Gentle Reader, there is a new term out there that I’m kind of in love with: FATSHION. This term means the fashions of fat women and men, and the body pride that goes with it. I love this term as it is claiming a Body Pride movement that is so hard to claim, so hard to feel.
I have struggled with my weight my entire life, and, moreso, have struggled with being fat AND loving clothes at the same time. That is a difficult duality, as I’m supposed to hide my body, not display it. But display it I do, because I love clothes. I love dressing up. I love fashion.
My field is fashion in literature, from the Victorian era up to the 21st century. I study fashion, I revel in it, I love it. Clothes are my passion, as Blanche DuBois said, and I am with her on that. Clothes, indeed, are my passion.
But I still struggle with accepting my body. With understanding that this is the body I’ve been given, and despite its size, I should love it. This is why I read body-positive blogs and books. This is why I make posts like this, in the hopes that I believe myself, and them, that this is a body to love.
Or, as I wrote in a poetry-essay in college, I don’t understand why when there is more of me to love, people (and I) love me less.
The Postmodern Bluestocking 