What is an activist?

I want to talk to you about something for a minute, and that something is activism. No don't close the window. This is going to be good.

Over the years I have talked to many people who were deeply involved in the fat rights movement and enacting all sorts of change and when I mentioned activism to them they drew back in horror and insisted "well I'm no activist!" And I kind of understand that, because for a long time when I heard the word 'activism' I would think of hordes of folks marching on Washington, burning bras, shouting and holding signs, and that is not me. Not that I don't love a good march as much as the next person, because I do, and I certainly have a few bras I wouldn't mind burning, but most days I'm just not a shouting, sign-waving kind of a lady.

The thing is, you can be a fat rights activist without ever picking up a sign or shouting an epithet or taking one step towards the capitol. In a way, fat activism starts much closer to home. Imagine, if you will, a cluster of shouting sign-waving anti-fat activists in your head. They think horrible things about you, they judge every move you make, they insist that you don't deserve the same rights and privileges as thin people. Someone needs to shut them up, you know? And you're the only one around. So you paint your own mental signs that say "correlation is not causation" and "fat is beautiful" and "fat rights now" and every day you stand across from the haters and shout your own messages of fat love. You just became an activist, my friend.

Sure, it's in your own head, so it seems like you're not making that much of a difference, but this is just where it starts. Next thing you know, you find yourself talking to someone at a party who launches into diet talk around the canapé table and suddenly you're no longer just nodding and going along. New things start to come out of your mouth, like "Oh I don't diet anymore. Diets don't work and life is just too short to put yourself through that kind of deprivation and guilt over and over." And maybe you come up against a ton of opposition, but maybe there is also a quiet, self-hating dieter in the corner who heard your words and is now beginning to think "Is that true? Am I putting myself through this hell for nothing?" That's activism.

Maybe now you're thinking, "but Carrie, that's just one person. I want to make more of a difference than that." I hear you. So maybe you come to this site. Maybe you read about a project like Dare to Show Your Face or The BMI Project or The Fat Experience Project and you think "Well, I'm fat, and I guess my experience counts. Maybe I'll participate in this project." Maybe your contribution is viewed by folks of all sizes with various opinions on fat and some of them start to get the message that fat people are people just like everyone else. Activism!

Here are other things you may already be doing that fall under the activist umbrella:
1. Staying informed on fat rights issues via this site and others on the fatosphere
2. Refusing to let society tell you what fat people should or shouldn't be doing, wearing, eating, thinking, etc
3. Speaking up when someone tells fat jokes
4. Emailing government officials to express your interest in fat positive laws
5. Joining an organization like NAAFA, ISAA, or The Fat Rights Coalition
6. Sending a donation or volunteering time for any of these or other fat positive groups
7. Raising your children to love their bodies and the variations in bodies of others
8. Having a frank conversation with your doctor about Health at Every Size
9. Throwing out your scale and refusing to diet ever again
10. 'Coming out' as a fat activist to your friends and family and talking about fat issues with them as frankly and openly as you would anything else.

So you see? You may already be an activist. But what if you're not? What if all of this talk of activism makes you seize up and want to run for the hills? First, take a deep breath. Nobody is going to make you do anything you don't want to do. Then, maybe start really small. In your head, sit down with a piece of posterboard and a marker and make yourself a sign. Maybe you're not ready for something as radical as "fat is beautiful" or "fat doesn't equal unhealthy". Fine. How about a sign that says "I'm a person, just like any other person"? There's no denying that, is there? Now take your sign and stand up in front of the haters. That's all. Just give them a little opposition. They might even quiet down a tiny bit. When you're ready, maybe shout a little something. How about "I deserve rights"? Because you do. I bet at some point, some of your mental haters will give up, put down their signs, and go home because they finally get it. And that, my friend, is activism.

Inspired by this post at The Pursuit of Harpyness