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Don't Tell Me I'm Not Fat

The 'f' word is just another adjective

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 24, 2009 2:20 PM CST

(Newser) – People are constantly trying to tell Kate Harding she’s not fat, and it “drives me up a goddamn wall,” she writes in Salon. She is, by any reasonable definition, fat. It's simply another word that describes her. The problem is, everyone associates being fat with being lazy, stupid, ugly, etc. She's not any of those things. "I am a kindhearted, intelligent, attractive person, and I am fat," Harding writes. "There is no paradox there."

"Thin women don't tell their fat friends, 'You're not fat' because they're confused about the dictionary definition of the word, or their eyes are broken... They don't say it because it's the truth. They say it because fat does not mean just fat in this culture." Some of her readers even complain Harding’s not fat enough. But she’s keeping the label. “I'm gonna keep telling them I am, too, fat, dammit! Le fat, c'est moi. This is what fat looks like.”

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (3)]

Quit worrying; fat is just another adjective. (Shutterstock)

Two women wait to cross a road on August 25, 2006 in London, England. (Getty Images)

Checking in on the bathroom scale. (Shutterstock)

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Thin women don't tell their fat friends 'You're not fat' because they're confused about the dictionary definition of the word. They say it because fat does not mean just fat in this culture. - Kate Harding

Whenever you read an article about THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA, you should know that they're talking mostly about people who look like me — and like your mom, your neighbor, your coworker.
- Kate Harding

I am a kindhearted, intelligent, attractive, person, and I am fat. There is no paradox there. - Kate Harding

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

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Don't Tell Me I'm Not Fat