Feminist, Fat, And Fabulous Blog

My name is Sonya. I’m a feminist. I’m fashionable. I’m fabulous. I’m fat.

This statement isn’t a ploy for sympathy, or for shock. It is what it is. I am not round, I am not big boned, I am not fluffy (good lord I hate that word), I am fat.

So often, fat is seen as a three letter word. It’s whispered about in gossipy or well-meaning corners. So often, it’s followed by the word ‘bitch’. As if both words are a double-barrelled insult of the highest wit.

I’m perfectly ok with the word fat. I’m perfectly ok with the word bitch.

I identify as a feminist. I have since before I even knew what the word meant. I identify as a female, able-bodied, fashionable, fabulous, and fat person.

I believe in lip’s philosophy, which is why I wanted to write for them. At the moment, fat bloggers (especially fat fashion bloggers) seem to be the fashionable trend out in the internet world. Many identify themselves like me. I’ve written for some of them. But I wanted to lean a little more towards linking fashion and feminism, as well as the issue of fat in Australia.

At university, I took fashion as an elective. Among the hundreds of students, there weren’t many fat people, let alone fat girls. I don’t know if it was the fashion world itself, or something entirely. I felt conspicuous every time I walked into a classroom. Everyone seemed so put together or artfully dishevelled in their designer or high street clothing that I would never fit into, and I felt wrong. A stranger in my own body.

I started changing the way I dressed, to try and fit in with the others. I focused more and more on my body—weight loss, the way I seemed to sweat so much more in summer than the other people did, the way I moved. I found myself exhausted with the effort and ashamed of myself.

Until, one day, I came across a photograph of the plus sized model, Crystal Renn. It was accompanied by an interview in which she stated she suffered from an eating disorder and had dieted herself down to fit the fashion industry’s ideal. But then she decided ‘No more’. She was going to let her body be what it was supposed to be, dress how she liked, and nurture herself. Accept herself as she was.

It spoke to me. It really did. I had focused so completely on my body and how it was perceived by others that I was doing myself a complete disservice. Why did it have to be about how I looked? Why couldn’t it be about the person I was? What I did with myself, how I related to others?

I won’t lie; I know it’s not just in the fashion industry where looks and your body count. It happens in the ‘real’ world as well. It happens every day. We deal with it, every day. But we don’t have to let it consume us. We can question it, we can challenge it. Maybe one day we’ll defeat it, but until then, we can keep fighting that ideal.

This is what I want to talk about with my column. There will be a mix of serious issues, but there will also be lighter issues throughout. Sometimes I won’t be able to help but gush over a beautiful bag, despite the price tag. I am still navigating my way through the fat world and the fashion world and I know I don’t know everything. But I want to question everything, and I want you to do that with me.