Fat shame.

I am fat. 
I am. I have fat in my stomach, thighs and definitely my ass. I am fat.
I'm not looking for people to tell me, "no, you're not". I am. 

Society, media have all instilled in us that fat is a bad word. To have fat is bad. To be fat is worse. Fat shame is becoming an ever present issue in the world and is completely alike to bullying. The word fat has a negative connotation right from the get go. Seeing some fat on you in the mirror people automatically go, oh man I have to diet and work out and get rid of all this fat so I can look good again.

People can look good with fat, I know it's a very foreign concept, but just as women can look gorgeous thin, they can look gorgeous curvy, and yes, fat. 

Lovin' the fat
Nude painting by Alex Polak

Around two weeks ago, some random man standing by me on the corner of Dundas and University, looked at me and said, "wow you're fucking fat, you must have a lot of health problems, thank god I'm not as fat as you." People turned and looked at me, to see what my reaction would be. Instead of full on freaking out like I wanted to, I just settled for a simple, "Nope, no health problems, thank you for your concern, and somehow as fat as I am, I still manage to be better looking than you." 

There's this connotation with having fat and being fat that automatically means that you're disgusting and a slob. Yes, fine, I'll admit it, I don't always do my dishes right away (sorry Mom). As for being disgusting and a slob? Not so much. The way that we look seems to dictate how people feel we live our lives. Take me for example:

Ignoring the outfit, I am fat. I wear a size 18/20 - which is not something that I am ashamed of. Based on the size of clothing I wear people have determined that I am lazy, I'm a slob, I'm disgusting, I'm a pig and I must eat a terrible diet of junk food and processed crap. 

Actually, you couldn't be more wrong. I walk for huge portions of the day and love it. I'm not a slob or disgusting and I'm not a pig. I don't eat a terrible diet of processed foods and crap all the time. Despite all of that, this is my body type and I am not ashamed. 

There are people, a lot of people, who will turn around and say that because you are fat you need to be ashamed. Why? Why does fat have to be such a negative word? I believe that we need to take back the word fat, take it back and turn it into just another descriptive word, like brown haired, green eyes, that birthmark there, thin. 

So, don't be offended when people call you fat. Don't take it like an insult that only reinforces this word as such a negative one. When we stop giving the word fat the power to have such a negative impact on our lives, we stop giving these asshats power over us. I think that everyone should strive for a healthy lifestyle but sometimes life gets hard. Sometimes life gets hard and not all of us are strong enough to be perfectly healthy and happy all the time, sometimes we slip. We are human.