Hi friend,

 

It happened again two weeks ago. One of our most beloved community members got a day job.

 

So much for her Instagram and podcast episodes and programs and the endless hours of support she gave the fat community.

 

I don't know if that particular activist has announced her career change publicly, so I won't name her.

 

This happens all the time. One of the most well-known body-positive and fat-positive activists of all time, one who reached a certain amount of mainstream fame and published multiple books, has dropped out of sight in the last few years.

 

I don't know her personally, but the community grapevine informed me that despite all her seeming success (and quite a bit of body privilege), she couldn't make a living from her work.

 

 

When we think about accountability, we generally think about individual people either being accountable or held accountable to others for their actions.

 

But what if we also consider accountability when it comes to communities?

 

What do we owe our activists, who are often some of the most marginalized among us?

 

When our activists can't keep a roof over their heads no matter how many hours they work, what does that say about our community values?

 

 

This is where I get really blunt with you: why is it that we value the work of the most marginalized the least?

 

How is it that a number of thin white women have built well-paid speaking and writing platforms on their body positivity and fat positivity, but another fat activist in a fat body drops out of sight every single week because we didn't support them and they burnt out? 

 

 

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» Social Media May Have Safeguards for Teens, But Stigmatizing Ads Can Slip Through the Cracks (read)

 

» We can proudly say that PLUS SIZES are our best-selling sizes (watch)

 

» Fat is not a feeling. (read)

 

» Tante Hanne Explains It All For You (listen)

 

» Beyond BMI: Size Inclusive Medicine (listen)

 

🦄 Unicorn chaser: America’s Favorite Bird (read)

 

 

Many of us -- most of us? -- struggle with burnout, no matter our occupations or careers. It's easy to be unsympathetic, especially towards people we think of having "fun" jobs or "easy" jobs, occupations we don't understand or occupations we envy.

 

But I think activist burnout is a master's tool that social justice communities are happy to continue to use.

 

When an activist burns out and disappears, not only does it release us of our obligations to them as a community, withholding support is a neat way to punish those we find awkward or inconvenient, or unattractive.

 

(Or, dare I say it…cringe.)

 

There will always be a shiny new young'un with new posts and new free stuff for us to devour. And if those people burn out, well, there'll be more.

 

Don't get me wrong: New voices and perspectives are essential to our community. New voices push our thought work and theory forward, and each generation builds on the work of the last.

 

But what happens when there are no more new activists, either because they're all on "weight loss journeys" or they've seen how activists are treated by the world at large and their own communities?*

 

Aren't we supposed to be better, as a social justice-aware and -oriented community, than this?

 

 

Whenever anyone in the fat community brings up supporting those among us who dare to imagine a more equitable world, there's immediate pushback.

 

But what about all the people who get paid less because they're fat? What about all the people who can't pay for this or that?

 

I ask you this: what about those of you who can?

 

Of course not everyone in a population group is going to be able to financially support others. And of course not every activist is easy to track down, or makes their work available in a way that makes it easy to give them money.

 

But I challenge you to think about how the value you receive from fat activism balances with your support of fat activism, and how you can support fat activism, whether or not that involves money.

 

 

I've worked significantly more than full-time hours on Body Liberation Photos for nine years now. I made $20K last year -- half the minimum-wage salary for my area. The only reason I'm able to do this is pure privilege: I'm not the only income earner in my family.

 

Many activists are in a similar position. Either they survive on privilege, or they support their activism with a full-time job that vastly limits their time, or they quickly burn out and disappear.

 

But we deserve to be paid a living wage for our work, too, especially when we make a variety of paid offerings available.

 

 

Keeping the Body Liberation Blanket Fort accessible to everyone who wants to be there is so important to me. Not only are most of the participants marginalized, but fat people are proportionately paid less and thus have access to less support and fewer opportunities.

 

Everyone in the Blanket Fort Patreon and Discord, from free memberships (reserved for the most financially vulnerable) all the way up to the $30 pay-it-forward tier, has access to every resource that I create, every event and speaker in the Fort, and the ongoing community.

 

I'm in the community every single day, nourishing conversations and providing support and emotional labor.

 

And I've got to eat, too.

 

I've limited the $1 equity tier in the Patreon to 175 spots because it's simply not possible to maintain a healthy and functional community space long-term without a living wage.

 

The $5, $10 and $30 spots are unlimited. The $10 tier is the baseline tier of support; the $5 and $1 spots are meant to be financially accessible to highly marginalized and underpaid people; and the $30 tier is meant to help make up for that shortfall.

 

So many high-income folks are taking advantage of the $1 tier that I've had to limit it. Spots in that tier will open up only when someone else either leaves the Patreon or changes their level of support.

 

Who we support in any way matters. Who we're willing to be seen with matters. Whose work we share and promote matters. Who we defend -- whether or not they're in the room -- matters. Who we throw a couple dollars in the pot for every month matters.

 

 

In other Blanket Fort news, I'm excited to announce our August and September speakers!

 

On Sunday, August 18, Sarah Thunell will be speaking about fat-positive parenting. And on Saturday, September 14, Dalia Kinsey will offer a talk for fat-positive healthcare providers (though open to everyone in the Fort).

 

*As I worked on this letter on Friday, this comment thread also occurred.

 

Unapologetically fat,