I think it's awesome that Racialicious linked you with such fulsome praise, but damn the commentary over there is hurting my head. And I hope some of the commenters from the last thread head over there to have their heads hurt too. Guys, this is what it's like when people assume without warrant that your concerns are valueless. This is a taste of what it's like when people dismiss your experience.

Anyway, I hope you're right that intersectionality goes both ways, because lord knows this is not the first time a social justice movement has tried to shut us out because "fat is a choice." I guess all we can do is try to be the kind of movement we'd want to see.

(That made it sound like I was equating some people making incompletely-informed comments on a blog with being shut out by a whole movement. Didn't mean that, but it's late.)

You said it perfectly.

I also think it helps to remember that fat acceptance is still a movement in its infancy. Given that this misinformation is still widespread, I think it's inevitable that most other social justice movements don't get it. Yet.

And like I said, I think the best way to convince them is to show them how it's relevant to them and their experiences.

I just made an enormous comment I hope gets approved over at Racialicious.

I really love what you said about being able to tell your whole story, that's something that's very near and dear to my heart.

Lovely post.

This is an outstanding response to, well, the response. I was likewise frustrated by many of the comments over there - thanks for the perspective.

Tara,
I LOVE your posts, it's like you picked the thoughts right out of my brain! I've thought a lot about intersectionality in the past 10 years. I've read and written about Black womanist activism and their relationship with white feminists in the late 60's and 70's.
In the second wave movement feminists claimed sexism as the 'last acceptable prejudice', and some were even tacky enough to say that they were the new 'n-word'. I've actually seen this said in the last few months within the size acceptance movement. Unbelievable.

A few feminists (Gloria Steinem et al) continue with this specious thinking and diminish the role that racism plays in the lives of people of color. Activists in the size acceptance movement do the same thing. This is such divisive, ignorant thinking I am shocked after all of these years that this it’s still so prevalent.

I think that if, as you suggest, activists took a holistic approach (the definition of womanist activism), our movements would be that much more effective, and powerful. Personally, I’ve experienced racism, sexism, sizeism and heterosexism (from within and outside of my various communities) and have no interest in separating myself, wouldn’t even know how to do that. I think we can learn from the women who fought in the civil rights and black power movements, specifically the women who first articulated intersectionality. Together, we could build a powerful movement.

peace,
(a different)Tara

Thanks for offering your perspective, (other) Tara!

I definitely encourage other folks to check out the work of Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, who first coined the term Intersectionality and who does a lot of work on race and law (see: Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color, Stanford Law Review).

Also, Patricia Hill Collins has done a lot of seminal work on the topic.

I don't completely disagree with the points you made in your original rant. That said, I do want to point out that there very much IS a cultural component to what equates an ideal body type.

When I lived in NYC, I - a fat, white woman - was never hit on by white men, but I was often hit on my black men. I attended a college comprised of mainly minorities - mostly blacks, and hispanics were next. In the entire time I was there, I met about 25 white students, and even amongst them I was a minority because about 80% of those students were international students, while I was born in the US.

One thing I learned while attending that school is that there are some POC who are more accepting of curves, of fuller figures. Now, this is a shrinking trend (no pun intended) as the desire to be thin at all costs seeps into all cultures, even internationally. Once in India, it was desired to be curvaceous - and the same in Fiji. Western influences are rapidly changing that, and anorexia and other eating disorders are on the rise in both countries.

My point is, we can't make blanket statements about why POC aren't a bigger force in this movement, but we also can't make blanket statements about how we're not reaching them. There are some people for whom this movement is a non-issue, because they've always been accepted at their current size.

Tara,

I totally agree with this and the other piece "A Different Kind of Fat Rant: People of Color and the Fat Acceptance Movement" you wrote. I haven't read your other pieces yet because I just stumbled onto this web site. I have to say we have a lot in common, and I totally agree about the FA movement being different for POC. I'm American-born, Taiwanese/Chinese, fat (5'6" and 265lbs), and have mixed-class parents. Your beliefs and perspectives are totally on par with my own, and I salute you for stating your opinions so clearly, strongly, and eloquently. I support you 100%. Thank you so much for your writing and please continue doing so! I greatly enjoy reading your pieces.

- Sharon

Insert blanket statements below:



Thank you, Nice White Lady, for speaking out for all of us people of color without using stereotypes or "blanket statements". (/sarcasm)

I'm so glad this is being discussed! The single-issue mindset is such a problem for identity politics in general.

For my fellow white women, try to imagine how outraged you would feel if you were a member of a minority group and were told by the men in that group that issues like reproductive rights, domestic violence, sexual harassment, etc, were less important or worthwhile than the struggle for ethnic or religious equality. It happens all the time, and it happens to POC who try to bring up their concerns in feminist, fat-acceptance, etc, contexts.

I think that in general people have a tendency to believe that their experience/viewpoint is the only valid or meaningful one, which is exactly the kind of mindset that we need to challenge in order to overcome all kinds of oppression.