Fat and the Academy: Wrap-Up

And now, my recap of the Fat and the Academy conference at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States, North America!

I flew in on Friday afternoon and ended up sitting across the aisle from Paul Campos and just behind Pattie Thomas on the flight out of Detroit. It was kind of weird because I thought I recognized Pattie but wasn't sure, and then while seated, here comes Paul Campos up the aisle. Funny stuff. We chatted for a little while during the flight.

The evening's activities started with a poetry reading from Susan Stinson, a really enjoyable piece where she took some of the epithets uttered to her throughout her life and really deconstructed them. It was great stuff and served as a solid kickoff to the conference.

Kathleen LeBesco (Revolting Bodies) spoke about techniques and tactics used in queer politics and at this time I realized I left my notebook in the hotel room, so I have no notes. However, it was a great talk and was quite inspiring.

Her talk was followed up by a performance from To The Earth (BFBer april - keryx to LJers - is a part of this troupe) and it was the first time I'd seen a tribal dance performance. It was awesome, and just amazing to see how powerful and free they were with their bodies. Very positive stuff. Their performance was followed up by a show by the Philadelphia Drag Kings, and it was really really entertaining. By 11, though, I was an old tired coot so I shuffled off to my hotel room.

Friday night was also the night I got to meet a lot of great people, including BFBers kimdog, MichMurphy, and DeeLeigh; Lara Frater, author of Fat Chicks Rule!; and other super positive folks. (I mention these people because they bribed me to do so.) (Not really; I bribed them.)

On Saturday morning, I gave my presentation. Not only did I praise some of MeMe Roth's tactics, but I made too many references to George W. Bush and scored geek points with one or two audience members by making more than subtle references to Star Trek: The Next Generation. (It was the episode where Will Riker became an alien as part of the Federation's First Contact policies - remember that one? Where he was found out to be human? Anyway. Uh. Yeah. Geek.) The discussion following my talk was really interesting, and the general feeling I got out of it was that we need to author our own media a whole lot more, support each other's endeavors, and give less play to the mass media. I encouraged everyone there to start podcasting and video podcasting if they weren't already. Pattie Thomas also put forth the groundwork/concept for an easy way to find everyone else's fat positive content... and synergy ensued as I suggested a fat clearinghouse on the web.

Unfortunately the preplanned BFBer meetup lunch was usurped by a larger "Everyone's going out to lunch!" lunch. And also, I wasn't a part of it as I got lost in downtown Northampton. However, I had a really engaging discussion over lunch with Paul Campos, MichMurphy, and DeeLeigh. I admit it took me a while to get over the reaction of being in such great company.

Post-lunch, Stefanie Snider presented really intriguing work on how the body is made visible and invisible in art, and it totally stimulated the art school graduate in me. The works she presented are ones I'm definitely seeking out, and I look forward to hearing more about her work. Stefanie also gave a talk about art in relation to the zines FaT GiRL and Size Queen. More good stuff.

At the end of the evening, Pattie Thomas spoke. She included excerpts from her fantastic book Taking Up Space (which sold out at the conference!) and discussed how people who are anti-fat are starting to co-opt some of our language. It was really fascinating, particularly in light of the fat and health stuff that went down here a couple of months ago.

I wasn't able to attend Sunday's talks (Paul Campos, Marilyn Wann) or reading (Susan Stinson.) Instead, I was whisked across this big country in an airplane. I trust someone out there can fill everyone in on what happened.

All in all, I was really impressed by the conference. It was an overwhelmingly size positive experience, celebrating fat and at the same time keeping an eye on what we need to do to move this movement - and the field of fat studies - forward. I also want to thank, once again, the excellent women of Size Matters for doing a spectacular job. Being invited to speak amongst such great company was an enormous honor, and I look forward to seeing what they present next year.

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