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TEDx Talks
Published: 2016-06-15
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXGwJevjOfs
uhhuh I'm here today you about a very where it one that people will do almost anything to avoid because billion dollar industries thrive because of the fear of it and those of us who undeniably irate the left to navigate a relentless storm surrounding it I'm not sure if any of you have noticed but I'm fat not the lower case motive behind my back kinds all the
seemingly harmless chubby all cuddly I'm not even the most sophisticated voluptuous okay basis because let's not sugar coat it I am the capital F. A. T. kind of facts I M. the elephant in the room when I walked out on stage some of you may be thinking all of this is going to be held areas because everybody knows that fat people are funny or you may
be thinking where does she get her confidence from because a confident fat woman is almost unthinkable the fashion conscious members of the audience may have been thinking how fabulous I look in the spectator address very much why some of you might have thought black would mean so much while swimming you may have wanted to consciously or not if I have diabetes or a pot not only
fly a cubs up to seven PM you may have worried that you wakeup south to seven PM last night and that you really should renew Yuji members these documents on insidious they can be directed at individuals and groups and they can also be directed at al cells and this way thinking is known as fat phobia like any form of systematic oppression fat phobia is deeply rooted
in complex structures like capitalism patriarchy and racism and that can make it really difficult to say let alone challenge we live in a culture way being fat is seen as being a bad person lazy greedy unhealthy irresponsible and Marley suspects and we tend to see Phoenix as being universally court sponsor full successful any control about appetites bodies and live we see these ID's again and again
in the media and public health policy doctors offices in everyday conversations and in our own attitudes we may even blame fat people themselves for the discrimination they face because after role if we don't like it we should just please wait AZ he's anti fat bias has become so integral sewing grains how we value of souls in each other that we rarely question why we have such
contempt for people of size and weigh that disdain comes from but we must question this because the enormous value we place on how we look affects every one of us and do we really want to live in a society where people are denied their basic humanity if I don't subscribe to some of its reform of acceptable so when I was six years old my sixties to
teach ballet to one two little girls in our barracks I was about a foot taller and a foot wide of the most of the grave when it came to doing our first performance I was so excited about wearing a pretty pink tutu I was going to Spock as the other girls slipped easily into their lycra and chill creations not one of the treaties with big enough
to fit me I was determined not to be excluded from the performance so I turned to my mother and loud enough for everyone to hear said mom but it needed to to I need a full full thanks mom and although he didn't recognize it at the time claiming space for myself in that glorious full full was the first step towards becoming a radical fat active now
I'm not saying that this whole body love theme has been an easy skip along a glittering positive self acceptance since that day in class far from it I soon learned that living outside what the mainstream considers normal can be a frustrating and isolating place I've spent the last twenty years unpacking in deprogramming these messages and it's been a quite the roller coaster I've read by family
laughed at abuse from passing because it means hold on to the shuttle I also receive smiles from strangers here recognize what it takes to walk down the street with a spring in your step and you head held high good things and through it all that seriously though six year old has stayed with me and she has hopes we stand before you today as an unapologetic fat
person a person that simply refuses to subscribe to the dominant narrative about how I should move through the world in the sporty of mine and I'm not alone I am part of an international community of people who choose to rather than passively accepting that our bodies aw and probably always will be beak we actively choose to Flores in these bodies as they are today people who
honor our strengths and work with not against a perceived limitations people who value health is something much more holistic then a number on an outdated BMI talks instead we value mental health self worth and how we feel in our bodies as vital aspects to overrule will be people who refuse to believe that living in these fat bodies is a barrier to anything really there are doctors
academics and bloggers who have written countless volumes on the many facets of these complex subjects they're affecting nieces have reclaimed their bodies and their beauty by wearing Facchini's and crop tops exposing the flesh that where all tool to hide there are fat athletes who run marathons teach yoga will do kick boxing hold on with a middle finger firmly held up to the status quo and these
people have told me that radical party politics he's the antidote to our body shaming culture but to be clear I'm not saying that people shouldn't change the bodies if that's what they want to see reclaiming a self can be one of the most gorgeous acts of self love and could look like a million different the from Paris styles tend to use two body contouring the hormones
to surgery and yes even white looks it's simple it's your body and you decide what's best to do with it my way of engaging in activism is by doing all the things that we studies on spice into your home is a lot of them inviting other people to join me and then making lots about it the common thread through most of this work has been reclaiming
spaces but often prohibitive to bigger bodies from the catwalk to club shows from public swimming pools to permanent tent stages and reclaiming spaces on Max is not only a powerful artistic statement but a radical community building approach this was so true of Acapulco the fat Stan synchronized swim team I started with a group of friends in CT the impact of saying a bunch of defiant fat
women in flowery swimming caps and by others throwing their legs in the air without a care should not be underestimated throughout my career I have lands that fat bodies are inherently political an unapologetic fat bodies can blow people's minds when director pay champion of the claims dance theater company force majeure asked me to be the artistic associate on a work featuring old fat dances I really
truly jumped at the opportunity and I mean literally nothing to lose is a work made in collaboration with performance of size two drew from that lived experiences to create a work is very offensive as we all love and it was as far from ballet as you could imagine the very idea of a fat dance work by such a prestigious company was to put it mildly controversial
because nothing like it had ever been done on mainstream dance stages before anyway in the wells people from skeptical what do you mean fat dances like size ten size twelve kind of sucks we think to the intense training I think I have the stamina for a full length production but despite the skepticism nothing to loose became a sellout heats if city festival we received rave reviews
told won awards and were written about in over twenty seven languages these incredible images about cost we've seen well twice I've lost count of how many times people of all sizes have told me that the show has changed their lives how it helped them see if their relationship to their own and other people's bodies and how it made them confront their own bias but of course
work the pushes people's buttons is not without its detractors I have been told that I'm glorifying a big city I have received violent death threats and abuse for daring to make work that sends his fat people's bodies and lives and treats us as worthwhile human beings with valuable stories to tell I've even been cold the ISIS of the obesity epidemic a comment so it was said
that it is funny but it also speaks to the panic Billy told Tara that the fear of fat can invoke if he sees fear that speeding the diet industry keeping so many of us from making peace with their own bodies for waiting to be the after photo before we truly sought to live our lives because the real elephant in the room here is fat phobia fat
