Fat is fabulous: how Overweight Haters may be doing us a favour

Body shaming is not new and the fashion industry itself is no stranger to controversy when it comes to determining which body size is considered marketable and which one is not. Well, turns out a huge chunk of us would not pass - new research from Mintel has revealed that one in three (38 percent) Brits struggle to find clothes that fit them well, while it is nearly half of UK women (49 percent) when it comes to the age group of 16 to 44.

A particularly nasty hate campaign by a group calling themselves "Overweight Haters Ltd" is currently handing out cards on the London Underground that simply say "You're Fat". While the shamers zip in and out of trains, spreading their thoughtless and unkind message, those at the receiving end are left feeling bad, shamed and many even start to cry.

Hate group tries to shame women about their bodies

"What shocked me about this was the downright gall that a person had to actively and insidiously try to provoke a reaction from someone who was doing nothing more than going about their daily commute," commented Fran Hayden in the Independent. (The police are now investigating 'Overweight Hater Ltd' and have asked those who have been handed cards or seen cards being handed out to contact them.)

One woman, Kara Florish, was one of the first to receive one of the cards and posted its message (yes, there is more of this nonsense, so badly written and non-spellchecked that we refuse to reproduce it here) on social media, where it created an outrage.

Among the enraged responses and the debate it sparked are also some who jumped into action: German premium online retailer for stylish plus-size womenswear navabi for example first of all offered Kara a free outfit for up to 500 pounds. Then, the e-tailer printed its own cards with the message "You look great!" and started handing them out. Navabi also noticed that the domain overweighthaters.com had not been taken and claimed it for themselves to tell the story and to to spread their own positive message.

So instead of creating more shame, this outcry could really be a turning point, not only for the fashion industry but society as a whole to finally unite people instead of dividing us into 'fat' and 'thin' (as if this was all there was anyway). It is also a good time to look at how we address issues of body and what is considered an appropriate or acceptable size, especially for women, let alone women in the public eye (Why do women politicians, athletes and others have to excel at what they do AND look good while their male counterparts just need to do a good job?).

Are we really neutral when we look at someone? Or are we prone to quick judgments, often based on someone's size, body type and shape? There are parallels between body shaming and racism, with much of it going on in a subtle way even by those calling themselves more aware; by all of us in fact, all the time.

"There are a thousand ways that society and the people in it tell fat people that we are not worthy. Sure, someone handing out cards blatantly pointing it out is terrible, but the only difference between them and most people is that they are being honest and directly abusive," points out Rebecca Shaw in The Drum.

Fat is fabulous

This reminds me of the time when an African-American friend tried to explain the difference between racism experienced in the Deep South versus the northern states of the USA, his point being that while in the South, everyday racism is more out in the open and you kind of know what to expect, up North, racism often hits you from behind as people are trying to hide it.

Drawing another parallel to the cultural movement of the '60s that claimed the black body by declaring it beautiful, maybe it's about time to re-claim the term 'fat' and declare proudly that 'fat is fabulous'? I'm fat so what, deal with it. At least in this day and age, I don't have to hide my body and have fantastic, well fitting clothes to accentuate it with.

Images: navabi