The Exhausted Entrepreneur's Complete Guide to Content Marketing now has its own page! I'm so proud of this baby idea that sprouted so quickly with the help of a LOT of interested clients and small business owners. 

The first edition is complete and is now a self-service item you can buy right from the website.

Hi friend, 

An excellent question came up on the Body Liberation Photos Instagram this week: Why does fatphobia exist? Why do people hate and fear fat bodies?

Fatphobia — also known as fatmisia, anti-fatness, weight stigma and fat hatred — ties into threads of power and profit going back centuries. This is a complex topic and one that many entire books have been written about, so this article is just a summary.

Fatphobia and weight stigma affect fat people in every realm of life, from family and romantic relationships, to the workplace, to healthcare, to finding a coffin large enough to be buried in. Conversely, fatphobia affects people in smaller bodies as well. It keeps them trapped in a never-ending quest to be ever thinner and encourages them to uphold unjust systems so that they can appear “good” enough not to be treated the way they know fat people are treated.

Since we know scientifically that diets don’t work, the solution is not to force fat people into smaller bodies to end our stigma. The solution is to end the social dynamics that put bodies into hierarchies, and create a world where bias and discrimination based on weight and body size are neither acceptable nor profitable.

Here are some of the reasons fatphobia exists today. After #1, they’re in no particular order; all play an important role.

This is a long one, so please read the rest here >>

Warmly,
Lindley

P.S. If you'd like to share this week's thought, it exists in blog form here.

My favorite photo this week:

Image description: Part of a sunset scene with vivid red and orange skies, dark blue water reflecting bits of sunset, black sandy or pebbly shore in the foreground, and a hint of a cliff at the right of the photo.

Recent from Me

> New Fine Art Print: The Offering

> 14 Scale Smashing Stock Photos to Fuel Your Anti-Diet Dreams

> Fat-Friendly Pacific Northwest Day Trip: Mountain Loop Highway

> These are the days your body was built for

> Finally! Stock photo credits are once again Patreon rewards

> 15 Body-Positive and HAES®-Aligned Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas

The Conversation

Here's what's being discussed this week in the world of body acceptance, HAES, body positivity and fat liberation:

> Music Therapy Support Group for Adults Living in Fat Bodies (open to people in any location)

> Fat burlesque opportunity!

> New Facebook group for HAES medical providers (prescribers and students who will be subscribers)

> Aubrey Gordon, the writer behind ‘Your Fat Friend,’ has some thoughts on diets, BMI and the relentless advice of strangers

> If "no" is terrifying, why not focus on the implicit "yes" that comes with every "no"?

> A brief history of the fat liberation movement

> Unicorn chaser: An ambient instrumental playlist I like to play in the background while I work

Need a good 101 or refresher on bodies, fatness and science? I always recommend Body Respect by Lindo Bacon and Lucy Aphramor.

Image description: A fat person with long pink hair, arm tattoos and a sleeveless t-shirt holds a yellow crowbar and looks challengingly at the camera.

Smashing diet culture metaphorically is great, but smashing it literally feels even better. There’s no statement quite as satisfying as breaking up with diet culture by smashing your bathroom scale!

Here are 14 photos from the Scale Smashing collection at Body Liberation Stock, the world’s first and best site for high-resolution stock images of large bodies for commercial use.

These images can be used on your website, social media, flyers, brochures and other marketing materials to represent more of your customers, clients and prospects. You’ll also be helping to change the world by increasing the representation of large-bodied and fat folks.

Image description: The Body Liberation Stock search results page, with rows of images depicting food. Each thumbnail has an image title underneath.

Image description: An Body Liberation Stock category page, with rows of images depicting the smashing of bathroom scales. Each thumbnail has an image title and price underneath.

Quality of life improvements to Body Liberation Stock

It's my website, so I can say it: When we launched the new Body Liberation Stock last November, parts of the site were a hot mess, especially the browse and search pages. I don't have the budget for a software developer yet, so I'm grateful for the privilege of a software-developer spouse who occasionally helps out.

We spent the last few weekends hammering out some fixes, and now the browse and search pages are much, MUCH easier to use – and easier on the eyes, too. Feast your peepers on the revamped pages above!

The biggest issue we're now facing is that the site is sometimes s-l-o-w. (So slow, in fact, that once a stock photo is uploaded to the site I can't change it, so I have to hope I get it right the first time.) 

We've upgraded hosting at our current web host a couple of times now to no visible effect, so we're now looking at switching to a new web host. That will be a massive project that will likely take months, so hang in there; speed improvements are coming.

(Want to help fund this work? Join my Patreon, buy stock photos or purchase stock photo credits.)

Quick Resources: On Being an Ally to Trans Folks

> A beginners guide to being an ally to trans people

> 4 ways to support your trans clients pre- and post-op

> Trans YA Books by Trans Authors

> Possibly helpful language for responding to transphobia in feminist groups

> 6 signs that you might not really respect your transgender loved ones

Image description: Lindley, a fat white woman, is shown sitting in a cafe with salmon-pink walls. She has shoulder-length blonde hair and glasses, and is wearing a black top with a translucent blue-and-white patterned jacket. Her hands are on the tabletop in front of her.

A grateful thanks for support goes to: Lea Bowman, Bellydancing, Elizabeth Emily, Nicola Haggett, Laura Law, Juliet James, Daydra, Janie, Emma D'Arpino, Naava Carman, Linsey Levy, Talia Cooper, Maryann Auger, Sara, Kaia Tingley, Lauren Dean, Andrea Palmer, Shelby Gordon, Amy Eason, Ashley Strobridge, Brandy Morris, Rachael Hope, Beckie Hill, Briana Cavanaugh, Lisa Fitz-Coy, Tracey King, Erin Hobbs, Bill Fabrey, Phedre Devereaux, Nicole Eikenberry, Vincci, Jacqueline Abeling, Jenn Jackson, Anja Wermann, Bethany Wheeler, whod99, Gloria Procella, CuddlyClover, Leela, R. Packbat Zimmermann and Diane McRae.

Pssst! Did a friend forward you this email? If you'd like to get your own body liberation guide every week, just drop your email address here.

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