People of all different shapes and sizes gathered at SFU on Saturday, October 25 to discuss and engage in activities concerning body diversity and acceptance.
Hosted by the Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SFPIRG) in collaboration with Fat Panic! Vancouver, the event titled Body Size Diversity: It’s Just How We Roll! took place at SFU’s Burnaby campus.
The event engaged participants in discussions, writing exercises, and theatre activities to uncover what it is like to be overweight in our society. The team also highlighted how other forms of prejudice and discrimination, such as sexism and racism, interact in our society.
A total of 24 participants took part in the event, which lasted seven hours. Kalamity Hildebrandt, a social justice educator and consultant with SFPIRG, led participants through all of the activities.
“We started out considering the nature and impact of body shaming and body policing generally — looking at how many forms of injustice use these tools of abuse,” she explained. “Part of what we did during that process was a writing and sharing exercise in which participants completed a number of questions about how they had first been taught body shame, and what this had cost them in their lives, and how they are working to heal from and resist body shaming and policing.”
In the afternoon, participants discussed the politics of fatness in North American society. A theatre performance illustrated situations in which overweight individuals were harassed, and portrayed practical intervention strategies to alleviate harassment.
When asked about what this event means to her and to others, Hildebrandt said, “To me, events like this are incredibly important. I have been doing this work for around 20 years now, so I already know much about the countless ways in which systemic forms of injustice like fat oppression harm people, but I always learn more through what participants choose to share.
“It is always very touching to see how brave people can be in sharing their stories, sometimes for the first time.”
Co-hosting the event was Fat Panic! Vancouver, a group committed to bringing an end to the oppression of overweight individuals.
“It is always very touching to see how brave people can be in sharing their stories, sometimes for the first time.”
Kalamity Hildebrandt, SFPIRG social justice educator and consultant
In the past, Fat Panic! Vancouver has referenced an article written by Clinton Hallahan and published by The Peak in 2012, titled, “NO FATTIES,” as an example of commonly held views about body diversity; the group aims to displace these views.
According to their website, his article and similar opinions contribute to making the university campus a “more hostile, less inclusive place for many people.”
Together, Fat Panic! Vancouver and SFPIRG plan to host more events to inform people of the prejudice and discrimination towards overweight people, and the harm that this causes.
“Both organizations seek to build a better world — a world in which no one is taught to hate their own, or anyone else’s, body, for any reason,” said Hildebrandt.
