Do this make me look fat?

Friends cast

"Does this make me look fat?"

I've heard this phrase in almost every sitcom and in almost every dressing room. I've heard it said from friends, family, or even people in the dressing room next to me. It's everywhere. What is "it" that's everywhere exactly? Fat. Whether it is referenced in the popular television show Friends where all of the main characters have insanely hot bodies, or it's just a friend trying on a new dress and getting an outsiders opinion. In the episode of Friends where Chandler is asking the couple Rachel and Ross for advice, he is asking how to get around the question "does this make me look fat?" It can be disguised in advertisements and entertainment as body positivity, body image, or eating disorders. A sister company to American Eagle Outfitters, Aerie, started an "Aerie Real" campaign in 2014 to start advocating for body positivity and more "regular looking" models. This is just a distraction to the real problem that is going on, which is talking about fat and who should be allowed to. Women are constantly being encompassed and trapped by the word fat. Normative ideals are shaping what it means to actually be fat and not letting fat people speak for themselves. 

Rather than getting around the question, how can we think about taking it head-on?

Iskra Lawrence

Many different outlets of media have been attempting to hop on board with fat activism; but are they doing it for the right reasons? I think it's more than what meets the eye. Take the Aerie Real campaign for example. Their leading "activist" for the campaign is Iskra Lawrence, a used-to-be-skinny-supermodel who now has some curves, which is supposed to be enough to embrace all bodies. Her instagram is full of pictures of her in the beach, in her underwear, or wearing tight clothing. She often posts some before and after photos of her early modeling career when she was much skinnier. Lawrence uses this to springboard her platform to call out toxic diet culture, eating disorders, general health, and how capitalism ties these things all together. Even with long, moving, and sentimental captions, promotion of her brand is always worked in somewhere. Being confident with your body is amazing, and it's great to see someone with some curves strutting her stuff; this blog isn't bashing companies who are trying to make their product more inclusive. Quite honestly, I don't think there is space right now for a big company like Aerie to make bold statements about fat activism without getting tied up in a bunch of other issues -- and here lies the ultimate predicament. If big companies aren't able to make change, then who can? What are we really trying to change? And who's to say it isn't all just a big marketing ploy? Aerie profited 300 million more dollars from 2016 to 2017 when the campaign started two years prior. This just goes to show how long it actually takes to see something get traction. This campaign has managed to touch a nerve with its intended audience by using Aerie "role models", such as Lawrence, to show just because your body is different doesn't make you any less of a person -- or less capable of buying their clothes.

Who gets to talk about this and why does it matter? Some fine lines exist as to whether or not one should be able to join the fat activist movement. The Aerie Real campaign is not a fat activist movement; but it is a common, open space for people to share their lived experiences and to share these experiences through the women that Aerie has positioned as role models. All women should feel and be able to claim ownership over their bodies, but not all women can claim ownership of the "fat" experience itself. Not being fat also does not mean you aren't allowed to have internal conflict with the way your body looks. All in all... it's complicated. All of these body positivity and anti-diet campaigns are a start to bringing attention to what fat-activists have to say. In order to answer the question I posed above, we need to start listening to more radical ideas to really start to see any type of change in the way women see themselves. We need to break out the socio-normative chains that are wrapped around us and call fat what it is. Instead of tip-toeing around the question like Chandler Bing from Friends, we need someone to be loud and confident in naming the fat oppression which continues to exist in our society.