Bad Fat Person

Ali Owens

Description

Too many of us have forgotten that hating our bodies is a learned behavior, not a natural one. Too many of us have been shamed into submission, leaping from one diet to the next and causing ourselves physical and emotional damage as a result. Too many plus-size folks have spent our lives being Good Fat People - that is, following a strict set of rules to ensure we are always trying to take up less space in the world.

What if we could be Bad Fat People instead? What if we could wear what we wanted, dare to be seen, recognize ourselves as inherently worthy, and - most importantly - love ourselves just the way we are?

In this sharp, witty, and starkly honest work, Ali Owens gets real about our cultural obsession with thinness by exploring its oppressive roots and challenging commonly held stereotypes about fatness and fat people. She dissects her own internalized shame and shares her experiences of living in a body that has been very thin, very fat, and everything in between. Most importantly, she presents a set of tools - the tools she used to finally move from a place of self-hatred to unconditional self-love, dress size notwithstanding.

Part memoir and part social commentary, Bad Fat Person will make you laugh, make you cry, and provide practical applications for dismantling your own limiting beliefs about your body and embarking on the journey toward unconditional self-love. (Hint: the number on the scale has nothing to do with it.)

Author’s Note

1. Hello, I Am Fat


2. Good Fat People & Bad Fat People


3. The F-Word


4. How Did We Get Here?


5. Stigma & Shame


6. Bodies & the Patriarchy


7. The Story of My Body


8. The Self-Love Revolution


9. Love Thyself: A How-To Guide


10. Things You Should Know

Works Cited

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Self-love
• Body image
• Memoir
• Self-help
• Acceptation des gros

Informations

• Publié par: Boundless Media
• Date de parution: 28 janvier 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781733551212
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 23 Mo

Extrait

B a d
Fat
Perso n
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1
 

2
 
 
 
 
 
 
B a d Fat Perso n
A Reflection on Plus-Size Bodies
in a Cookie-Cutter Culture
 
 
 
A l i Ow e ns

3
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright © 2019 by Ali Owens
 
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
 
For permissions, and information relating to special discounts on bulk orders,
write to the publisher at the address provided below, or submit a form at
www.badfatperson.com.
 
 
 
ISBN: 978-1-7335512-0-5 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-7335512-1-2 (eBook)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018915191
 
 
 
Published by:
 
Boundless Media
PO Box 273178
Fort Collins, CO 80527
 
 
Printed in the United States of America
 
Cover photo and design by Ali Owens
 

 

4
 
 
 
 
 
 

For those of you who have never believed you are
thin beautiful attractive sexy lovable worthy enough.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

5
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

6
 
 
 
Contents

 
Author’s Note Hello, I Am Fat ………………………………… Good Fat People & Bad Fat People ……………. The F-Word ……………………………………. How Did We Get Here?………………………… Stigma & Shame .………………………………. Bodies & the Patriarchy………………………… The Story of My Body………………………….. The Self-Love Revolution.……………………… Love Thyself: A How-To Guide…………………
 
1: Get Grounded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2: Get Awareness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3: Get Grateful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4: Get Rid of Things That Make You Feel Like Shit . . . . .
5: Get Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6: Get Deep. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7: Get Dressed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8: Get Protective (aka The Best Friend Test) . . . . . . . . . .
9: Get Naked. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10: Get Rebellious . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  Things You Should Know……………………..
Works Cited



7

9
13
17
37
57
73
101
115
131
149
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
205
215

151
159
163
167
173
179
185
191
197
201
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


8
 
 
 
 
 
A ut hor’s Not e
 
 
There are certain things that you just know .
At the age of five, I had already decided that someday, I
would write books. Not just any books, mind you - chapter
books. Lofty were my goals.
I never forgot that dream. I did, however, place it on the
shelf for quite a long time - nearly thirty years, if you want
the truth. Writing books remained in the realm of “someday,”
along with other admirable but easily delayed goals like
“organize my house,” “learn how to make hollandaise,” and
“get my shit together.” There it lingered, watching the
decades pass, feeling alone and neglected and wondering if I
was ever going to take it down, dust it off, and let it come into
being.
And finally, I did.
It wasn’t so much that I made the decision to write a
book as the decision tracked me down, hit me over the head,
and demanded my attention. I had just been booked for a
speaking engagement at a conference in Seattle, where I was
to discuss body image and self-love, and like a bolt from the
blue, it hit me: I need to write a book about this.

9
Instantly, I got that warm, fluttery feeling in my gut -
the way you do when you know you’ve just come up with
The Next Great Idea. Imposter syndrome, however, reared its
ugly head, as it’s done consistently throughout my life. It told
me I would never actually finish, and that even if I did, no
one would want to hear what I had to say, anyway. It
demanded to know my credentials for undertaking such a task
and insisted that I didn’t have enough knowledge or
experience to do so. It told me I was a fraud: how did I expect
to help other people with their body image when I still
struggled with my own?
It was a fearsome battle, and one that may have taken
this dream down with it, if not for the love, support, and
encouragement I received from a handful of utterly amazing
human beings. These individuals patiently listened to many
hours worth of emotional angst over this book. They soothed
me, cajoled me, boosted my confidence, made me meditate,
and reminded me to feed, wash, and clothe myself during the
writing process. Together, they played a major part in
drowning out the voice of self-doubt and helping this book
come into being, by believing in me even when I wasn’t sure
I believed in myself.
To Paul McIntosh, Ryann Gaspara, Kate Farmer,
Victoria Benjamin, and Audrey Owens: I could not have done
this without you. Thank you for your love (of the gentle as
well as tough varieties), your tireless support, and your
constant affirmations of my strength, capability, wisdom, and
knowledge. You are the shining stars that helped me navigate

10
through many a long and sleepless night, and I love you all so
much more than words can express.
Additionally, I owe a huge THANK YOU to everyone
who contributed to my crowdfunding campaign in order to
help this book come to life. The following individuals went
above and beyond in their generosity:
 
Joann & Bill Cottrell
Charlotte Franklin
Lauren Hood
Kim Jones
Jan & Tom McIntosh
Audrey Owens
Stephanie Piltingsrud
 
I don’t claim to have all the answers, nor have I
reached a state of self-love nirvana. I still occasionally catch
myself engaging in negative self-talk, bemoaning my
reflection in the mirror, and comparing my body to others.
Overcoming body hatred involves deprogramming ourselves
of the messages we’ve been learning since childhood, which
is an arduous process that cannot happen overnight.
However, since I began my self-love journey several
years ago, I have experienced an abundance of happiness,
confidence, and joy. I have accomplished things I’d
previously told myself needed to wait until my body looked a
certain way. I have surrounded myself with people who are
truly supportive of me and my goals, instead of people who
make me feel like shit. I have basically raised the bar in every

11
single area of my life, greatly exceeding my expectations for
this journey and how it would affect me.
I set out on this path with a singular goal: stop
spending so much time and energy hating my body. What I
found instead was so much more than a lack of hatred; it was
love . Pure, genuine love for myself tha