Fat bodies are seen as “evidence”. People try to...

Fat bodies are seen as “evidence”. People try to claim that our bodies are evidence of unhealthy behaviors, lack of willpower, lack of self-care. Then they claim that this evidence is compelling enough to make it ok to target us for shame, stigma and humiliation “for our own good”.

Even more damaging, fat people start to internalize this message thinking “If I’m fat then no matter how healthy my habits are I must be doing something wrong. I deserve to be treated poorly and have my body and choices treated like public property.”

This is just not true. Fat bodies are not public property, they are not evidence, and they are not a sign that we need someone to step in and tell us how to take care of ourselves. First because nobody can tell what our habits are based on our body size. Second because our health is our decision – we each get to choose how highly to prioritize our health and what path we want to take to get there, with the understanding that we may be limited by the resources that are available to us.

—Dances With Fat