acceptance activists and animal rights activists.[https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/remi-bader-says-ranch-wouldnt-allow-ride-horses-due-weight-rcna33330 TikTok star Remi Bader says she was mocked for her weight after being turned away from horse ranch], NBC News, June 13, 2022[https://people.com/health/tiktok-star-remi-bader-says-ranch-refused-to-let-her-ride-horses-due-to-her-weight/ TikTok Star Remi Bader Says Ranch Mistreated Her and Refused to Let Her Ride Horses Due to Her Weight], People, June 14, 2022

{{Main|Health at Every Size|Obesity#Effects on health}}

Fat activists argue that anti-fat stigma and aggressive diet promotion have led to an increase in psychological and physiological problems among fat people. For instance, individuals who experience weight discrimination have reported facing more psychological distress, more loneliness, and lower well-being. Along with this, weight discrimination can heighten risk for obesity, chronic inflammation, and disease burden.{{Cite journal |last1=Phelan |first1=SM |last2=Burgess |first2=DJ |last3=Yeazel |first3=MW |last4=Hellerstedt |first4=WL |last5=Griffin |first5=JM |last6=van Ryn |first6=M |date=April 2015 |title=Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity |journal=Obesity Reviews |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=319–326 |doi=10.1111/obr.12266 |issn=1467-7881 |pmc=4381543 |pmid=25752756}} People can indulge in health-risk behaviors, such as avoiding physical activity.{{cite journal |last1=Sutin|first1=A. R. |last2=Stephan|first2=Y. |last3=Terracciano|first3=A. |display-authors=1 |year=2015|title=Weight Discrimination and Risk of Mortality |journal=Psychol Sci |volume=26 |issue=11 |pages=1803–1811 |doi=10.1177/0956797615601103|pmid=26420442|pmc=4636946 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Adams |first1=C. H. |last2=Smith |first2=N. J. |last3=Wilbur |first3=D. C. |last4=Grady |first4=K. E. |date=1993 |title=The relationship of obesity to the frequency of pelvic examinations: do physician and patient attitudes make a difference? |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8372479/ |journal=Women & Health |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=45–57 |doi=10.1300/J013v20n02_04 |issn=0363-0242 |pmid=8372479}} Experiencing and internalizing weight stigma are identified as critical risk factors leading to eating pathology.{{cite journal |last1=McEntee|first1=M. L. |last2=Philip|first2=S. R. |last3=Phelan|first3=S. M. |display-authors=1 |year=2023|title=Dismantling weight stigma in eating disorder treatment: Next steps for the field |journal=Front Psychiatry |volume=14| pages=1157594 |pmid=37113547|doi=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1157594|doi-access=free |pmc=10126256 }} Concerns are also raised that modern culture's focus on weight loss does not have a foundation in scientific research, but instead is an example of using science as a means to control deviance, as a part of society's attempt to deal with something that it finds disturbing.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} Diet critics cite the high failure rate of permanent weight-loss attempts,{{Cite journal |title=Weight Science: Evaluating the Evidence for a Paradigm Shift |journal=Nutrition Journal |date=2011-01-24 |issn=1475-2891 |pmc=3041737 |pmid=21261939 |pages=9 |volume=10 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/1475-2891-10-9 |first1=Linda |last1=Bacon |first2=Lucy |last2=Aphramor |doi-access=free }} and the dangers of "yo-yo" weight fluctuations{{cite book |last=Coon |first=Dennis |title=Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behaviour |year=2008 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0495599111 |page=328 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vw20LEaJe10C&q=dangers+of+yo-yo+dieting}} and weight-loss surgeries.{{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Evelyn B. |title=Obesity |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0313334603 |page=[https://archive.org/details/obesity0000kell/page/138 138] |url=https://archive.org/details/obesity0000kell |url-access=registration |quote=dangers of bariatric surgery. |date=2006-01-01}} Fat activists argue that the health issues of obesity and being overweight have been exaggerated or misrepresented, and that health issues are used as a cover for cultural and aesthetic prejudices against fat.{{Cite web |last=Hobbes |first=Michael |title=Everything You Know About Obesity Is Wrong |url=https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/everything-you-know-about-obesity-is-wrong/ |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=HuffPost}}

Proponents of fat acceptance maintain that people of all shapes and sizes can strive for fitness and physical health.{{cite journal |last1=Ikeda |first1=J. P. |last2=Hayes |first2=D. |last3=Satter |first3=E. |last4=Parham |first4=E. S. |last5=Kratina |first5=K. |last6=Woolsey |first6=M. |last7=Lowey |first7=M. |last8=Tribole |first8=E. |display-authors=1 |year=1999 |title=A Commentary on the New Obesity Guidelines from NIH |journal=Journal of the American Dietetic Association |volume=99 |issue=8 |pages=918–9 |doi=10.1016/S0002-8223(99)00218-7 |pmid=10450304}}{{cite web |url=http://www.size-acceptance.org/rfh/ |title=ISAA's Respect | Health Initiative |publisher=Size-acceptance.org |access-date=2011-12-31}}{{cite web |title=Physical Fitness |url=http://www.naafaonline.com/dev2/about/Policies/PHYSICALFITNESS.pdf |publisher=NAAFA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920140203/http://www.naafaonline.com/dev2/about/Policies/PHYSICALFITNESS.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-20}} They believe that healthy behaviors can be independent of body weight.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Informed by this approach, psychologists who were unhappy with the treatment of fat people in the medical world initiated the Health at Every Size movement. It has five basic tenets: (1) enhancing health, (2) size and self-acceptance (3) the pleasure of eating well, (4) the joy of movement, and (5) an end to weight bias.{{Citation |last=Burgard |first=Deb |chapter=What Is "Health at Every Size"? |year=2009 |editor1-last=Solovay |editor1-first=Sandra |editor2-last=Wann |editor2-first=Marilyn |title=The Fat Studies Reader |publisher=New York University Press |publication-date=2009 |isbn=978-0-8147-7630-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fatstudiesreader0000roth/page/42 42–49] |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/fatstudiesreader0000roth |url=https://archive.org/details/fatstudiesreader0000roth/page/42}}

Some proponents also claim that people with obesity can be metabolically healthy.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} Some medical studies have challenged that "healthy obesity" concept,{{cite web |url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_145981.html |title=Is Healthy Obesity a Myth? |publisher=nlm.nih.gov |date=30 April 2014 |access-date=31 May 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.bhf.org.uk/default.aspx?page=16993 |title=Dispelling the myth of 'healthy obesity' |publisher=British Heart Foundation |date=1 May 2014 |access-date=31 May 2014}}{{cite journal |last1=Kramer |first1=CK |last2=Zinman |first2=B |last3=Retnakaran |first3=R |s2cid=9431877 |title=Are metabolically healthy overweight and obesity benign conditions?: A systematic review and meta-analysis. |journal=Ann Intern Med |date=Dec 3, 2013 |volume=159 |issue=11 |doi=10.7326/0003-4819-159-11-201312030-00008 |pmid=24297192 |pages=758–69}}{{cite journal |last1=Roberson |first1=Lara L |last2=Aneni |first2=Ehimen C |last3=Maziak |first3=Wasim |last4=Agatston |first4=Arthur |last5=Feldman |first5=Theodore |last6=Rouseff |first6=Maribeth |last7=Tran |first7=Thinh |last8=Blaha |first8=Michael J |last9=Santos |first9=Raul D. |display-authors=1 |last10=Sposito |first10=Andrei |last11=Al-Mallah |first11=Mouaz H |last12=Blankstein |first12=Ron |last13=Budoff |first13=Matthew J |last14=Nasir |first14=Khurram |title=Beyond BMI: The "Metabolically healthy obese" phenotype & its association with clinical/subclinical cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality – a systematic review |journal=BMC Public Health |date=Jan 8, 2014 |volume=14 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/1471-2458-14-14 |pmid=24400816 |pmc=3890499 |pages=14 |doi-access=free }} although the definitions of metabolically healthy obesity are not standardized across studies.{{cite journal |last1=Blüher |first1=S |last2=Schwarz |first2=P |title=Metabolically healthy obesity from childhood to adulthood — Does weight status alone matter? |journal=Metabolism |date=Jun 19, 2014 |volume=14 |issue=9 |pages=1084–92 |doi=10.1016/j.metabol.2014.06.009 |pmid=25038727}}

{{Main|Big Beautiful Woman|Fat feminism}}

File:Kira Nerusskaya 2 by David Shankbone.jpg World: Under the Fat! In 2008.]]

The issues faced by fat women in society have been a central theme of the fat acceptance movement since its inception. Although the first organization, National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, and the first book, Fat Power (1970), were both created by men, in each case they were responses to weight discrimination experienced by their wives. Women soon started campaigning on their behalf with the first feminist group, 'The Fat Underground', being formed in 1973. Issues addressed regarding women have included body image, and in particular the thin ideal and its effect on women. Critics say NAAFA, which opposes dieting and weight-loss surgery, is an apologist for an unhealthy lifestyle. But NAAFA says it does no such thing, that some people are just bigger and no less deserving of the same rights as everyone else.{{Cite magazine |last=Fletcher |first=Dan |title=A Brief History of the Fat-Acceptance Movement |url=http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1913858,00.html |date=2009-07-31 |magazine=Time |access-date=2020-03-20 |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}}

The fat acceptance movement has primarily focused on a feminist model of patriarchal oppression of fat women, most clearly represented by the encouragement of women to diet. However, Sander L. Gilman argues that, until the 20th century, dieting has historically been a man's activity. He continues, "Obesity eats away at the idealized image of the masculine just as surely as it does the idealized image of the feminine."{{cite book |last=Gilman |first=Sander L. |title=Fat Boys: A Slim Book |year=2004 |publisher=University of Nebraska |isbn=978-0803221833 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fatboysslimbook00gilm/page/1 1]–10 |url=https://archive.org/details/fatboysslimbook00gilm |url-access=registration |quote=fat men.}} William Banting was the author of an 1863 booklet called Letter On Corpulence,{{Cite book |title=Letter on Corpulance |last=Banting |first=William |publisher=Cosimo, Inc. |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=72Vzw7S4f2MC |isbn=9781596050853}} which modern diets have used as a model. Men respond to being overweight differently, (i.e., having a Body Mass Index of 25 or more), being half as likely as women to diet, a quarter as likely to undergo weightloss surgery and only a fifth as likely to report feeling shame about their weight.{{cite book |last=Oliver |first=J. Eric |title=Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America's Obesity Epidemic |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195347029 |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DtQ0olwnQ4AC&q=fat+men}} Irmgard Tischner identifies this behavior as rooted in notions of masculinity that require disregard for healthcare: "Men do not have to care about their size or health, as they have women to care about those things for them".{{cite book |last=Tischner |first=Irmgard |title=Fat Lives: A Feminist Psychological Exploration |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415680943 |pages=105–6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oyz6VaOi7kQC&q=Men+sexualise+fat |year=2013}}

Some gay men have moved beyond disregard for size to fat acceptance and fat activism with movements like chub culture, which started as Girth & Mirth clubs in San Francisco in 1976{{cite web |last=Suresha |first=Ron |title=The Birth of Girth and Mirth: an interview with Reed Wilgoren |url=http://ronsuresha.com/?p=4093 |date=2016-02-07 |access-date=2017-04-08 |archive-date=2017-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409112331/http://ronsuresha.com/?p=4093 |url-status=dead }} and the bear culture which fetishizes big, hairy men. Ganapati Durgadas argues that fat bisexual and gay men "are reminders of the feminine stigma with which heterosexism still tars queer men". In a comparison of queer fat positive zines, the lesbian-produced Fat Girl was found to have political debate content absent from gay male orientated zines such as Bulk Male and Big Ad. Joel Barraquiel Tan comments: "If fat is a feminist issue, then fat or heft is a fetishized one for gay men. Gay men tend to sexualize difference, where lesbians have historically politicized it."{{cite book |last=LeBesco |first=Kathleen |title=Revolting Bodies? The Struggle To Redefine Fat Identity |year=2004 |publisher=University of Massachusetts Press |isbn=978-1558494299 |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W7Wz4EKksUcC&q=men+sexualize+their+fat}}

A fat heterosexual man is known as a "Big Handsome Man" (BHM), in counterpart to a Big Beautiful Woman. Like some fat and gay men, BHMs have sexualized their difference and receive validation of this identity from BBWs or straight women known as "Female Fat Admirers".{{cite book |last=Monaghan |first=Lee F. |title=Men and the War on Obesity: A Sociological Study |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415407120 |page=53 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fP14YLpzR_kC&q=big+Handsome+Men |year=2008}}

In the 1970s, fat people in the United States began seeking legal redress for discrimination based on weight, primarily in the workplace but also for being denied access to, or treated differently in regards to, services or entertainment. The results of these cases have varied considerably, although in some instances the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been successfully used to argue cases of discrimination against fat people.{{cite book |last=Theran |first=Elizabeth E. |title=Legal Theory on Weight Discriminationin Weight Bias: Nature, Consequences, And Remedies |year=2005 |publisher=Guildford Press |isbn=978-1593851996 |page=195 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FRszpOfV5o0C&q=weight+discrimination+laws}} Roth and Solovay argue that, as with transgender people, a major cause for the variation in success is the extent to which litigants are apologetic for their size (with more apologetic plaintiffs finding more success):

What is the difference between a million-dollar weight case award and a losing case? Like the difference between many winning and losing transgender cases, it's all about the attitude. Does the claimant's attitude and experience about weight/gender reinforce or challenge dominant stereotypes? Winning cases generally adopt a legal posture that reinforces social prejudices. Cases that challenge societal prejudices generally lose.{{cite book |last=Dylan Roth and |first=Sandra Solovay |title=No Apology: Shared Struggles in Fat and Transgender Law in Fat Studies Reader |year=2009 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=9780814776407 |pages=168–170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XtLWPWNO8gUC&q=fat+acceptance+gender}}

The Americans with Disabilities Act continues to be used as there is no USA federal law against weight discrimination; however, the state of Michigan passed a law against weight discrimination in 1976.{{Cite web |title=ELLIOTT-LARSEN CIVIL RIGHTS ACT (EXCERPT) Act 453 of 1976, MCL - Section 37.2102 |url=https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-37-2102 |website=Michigan Compiled Laws}} The cities of Washington, D.C., San Francisco (2000), Santa Cruz, Binghamton, Urbana (1990s), New York (2023),{{Cite web |title=NYC Worker Protections Grow With Rare Ban on Weight, Height Bias |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/nyc-worker-protections-grow-with-rare-ban-on-weight-height-bias |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=news.bloomberglaw.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=May 26, 2023 |title=Mayor Adams Signs Legislation To Prohibit Height Or Weight Discrimination In Employment, Housing, An |url=http://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/364-23/mayor-adams-signs-legislation-prohibit-height-weight-discrimination-employment-housing- |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The official website of the City of New York}} and Madison (1970s) have also passed laws prohibiting weight discrimination.{{Cite web |last=Wagner |first=Hannah Harris Green, Marika Proctor, Tony |date=2024-03-29 |title=This is why weight discrimination is legal in most of the U.S. |url=https://www.marketplace.org/2024/03/29/this-is-why-weight-discrimination-is-legal-in-most-of-the-u-s/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Marketplace |language=en-US}} In the cities that have a weight discrimination law, it is rare for more than one case a year to be brought, except for San Francisco which may have as many as six. Opinions amongst city enforcement workers vary as to why the prosecution numbers are so low, although they all suggested that both overweight people and employers were unaware of the protective legislation and it was also noted that the cities with anti-weight discrimination laws tended to be liberal college towns.{{cite web |title=Weight Bias Laws: Tipping the Scales Against Prejudice? |url=http://mn.gov/mdhr/education/articles/rs10_2weightlaws.html |publisher=Minnesota Dept. Human Rights |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424044637/http://mn.gov/mdhr/education/articles/rs10_2weightlaws.html |archive-date=2014-04-24}}

Not all legal changes have protected the rights of fat people. Despite recommendations from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to the contrary, in 2009 the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided that fat people will only qualify as disabled if it can be proved that their weight is caused by an underlying condition, supporting the concept that being obese is not inherently a disability. The Supreme Court of Texas came to a similar conclusion in 2023. But in 2018, the Washington Supreme Court provided weight-related disability bias protection without evidence of a related medical condition. Other countries besides the United States have considered legislation to protect the rights of fat people. In the UK an All-Party Parliamentary Group published a report in 2012 called Reflections on Body Image that found that one in five British people had been victimized because of their weight. The report recommended that Members of Parliament investigated putting "appearance-based discrimination" under the same legal basis as sexual or racial discrimination via the Equality Act 2010 which makes it illegal to harass, victimize or discriminate against anyone in the workplace based on several named categories, including size or weight.{{cite news |last=Adams |first=Stephen |title=Calling someone 'fatty' could become a hate crime |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9297496/Calling-someone-fatty-could-become-a-hate-crime.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530115406/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9297496/Calling-someone-fatty-could-become-a-hate-crime.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-05-30 |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=2017-09-25}} The Equality Act came into force on 1 October 2010, it brings together over 116 separate pieces of legislation into one single Act. The Act provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all.{{Cite web |url=https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/equality-act-2010/what-equality-act |title=What is the Equality Act? {{!}} Equality and Human Rights Commission |website=www.equalityhumanrights.com |access-date=2020-03-20 |archive-date=2020-03-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320021852/https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/equality-act-2010/what-equality-act |url-status=dead }}

There has also been an emerging body of academic studies called Fat Studies. Marilyn Wann argues that fat studies moved beyond being an individual endeavor to being a field of study with the 2004 conference Fat Attitudes: An Examination of an American Subculture and the Representation of the Female Body. The American Popular Culture Association regularly includes panels on the subject.{{cn|date=October 2024}} In many colleges, student groups with a fat activist agenda have emerged, including Hampshire, Smith, and Antioch.{{cn|date=October 2024}} Fat studies are now available as an interdisciplinary course of study at some colleges, taking a similar approach to other identity studies such as women's studies, queer studies, and African American studies.{{cite news |title='Fat Studies' Go to College |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/11/03/fat-studies-colleges-hot-new-course.html |newspaper=The Daily Beast |date=3 November 2010 |publisher=The Daily Beast Company |last=Binder |first=Eve}} As of 2011, there were two Australian courses and ten American courses that were primarily focused on fat studies or Health at Every Size, and numerous other courses that had some fat acceptance content.{{cite news |last=Watkins |first=Patti Lou |title=Teaching Fat Studies From Conception to Reception |newspaper=Taylor & Francis |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ufts20/current |publisher=Oregon State University}} Taylor & Francis publish an online Fat Studies journal.{{cite news |title=Fat Studies |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ufts20/current |newspaper=Taylor & Francis |access-date=2017-09-25}} The first national Fat Studies seminar was held at York in May 2008, leading to the 2009 publication Fat Studies in the UK, edited by Corinna Tomrley and Ann Kalosky Naylor.{{cite web |title=Fat Studies in the UK |url=http://www.rawnervebooks.co.uk/FSUK.html |publisher=Raw Nerve. Books |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317214349/http://www.rawnervebooks.co.uk/FSUK.html |archive-date=2012-03-17}}

The fat acceptance movement has been divided in its response to proposed legislation defining morbidly obese people as disabled. NAAFA board member Peggy Howell says: "There's a lot of conflict in the size acceptance community over this. I don't consider myself disabled, and some people don't like 'fat' being considered a disability."{{cite news |last=Wilkie |first=Christina |title=Obesity Discrimination on the Job Provokes Dispute Over Best Remedy |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/04/obesity-discrimination_n_1939385.html |newspaper=Huffing ton Post |year=2012}} An example of the positive perspective of obesity being classified as a disability in wider society is noted by a person interviewed by Amy Erdman in her book Fat Shame: "[Deborah Harper] makes a point to tell me how impressed she is with the way many do make quiet and polite accommodations for her."{{cite book |last=Erdman Farrell |first=Amy |title=Fat Shame:!Stigma and the Fat Body in American Culture |year=2011 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0814727683 |page=[https://archive.org/details/fatshame_farr_2011_000_10568284/page/n174 165] |url=https://archive.org/details/fatshame_farr_2011_000_10568284 |url-access=registration |quote=Men fat acceptance.}} Women are particularly active within the fat acceptance movement and membership of fat acceptance organizations is dominated by middle-class women in the heaviest 1–2% of the population.{{cite book |last=Saguy |first=Abigail |title=What's Wrong with Fat? |year=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199857081 |page=63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_kVC1XP05MC&q=fat+acceptance+men}} Members have criticized the lack of representation in the movement from men, people of color, and people of lower socioeconomic status.{{Cite web |url=http://www.xojane.com/issues/why-im-over-the-size-acceptance-movement-or-hey-sa-what-have-you-done-for-me-lately |title=Why I'm Over The Size Acceptance Movement or Hey, SA, What Have You Done For Me Lately? |last=Webb |first=Cary |date=4 January 2014 |website=XOJane.com |publisher=XOJANE |access-date=4 May 2016}}

The fat acceptance movement has been criticized from several perspectives. The primary criticism is that fat acceptance ignores studies that have shown health issues to be linked to obesity and hence encourages an unhealthy lifestyle.{{cite news |last1=Worth |first1=Tammy |title=Is the fat acceptance movement bad for our health? |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/06/fat.acceptance/index.html |access-date=9 December 2015 |publisher=CNN |date=6 January 2010}} In 2008, Lily-Rygh Glen, a writer, musician, and former fat acceptance activist, interviewed multiple women who claimed to be rejected by their peers within the movement and labeled "traitors" when they changed their diets.Lily-Rygh Glen, [https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/big-trouble "Big Trouble: Are Eating Disorders the Lavender Menace of the Fat Acceptance Movement"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805023138/https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/big-trouble |date=2018-08-05 }}, Bitch Media, January 1, 2008

Human health is a multi-faceted issue; more and more rigorous scientific research reveals the relationship between weight and health is complex.{{Cite journal |last1=Kang |first1=Xingping |last2=Shaw |first2=Leslee J. |last3=Hayes |first3=Sean W. |last4=Hachamovitch |first4=Rory |last5=Abidov |first5=Aiden |last6=Cohen |first6=Ishac |last7=Friedman |first7=John D. |last8=Thomson |first8=Louise E.J. |last9=Polk |first9=Donna |last10=Germano |first10=Guido |last11=Berman |first11=Daniel S. |date=April 2006 |title=Impact of Body Mass Index on Cardiac Mortality in Patients With Known or Suspected Coronary Artery Disease Undergoing Myocardial Perfusion Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0735109706001604 |journal=Journal of the American College of Cardiology |language=en |volume=47 |issue=7 |pages=1418–1426 |doi=10.1016/j.jacc.2005.11.062|pmid=16580531 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Guo |first1=Fangjian |last2=Garvey |first2=W. Timothy |date=February 2016 |title=Cardiometabolic disease risk in metabolically healthy and unhealthy obesity: Stability of metabolic health status in adults |journal=Obesity |language=en |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=516–525 |doi=10.1002/oby.21344 |issn=1930-7381 |pmc=4731253 |pmid=26719125}} The fat acceptance movement has been criticized for not adding value to the debate over human health, with some critics accusing the movement of "promoting a lifestyle that can have dire health consequences". There is a considerable amount of evidence that being obese is connected to increased all-cause mortality and diseases,{{cite journal | url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19111150/ | pmid=19111150 | year=2008 | last1=Gorgievska-Sukarovska | first1=B. | last2=Lipozencić | first2=J. | last3=Susac | first3=A. | title=Obesity and allergic diseases | journal=Acta Dermatovenerologica Croatica | volume=16 | issue=4 | pages=231–235 }} and significant weight loss (>10%), using a variety of diets, improves or reverses metabolic syndromes and other health outcomes associated with obesity.{{cite journal |last1=Jensen |first1=MD |last2=Ryan |first2=DH |last3=Apovian |first3=CM |last4=Ard |first4=JD |last5=Comuzzie |first5=AG |last6=Donato |first6=KA |last7=Hu |first7=FB |last8=Hubbard |first8=VS |last9=Jakicic |first9=JM |last10=Kushner |first10=RF |last11=Loria |first11=CM |last12=Millen |first12=BE |last13=Nonas |first13=CA |last14=Pi-Sunyer |first14=FX |last15=Stevens |first15=J |last16=Stevens |first16=VJ |last17=Wadden |first17=TA |last18=Wolfe |first18=BM |last19=Yanovski |first19=SZ |last20=Jordan |first20=HS |last21=Kendall |first21=KA |last22=Lux |first22=LJ |last23=Mentor-Marcel |first23=R |last24=Morgan |first24=LC |last25=Trisolini |first25=MG |last26=Wnek |first26=J |last27=Anderson |first27=JL |last28=Halperin |first28=JL |last29=Albert |first29=NM |last30=Bozkurt |first30=B |last31=Brindis |first31=RG |last32=Curtis |first32=LH |last33=DeMets |first33=D |last34=Hochman |first34=JS |last35=Kovacs |first35=RJ |last36=Ohman |first36=EM |last37=Pressler |first37=SJ |last38=Sellke |first38=FW |last39=Shen |first39=WK |last40=Smith SC |first40=Jr |last41=Tomaselli |first41=GF |last42=American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice |first42=Guidelines. |last43=Obesity |first43=Society. |title=2013 AHA/ACC/TOS guideline for the management of overweight and obesity in adults: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines and The Obesity Society. |journal=Circulation |date=24 June 2014 |volume=129 |issue=25 Suppl 2 |pages=S102-38 |doi=10.1161/01.cir.0000437739.71477.ee |pmid=24222017 |pmc=5819889 |type=Professional society guideline}}{{cite journal |last1=Thom |first1=G |last2=Lean |first2=M |title=Is There an Optimal Diet for Weight Management and Metabolic Health? |journal=Gastroenterology |date=May 2017 |volume=152 |issue=7 |pages=1739–1751 |doi=10.1053/j.gastro.2017.01.056 |pmid=28214525 |type=Review |url=http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/137779/7/137779.pdf}}{{cite journal |last1=Kuchkuntla |first1=AR |last2=Limketkai |first2=B |last3=Nanda |first3=S |last4=Hurt |first4=RT |last5=Mundi |first5=MS |title=Fad Diets: Hype or Hope? |journal=Current Nutrition Reports |date=December 2018 |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=310–323 |doi=10.1007/s13668-018-0242-1 |pmid=30168044 |s2cid=52132504 |type=Review}}{{cite web |title=Obesity and overweight |url=https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight |publisher=World Health Organization |language=en |year=2018}} Barry Franklin, director of a cardio rehab facility, stated: "I don't want to take on any specific organization but... A social movement that would suggest health at any size in many respects can be misleading." Franklin also agrees that fit people who are obese have cardiovascular mortality rates that are lower than thin, unfit people, and proponents of the fat acceptance movement argue that people of all shapes and sizes can choose behaviors that support their fitness and physical health.{{cite web |last=Worth |first=Tammy |title=Is the Fat Acceptance Movement Bad for Our Health? |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/06/fat.acceptance/index.html?_s=PM:HEALTH |publisher=CNN |access-date=30 June 2013 |archive-date=5 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505043008/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/06/fat.acceptance/index.html?_s=PM:HEALTH |url-status=dead }}

• Body positivity
• Epidemiology of obesity
• Health At Every Size
• Fat tax
• Hanne Blank
• Obesity paradox
• Plus-size model

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web |title=Fat Pride World Wide: The growing movement for avoirdupois acceptance |work=Reason |publisher=Reason Foundation |date=October 23, 2007 |url=http://www.reason.com/news/show/123151.html |access-date=2009-08-17}}
• (A) Medical Practitioners' Guide to Benefits of Adapting Environments for the Obese, Michigan State University study by Angela Berg MD and Joyce Burke MD, [http://www.msu.edu/user/burkejoy/frame_b.htm MSU.edu]
• [https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-International-Handbook-of-Fat-Studies/Pause-Taylor/p/book/9780367502928 The Routledge International Handbook of Fat Studies] edited by Cat Pausé & Sonya Renee Taylor

• [https://ulir.ul.ie/bitstream/handle/10344/3628/Cooper_2008_fat.pdf What's Fat Activism?] History of fat activism from a UK perspective.

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{{Discrimination}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fat Acceptance Movement}}

Category:Obesity

Category:Identity politics

Category:Intersectional feminism

Category:Discrimination