NOLOSE

I had a great time at the NOLOSE conference this weekend. I was kind of sad I didn't get to do the conference hard core and stay at the hotel and all, but I was still there all all three days and really enjoyed myself. I am feeling a touch over-processed and emotionally spent, but that is to be expected. Lots of stuff swirling in my head that I will posting about in the coming weeks such as:

• Why it is important and empowering to shop for clothes in fat-positive space
• The strong-ish butch/femme identification going on in this particular queer community amongst people my age and younger. Where am I in this? Also, why do I present much more strongly femme in this type of queer space (which arguably largely overlaps with performance space for me) than I do in my day-to-day life?
• Why eating without shame as a community is important
• Countless thoughts about fat panic as it relates to children. Loving thinking about Marilyn's point that no one is actually talking to children about this and what does that mean. Also thinking about all the childhood baggage around food and body shame that people carry with them for the rest of their lives.
• Performance as political activism.
• Why I think fat people need to stop trying to justify/apologize for their existence and how this relates to healthism and ableism.
• How identifying as queer as opposed to lesbian, gay, or bi may actually inform one's views on a number of issues.
• The fascinating way that so many people at the conference were at some many different points on their fat journeys.
• How I am sometimes startled at the number of fat activists I actually know, in like, real life...until I remember that I am actually one of those people and sometimes people area actually excited to meet me.
• The personal and political around NOLOSE's gender policy

On a lighter note, I got three, count 'em THREE, awesome vintage dresses at the Re/Dress sale at the conference. I even belted (yes, it's a verb), much to Matilda's delight. I look like a character out of "Mad Men" in the dresses. I am duly pleased.

And, I apparently need much funkier eye-wear. It was like a funky eyeglass contest at the conference. I fear, however, if I opt for rhinestone glasses to wear with the dresses I am only one tattoo away from becoming a certified Oakland hipster.

why whether or not I eat more or am healthier than a skinny person doesn't really matter

In a NOLOSE workshop called "Fighting Friendly Fire: What do we do when social movements we like do things we hate" co-facilitated by Kathleen LeBesco, she asked us how important we thought facts and data points are in engaging in discourse around issues of fat-hatred in other communities/movements we may be a part of. She wanted to know if we thought that a "war of facts" was really useful, and ultimately worth fighting.

As a data/research analyst and a radical fat activist I had a lot to say about this. I want to repeat what I said in the workshop because it actually elicited applause and I think it is important.

First of all, as someone who has worked with numbers and numerical data for many years, I know the myriad ways it can be skewed, misrepresented, misinterpreted, etc., so a "war of facts" around purely correlation-based data doesn't necessarily tell us all that much. That said, I do think it is important for fat activists to have a few facts in their back (or side, or front) pockets for use in deconstructing some of the arguments made that basically set up fat people as scapegoats for why America can't have nice things. One, it is key that we are able to challenge the very notion that there is an "obesity epidemic" because epidemiologically speaking it is not actually an epidemic, and two, it is also key that we know and share that the very definition of "overweight" changed in the 1980's and that is one very big reason that the number of overweight people increased magically overnight. Challenging the very core of the argument is important. Third, I think it is important that in debates around health care or food justice, that we work to re-focus the arguments on what corporations are doing, and not what individuals are doing as corporations are really our big fish to fry, not the random fatty-on-the-street who may eat one more cookie than the skinny person sitting next to them.

OK, that was not the applause part.

This is. (more or less...I have expanded my thoughts here)

I really truly believe that whether or not fat people cost more in health care terms than our thinner counterparts, or whether or not we actually eat more french fries than our thinner counterparts is neither here nor there.

It. Doesn't. Matter.

What really matters is that everyone, regardless of size should have access to quality health care. Everyone should have access to actual fresh food, and not just the stuff you can buy at a corner liquor store, as happens in food deserts. As fat people, we need to stop apologizing for being fat by justifying by how healthy we are, or how non-overconsuming we are, or how much we walk instead of drive, etc.

It. Doesn't. Matter.

Asking food justice or sustainability movements to stop using fatties as scapegoats because we meet some sustainability moral quotient keeps us in a position of weakness. While there can be power in disproving the stereotype, there is a whole hell of a lot more power in demanding humane treatment for all and changing the terms of the argument. It is much more important for us to focus on the real issues and move away from arguing about which sub-group should be today's scapegoat. When we engage in a "war of facts" to somehow prove our humanity we cannot ever actually win because we are ultimately playing a losing game.

It is time to change the game, our perspective, and how engage around these issues. We need to find the confidence and self-acceptance to dig digger and shed the "good fatty" baggage.

And now I will step off my soap box and go to bed.