"Coming of Fat Age" by Denise Friedman
Denise Friedman blogs about moments of Fat Clarity:
I would have tiny moments of Fat Clarity - tiny moments where I would realize that maybe the problem wasn't me. The first moment of Fat Clarity I had was when I was ten years old. My mom went up to my school to talk about why the other children were allowed to torment me to the point where I was afraid to go to school and was faking sick to be allowed to come home. My mom was informed that if I would just lose some weight, they wouldn't make fun of me for being fat. My mom also informed me of this. Her informing me of this was a somewhat questionable parenting decision. I am not sure it was really any of my business. But her informing me of that has become my Fat Fuel. I remember thinking for a brief minute that it was pretty unfair that the onus was on me to become acceptable rather than on the little shit kids to stop tormenting me. I was supposed to stop these kids from tormenting me by losing weight? I was supposed to stop them from drawing pictures of me and passing them around the classroom by losing weight? I was supposed to force them to call me by my name instead of myriad "nicknames" by losing weight? I wondered, for a minute, why the grownups thought only my body changing would change the other kids' behavior.
Friedman shares "tales of fatting all over Albuquerque" at Apropos Of Nothing. Read the entire post here.