ABSTRACT
A core concept of Fat Activism and Fat Studies is the centering of the lived experiences of fat individuals. We listen to fat people and privilege their own interpretations of their experiences. But what happens when fat people’s interpretations of their own experiences challenge the foundational tenets of fat liberation? What happens when fat individuals participating in research reject the language of “fatness” as harmful or hurtful? Whose voices and experiences are privileged? Who is “allowed” to take part in fat community? Whose experiences are devalued? Whose experiences are ignored? This chapter aims to work through the important questions of how we assign, vet—and perhaps even control—narratives within the movement for fat justice as it manifests within activist communities and within Fat Studies as a field. We argue that we must not silence voices that are contradictory to Fat Community, but rather engage with these voices in a way that positions such narratives as learning moments that challenge the movement in the best possible ways.
