1. Be yourself. Whatever size, color, religion, gender, race, or sexual orientation. Don’t make apologies for yourself. Believe in the righteousness of your cause. Believe that hate helps nobody.
2. Understand that you’re beautiful. Understand that people who criticize your body or my body or Kelly Clarkson’s body can’t take that away from you. Understand that a lot of people are hateful morons, and they don’t reflect on you, and they shouldn’t affect you.
3. Let go of fear. Don’t let fear keep you from living your life the way you want to. Don’t be afraid to put on spandex and go to the gym. Don’t be afraid to order the cheesecake. Don’t be afraid to use the word fat. Boo during the trailer for that disgusting Dane Cook movie. Don’t be silent. Don’t allow yourself to be marginalized.
4. Challenge fatphobic (and thinphobic) statements when you see them. Don’t be afraid to speak up.
5. Read blogs, leave comments, join the community. It’s not a monolithic wall of agreement. There’s plenty of room for debate and conversation.
6. Bring body positivity and size acceptance issues into your communities. Science fiction, LGBT, yoga. Whatever you can think of.
7. Link to your favorite body positivity blogs, maybe in unexpected places or in the middle of unexpected conversations–spread the word.
8. Brainstorm different ways to be an advocate. The dressing room project? Fat hate bingo? The fat rant? All of these began with individuals who are helping make things happen.
9. Create body-positive art. Be a performer, a dancer, a cheerleader, a magnet maker, a photographer, a model, a poet, a painter, a T-shirt designer, a songwriter, a novelist.
10. Have more to say or a unique perspective? Submit a guest post to a blog like this one. Or, if you’re very brave, start a blog of your own.
from the Big Fat Deal blog
