ABSTRACT
In this essay, the Italian fat activists, artists and authors Mara Bibelli and Chiara Meloni describe the origins and development of their fat activist organization, Belle di Faccia, the first association in Italy to raise awareness about fat phobia. They note a significant difference between U.S. and Italian fat activism: in the United States, they argue, the body positivity movement is a weak and commercialized off-shoot of radical fat activism. In contrast, in Italy this body positivity movement, mainly articulated through the fashion world, provided the foundation and impetus for the growth of a more inclusive and more radical movement surrounding fat and body size.
