In episode four of Is It a Fat Thing? we get into the tough stuff: diet talk. We do a light dip into the power of Fat bodies to skew a loo seat, surviving University as the 'fun' fat friend and even why Elphaba is Fat (!) and we will die on that hill, before getting into the tough stuff; connecting fatness to intersectional struggles, eating disorders and the damage of diet talk and why the diet industry is one big distraction tactic and it's connection to the rise of fascism.

Sadly, our mic wasn’t as on board with the conversation as we were, and there are quite a few sound issues in this episode! But we didn’t want to stop us from sharing such an important conversation with you, and we’re working on improving our sound quality in future episodes!

This episode was recorded in January 2025.

Citations/notable links

• Anti-fat language in Diet Culture: The “new me” and the “real me” in narratives of weight loss. Kathleen M Self, Department of Religious Studies, St. Lawrence University, USA (we heard this at the International Weight Stigma Conference, 2024)
• Fat is a Feminist Issue by Susie Orbach (1987).
• @fatfabfeminist on TikTok - a couple of videos https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNd1GW2AU/ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNd1GEGrk/ (and if you don't follow Victoria on all the platforms yet, then you should! A brilliant fat activist)
• @morethantracyt on TikTok - this excellent vid https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNd1GsQ8A/ (and another incredible Fat creator you should be following!)
• The Magical Thinking of Weight Loss by Aubrey Gordon - https://humanparts.medium.com/the-magical-thinking-of-weight-loss-bc8aaa601ae7
• Weight Stigma is a Threat to Public Health by Aubrey Gordon - https://humanparts.medium.com/the-magical-thinking-of-weight-loss-bc8aaa601ae7
• When Dieting Doesn't Work - Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/when-dieting-doesnt-work-2020052519889
• (Study cited in Harvard article): Ge L, Sadeghirad B, Ball GDC, da Costa BR, Hitchcock CL, Svendrovski A, Kiflen R, Quadri K, Kwon HY, Karamouzian M, Adams-Webber T, Ahmed W, Damanhoury S, Zeraatkar D, Nikolakopoulou A, Tsuyuki RT, Tian J, Yang K, Guyatt GH, Johnston BC. Comparison of dietary macronutrient patterns of 14 popular named dietary programmes for weight and cardiovascular risk factor reduction in adults: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised trials. BMJ. 2020 Apr 1.

Follow us on Instagram @fatliblondon or Meetup under Fat Liberation London

You can find Nikita on Tik Tok @niktoks or Instagram @nikigramx

Jade is on Instagram and TikTok under @justjadeelouise

Simran can be found on Instagram @simksandhu_ TikTok under @simran_k_s and BlueSky @sksandhu.bsky.social

Our theme tune was composed by Dorian Jackdaw.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 3 - Is it a Fat Thing… to be shamed at work?

In episode three of Is It a Fat Thing? we dive head-first into the macro and micro-aggressions we’ve faced in the workplace. Join us as we say YES to the office maltesers, bat away stares as we eat lunch, chat about why the only word we bleep out is the ‘o’ word, realise that we can take breaks going up stairs, demand action from our allies and that elevators provide weight limits for Fat bodies too. Unlike your diet-obsessed colleagues, you WILL be able to finish this off all at once.

Citations

• Katrin Elisabeth Giel, Ansgar Thiel, Martin Teufel, Jochen Mayer, Stephan Zipfel; ‘Weight Bias in Work Settings – a Qualitative Review’. Obes Facts 1 March 2010; 3 (1): 33–40. https://doi.org/10.1159/000276992
• Instagram @antidietriotclub
• Fat-positive spin in London Instagram @ashrideslondon / www.ashridesldn.co.uk
• Fat-positive dance classes in London Instagram @thecurvecatwalk / www.thecurvecatwalk.com
• Recruiters less likely to hire fat candidates: https://theconversation.com/half-of-employers-say-they-are-less-inclined-to-recruit-obese-candidates-its-not-ok-109821#:~:text=They%20are%20often%20seen%20as,inclined%20to%20recruit%20obese%20candidates.
• Couldn’t for the life of us find the OG falstaff essay from Uni, but found this and was a good and quick read: https://wilson.fas.harvard.edu/stigma-in-shakespeare/falstaff%E2%80%99s-obesity
• The International Weight Stigma Conference www.weightstigmaconference.com opening keynote from 2024 by Dr Lily O’Hara, Department of Public Health, Qatar University, Qatar, ‘The Perils of Paradigm Pioneering: Translating Weight Stigma Research into Policy and Practice’

Follow us on Instagram @fatliblondon or Meetup under Fat Liberation London

You can find Nikita on Tik Tok @niktoks or Instagram @nikigramx

Jade is on Instagram and TikTok under @justjadeelouise

Simran can be found on Instagram @simksandhu_ TikTok under @simran_k_s and BlueSky @sksandhu.bsky.social

Our theme tune was composed by Dorian Jackdaw.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things get personal in our 2nd episode of Is It a Fat Thing? as we get into the realities (eek!) of Fat dating. Strap in for some dodgy live-texting, app-chat, dating horror stories, unpacking what attraction even is for Fats, the unicorn of Fat double dates and how nice it is when we’re in Fat spaces and can just date like normal people. Don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom: we celebrate Fat love and our intersectionalities too!

This episode was recorded in August 2024.

Citations

• https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/aug/10/black-patients-bias-prescriptions-pain-management-medicine-opioids
• https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/news/childbirth-pain-relief-study-reveals-inequalities-for-bame-mothers/
• Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fatphobia by Sabrina Strings
• Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness by Da’Shaun L Harrison

Follow us on Instagram @fatliblondon or Meetup under Fat Liberation London

You can find Nikita on Tik Tok @niktoks or Instagram @nikigramx

Jade is on Instagram and TikTok under @justjadeelouise

Simran can be found on Instagram @simksandhu_ TikTok under @simran_k_s and BlueSky @sksandhu.bsky.social

Our theme tune was composed by Dorian Jackdaw.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.