Fat And? fatphobia, racist origins, and how we can take up

This afternoon reading and discussion group explores the perpetuation of fatphobia. It focuses on collective readings from Sabrina Strings’ Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins or Fat Phobia (NYU Press, 2019) and Aubrey Gordon’s What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat (Beacon Press, 2020).

The perpetuation of fatphobia, as a means to influence perceptions of beauty, has been underway in European culture since the eighteenth century. Ideologies of biological racial difference, forged during western colonisation, led to the hyper-marginalisation of fatness: an oppression upheld by the intersections of racism and sexism. This ongoing bias against fatness is currently exacerbated by the mass endorsement of GLP-1s (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists) and other weight loss medications. The perpetuation of thinness as an aesthetic ideal negatively impacts everyone, of all body size. By understanding the historical origins and ongoing impact of anti-fatness, new narratives, beyond fat-acceptance, can be created.

Format

This event will take place in three parts: we will start with introductions to the session and group, followed by out loud readings (one person, one paragraph at a time).

After a short comfort break, we will have a collective debriefing on the thoughts provoked by what we have read.

Finally we will be joined for a discussion and Q&A by fat activist and digital curator Holly Lown. Together we will explore the under-researched field of fat representation, and the social impacts of fatphobia, in an effort to learn how to implement more inclusive living practices.

Readings

Together we will read excerpts from Sabrina Strings’ Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins or Fat Phobia (NYU Press, 2019) and Aubrey Gordon’s What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat (Beacon Press, 2020). These texts follow the origins of fatphobia in the eighteenth century European colonisation through to modern day repercussions of anti-fatness.

Readings

You will receive readings in advance. Please bring copies with you as we will read together during the session.

Bios

 Tiersha Faith Laird is an American artist and curator currently living and working in London. Her practice is influenced by eco-feminism, fat liberation, and universal inclusivity. This session is the first of her projects series titled, Fat, And?: farcical fatphobia, racist histories, and reclaiming our space.

Holly Lown is a digital curator, writer, and founder of “The Fat Museum” (the.fat.museum), a virtual archive dedicated to showcasing historical representations of fatness within museum collections and sharing the untold stories of fat people.

Image: courtesy of Tiersha Faith Laird, 2026