ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how fat activists engage in queering fat online. It considers five examples of the ways fatness has been queered within cyberspace and ruminates on whether queering fat online is a useful tool in fat politics. Heteronormative discourse is discourse that reinforces existing power structures and understandings of individuals drawn from essentialist assumptions. Queer theory, in its use by academics and activists alike, allows for a method to disrupt dominant assumptions and challenge the privilege of dominant groups. Internet allows individuals from minority groups to present an opposing picture of their identity, pushing back against the normative discourse. Marilyn Wann invites individuals to submit a photo of themselves and their position, which were then made into a poster for the I Stand campaign. Kath Read is an Australian fat activist who has a large presence in the fat-o-sphere. The ECourse consists of blog posts, web videos, discussion forums, and homework assignments.
