It’s the Most Fatphobic Time of the Year
You deserve to enjoy that cookie plate
Go ahead, eat it. Whatever it is that you’re denying yourself right now, whether it’s Great Aunt Edna’s fudge, another cracker with smoked trout dip spread thickly on top, or a glass of eggnog. Without — and here’s the crucial part — judgement or guilt.
Whether or not you celebrate one or more of the very many holidays that pack the end of the year, the messaging, from family, friends, and especially advertisers is clear: It’s time to consume and then atone. Drink that champagne cocktail, but plan on working it off on the treadmill come January. Grin and bear your grandma’s comments about your body. Dress up for the party, but vow to look so much better next year.
In three words: Fuck all that.
“This is an especially fatphobic time of year,” says Virgie Tovar, activist and author of You Have the Right to Remain Fat. “I think the pandemic has absolutely kicked that up a notch. I started to see the “getting your pre-pandemic body back” conversation rear its head at the end of summer, when we were faced with the possibility of going back to work in-person. I think a lot of people felt relief over being at home during the pandemic because they got to avoid the constant food and body checking. This New Years will represent reconciling that…
