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The Body Liberation Photos website is now better than ever – and much faster. If you were having issues navigating the site, breathe easy. We did a major hosting move and upgrade last weekend. This includes both the blog and Body Liberation Stock. Phew! Please enjoy.

Hi friend,

 

In a fat-folks-only Zoom call last night, a friend looked around and said, “You know, this is the first time I’ve ever been in a space with only fat folks in it before. It’s wonderful.”

 

It’s necessary and vital for marginalized groups to have their own spaces, safe places where we can gather out from under the eyes of oppressors and discuss our own lives, concerns and needs. But since fat people often aren’t considered to be really oppressed, and even in progressive circles fatphobia and weight stigma aren’t considered to be real oppression, thin folks often don’t allow us to have our own spaces.

 

Diet culture also teaches people in thin and average-sized bodies that all that’s required to be fat is to “feel fat,” so almost every attempt by fat people to create a space for fat people immediately explodes in convulsions as dozens of average-sized and thin people center themselves and their need to be part of a space that isn’t actually for them. “Am I fat enough? What is fat, anyway? Does wearing straight sizes count? Why are you gatekeeping fatness? Why are you so mean?”

 

That means most online spaces, even those that are purportedly fat-centered, will include thin and average-sized people and will gradually become centered on the people with the most body privilege in the room unless someone is willing to constantly ride herd on the space (and take the slings and arrows that come with that duty). It means that, like how women are seen as dominating a room when there are more than just a few, fat people are seen as dominating spaces when we try to center any discussions at all on fatness or fat people — even when there are only a few of us in the space, or when we only ask for a small percentage of discussions to be fat-focused.

 

And it means that we lack safe places to share our stories and the very real and different needs of caring for a very large body. It’s hard to be vulnerable enough to talk about caring for a rash between fat rolls (which is a thing that happens to some, but not all, fat folks) when you’re sharing space with people who aren’t yet ready not to wrinkle their noses at the very thought of fat rolls at all. 

 

It’s hard to ask for clothing resources in a size 34 when you know you’ll be bombarded with dozens of suggestions for stores that don’t even carry that size (and will be scorned if you’re not appropriately grateful for the useless replies). It’s hard to talk about the constant abuse from and neglect by healthcare providers with people who are genuinely shocked when they themselves rarely encounter the tiniest edge of the treatment fat folks experience on the regular.

 

If you’re in a fat body and you’re able, start a fat-only space in your community. These spaces are vital. Don’t ever apologize.

Warmly,
Lindley

 

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

My favorite image this week:

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Image description: A fat Hawaiian woman with tattoos and long black hair lifts a strand of pearls towards the sky in front of water and mountains.

Recent from Me

The Conversation

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Image description: A teal square with two round images of a fat pregnant woman in a deep pink dress in the woods, one cradling her belly and one holding a HELLO BABY sign. Text reads, “Plus-size pregnancy collection” and the post URL. End image description.

Like most genres of stock photos, when we look up pregnant women on the internet we tend to see similar body types being shown to us repetitively with little signs of diversity. Many times the pregnant mother is pictured as a thin woman, with a large pregnancy belly. 

 

There is a weight stigma towards plus-size pregnant people because of the perceived risks of having a plus-size body. We all know very well, though, that not all pregnant people look the same and pregnancies at all sizes can lead to healthy beautiful babies.

 

Here are 13 more beautiful photos from the plus-size pregnancy collection at Body Liberation Stock, the world’s first and best site for high-resolution stock images of large bodies for commercial use. Use these images 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.

Tell me your burnout woes

I'm working on the second edition of the Exhausted Entrepreneur's Toolkit, so reply to this email and tell me about your marketing + burnout woes. I'm looking less for "I wish I knew how to do/am having trouble with a specific task" and more:

 

- Do you get really excited about new projects and then never have time to finish them?

 

- Do you feel like trying to plan anything related to marketing kills your momentum/enjoyment?

 

- What process do you currently use to make sure you promote the things you create, if any?

 

- How have you managed limitations like chronic illness, a full-time job, childcare, depression, etc. in the past when it comes to marketing your business, if at all?

 

- Do you tend to plan your content around a marketing/SEO strategy or do more on-the-spot writing around what's exciting or interesting to you at the time?

 

- If you've ever outsourced any marketing or content creation/social media to someone else, what was your experience like? Did it save you time and energy, or no?

 

- Any primal screams to share around marketing your business + your energy levels + burnout?

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Image description: A book cover with a purple-toned mountain and river sunset scene. Text reads, Violet Crown: A Dr. Hedy Villarreal Novel. K.C. Littleton.

Quick Resources: Raising Body-Positive Children

Hi! I'm Lindley.

- she/her

- photographer

- author

 

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.

Hi! I'm Lindley.

 

I'm a professional photographer (she/her, pronounced LIN-lee) who celebrates the unique beauty of bodies that fall outside conventional "beauty" standards. I live outside Seattle, WA. 

 

I talk about and photograph fat folks because representation of large bodies in the world is vital to our body liberation.

 

 

People come to me for:

  • Body-safe portrait, boudoir and small business photography sessions
  • Diverse, body-positive stock photos
  • Fat fine art photographic prints
  • Health at Every Size (HAES)-aligned consulting, writing and editing
  • The Body Love Shop, a curated resource for body-positive and fat-positive art and products

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.

 

You're on this list because you're a current or past client or customer, or you signed up on my website.

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