Hi friend,

 

I have lots of updates for you this week!

 

First, it's such a cool opportunity and honor to be included in The Future is Fat issue of Womanly Mag!

 

Pre-order your print issue here and support fat-positive media.

 

Second, I'm working with a model next week to create new photographs for Body Liberation Stock. This time I'm focusing on anti-diet and body image concepts.

 

Got a stock photo wishlist? Send it to me by Tuesday afternoon and I'll consider it as I create the shot list for the shoot.

 

Third, I'll be doing some major maintenance to the Body Liberation Photos/Body Liberation Stock website this week. Expect the site to be slow and possibly down for parts of the week.

Fourth, your next opportunity to catch a webinar with me is coming up!

 

In the Fat-Positive Posing & Selfie Techniques workshop, learn how self-portraits express power, photographers’ tricks for good portraits, and poses you can use forever.

On Tuesday, July 16 at 5:30 pm Pacific time (PST), we’ll cover:

Expect to spend 90 minutes to two hours at the workshop. A recording will be sent out to everyone who signs up, so register even if you can’t make it and watch later at your convenience.

 

The workshop cost is $29; Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC); queer folks; disabled and neurodivergent folks; and people with hip measurements over 50″ can take $10 off with code SELFIEEQUITY.

 

 

And now, to this week's letter:

 

In the comments on an Instagram post where a fat person was asking for more clothing options, a retail store said defensively that there’s limited room in stores.

 

I replied to ask them why they assumed that small sizes were the necessity and large sizes were the optional overflow. They didn’t respond, but I want to challenge you this week to imagine a new future with me.

 

Sometime in the next week, take a look around at wherever you happen to be and ask yourself these questions:

 

1. What kind of bodies are most welcome in this space? Consider both the physical space and who is represented in images there, if anyone.

 

2. Who fits most easily? Could a very fat person fit? What about a person using a wheelchair or other mobility aid?

 

3. What might it look like if this space were designed for the fattest person who might possibly want or need to use it? How might the space look or function differently? What specific aspects of the space might change?

 

4. Would the space become less useful or welcoming for people in smaller bodies? If so, how?

 

5. Who is currently receiving power or profit (in any sense) from that space? How might that change if the bodies accommodated by the space changed?

 

Feel free to send me your answers, or note them to revisit in the future.

 

Unapologetically fat,

 

 

» Allyship opportunity: Help Bree cover medical costs (see)

 

» Call for papers: Indigenous(ly) Fat, Fat(ly) Indigenous (see)

 

» Sign the Campaign for Size Freedom Petition (sign)

 

» Workshop with Vinny Welsby: How to Unlearn Weight Bias (see)

 

» Call for art: Fat Out x The Fat Zine (see)

 

» Big Sexy Chat Unplugged with Mara Kolaya (watch)

 

» Unavoidable Body Grief (listen)

 

» Why It Is Important for Mental Health Professionals to Speak Out About Genocide, Colonization, Capitalism, and Imperialism (read)

 

» On Growing Up as a Fat Kid, Then Being Diagnosed with T2 Diabetes as an Adult (listen)

 

» What is the Body Roundness Index? (read)

 

» 7 ideas to prioritise joy and honour your needs this summer (listen)

 

» What AI thinks a beautiful woman looks like (read)

 

» Fat and Superfat Visibility in Art and Graphic Design with Toni Tails (watch)

 

🦄 Unicorn chaser: When an article says "some scientists think" then remember this: I, a scientist, once thought I could fit a whole orange in my mouth. I could, it turns out, get it in there, but I hadn't given sufficient thought to the reverse operation. (read)