Title (as given to the record by the creator):  Open Letter Against Fat Hatred
Date(s) of creation:  2000
Creator / author / publisher: Susan Stinson, Lynne Gerber, a few hundred others
Location: Northampton, MA, US
Physical description:  PDF of an archived web page
Reference #: RFH-OpenLetter
Source:  archive.org
Links:  [ PDF ] [ Resisting Fat Hatred ]

Open Letter Against Fat Hatred

We, the undersigned, people of all sizes, write to oppose the hatred our society directs towards fat people in general and fat women in particular. We have struggled for acceptance of our bodies – or we have watched loved ones struggle – in a culture where such acceptance is profoundly difficult to achieve. We recognize that fat hatred is an extreme expression of a cultural obsession with women’s bodies and women’s sizes. We know that this obsession keeps women questioning their worth and stepping back from their full power. We see the pain and confusion women face when relating to their bodies as a result of this same social dynamic, regardless of body size. We refuse to separate fat women or to consider their struggles any more of their own making than any woman’s struggle to accept and love her physical self.

We have been saddened and outraged by a recent expression of fat hatred directed against author Susan Stinson. In response to an article published in the Springfield (Massachusetts) Sunday Republican challenging the hatred of fat people and our cultural obsession with weight loss, she received a letter clearly intended to shame and to silence. Rather than taking issue with the arguments made in the article, the letter was full of gross assumptions about the author as an individual. It attempted to pathologize her, suggesting that her size reflected personal failures which disqualified her from addressing questions of body size and dieting. We see this letter as an attempt to intimidate fat women and to send the message that they have no authority to critique prevailing social values. We recognize this as a tactic of hatred used to silence many people and groups that historically have been the most vulnerable of our society.

By standing together against this expression of fat hatred, we affirm our belief that people of all sizes can be allies in overcoming body hatred and in creating new cultural values through which all bodies, and the people who inhabit them, are treated with caring and respect.

Sincerely, (see names below)

Responses to the Open Letter Against Fat Hatred

(email excerpts)

My aunt sent a copy of your letter to me, you have my permission to add my name to your list of others. I hope that the small minded will finally get the message and realize not everyone is the same that is the beauty of us all and belittling someone for what they believe is just not right.
–Tondaleo M. Allen

Women are discouraged in so many ways from taking up (our rightful) space in this world: size-wise, assertiveness-wise, and by being discouraged from being loud. apparently, we are supposed to be rail-thin, weak, meek and very, very quiet. how boring is that?!
–Jenny Dahlstein

I work at a feminst and anti-racist organization putting together an upcoming event on fat oppression and body image for this spring, we also have lots of bulletin board space. Please let me know if we can post your letter and announce it after classes.
–Geleni Fontaine Brooklyn Women’s Martial Arts, a program of The Center for Anti-Violence Education 

We have all had similar experiences, I suspect, and speaking for us, this is a wonderful catharsis for past incidences of fat-attacks! Keep your chins up, and you go, girl!
–Karen and Richard Stimson, Largesse, the Network for Size Esteem

Last April I organized a conference through the UMass School of Public Health titled “The Big Picture: Overcome Weight Prejudice and promoting Health for People of All Sizes.” The conference was held at Mount Holyoke College, was attended by 115 health care professionals and was well received. However, as the reponse to your thoughtful piece suggests,size discrimination and weight prejudice remain with us and need our attention. 

I am working on a new conference dealing with the dads & daughters relationship as it impacts girl’s self-esteem and body issues.
–Greg Kline

I’m sorry to see such fear and hate directed at you. I have been feeling very lucky these last few years, since I have a girlfriend who adores my body just the way it is, which provides the best kind of insulation against fat-bashing by the larger culture.
–Tasha Harmon

I was struck by the power and eloquence of your article as well as the ignorance and sadness of the hateful reply. I am an exercise physiologist and nutritionist who has been involved for some years with the Non-diet, Size Acceptance Movement. Keep up the great work and try not to get too discouraged – there are lots of people out there who see this for what it is -a prejudice that needs to be exposed.
–Jonathan Robison, PhD, MS, Executive Co-Director, Michigan Center for Preventive Medicine 

Well, we could just give up and say it’s too hard. The media, the weight-loss profiteers, the cosmetic industry, the fitness industry, the fashion industry, and others are all doing their best to keep people from liking themselves the way they are. Couldn’t we take on some fight that didn’t have so many billion-dollar corporate interests opposing our views?Couldn’t we find a way to feel OK about ourselves that didn’t run counter to the cultural propaganda we encounter every single day? You know the answer. This is the battle we have chosen, and if we don’t win it in our lifetimes, then maybe the next generation will. We have no choice but to keep on fighting for our right to live happily in the bodies we have.
–Miriam Berg President, Council on Size and Weight Discrimination

Prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry against fat people is, as bigotry always is, the ignorant response of an uneducated public. I’m glad there are people in the world doing the work to fight against the irrational fear and hatred of fat people.
–Kathy Hogan

Yes, I will sign the letter. I am a 25-year-old kindergarten teacher and Girl Scout volunteer. Feminism and social justice for all are my passions in life, and I have an especially soft spot in my heart for girls growing up in this ridiculously hateful society. Let me know anything else I can do to help spread the message that misogyny will no longer be tolerated in this world.
–Marianne Barlow

OF COURSE I’M SIGNING ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am also forwarding it to 16 people plus my belly dance troupe.

I am sorry it took so long to get to this, It’s not for lack of enthusiasm. It’s a combination of being busy and this being a scary thing..I have never written to people asking for fat support.

I see this as an opportunity to stand up against hating women’s bodies, and stand up for loving and caring for ourselves and our women friends–whether fat or thin or in between.
–Marci Riseman

As a fat woman with diabetes, I have to be very vigilant in the face of constant exhortations that losing weight is the only way for someone with my disease to stay healthy. I know by my own experience that this focus is seriously misplaced. By eating a proper diet (avoiding foods high in fat and sugar and increasing the amount of fiber and whole, fresh foods) and getting regular exercise, one can achieve better health (lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and lower blood glucose, if you want to quantify it)

Luckily, I have had the support of a very outspoken and active fat women’s movement here in the Bay Area in forming my attitudes and learning to love myself and take care of myself as a fat woman.
–Rima Kittner

I am so disgusted at the letter you received. Unfortunately I see these ​​attitudes towards endowed (empowered, fat, large) people all the time being a dietitian. People usually assume I have a similar attitude and of course I enlighten them with the fact that health comes in all sizes and that I do not encourage weight loss!

You may add my name in bold and capitalized letters to your list! No matter how tough it gets keep fighting for what you believe in.
–Julie A. Bralek, RD, LD REAL nutrition 

I wish you continued strength. Don’t listen to anything that tells you that you have no authority to critique society as-is — you have authority and support that no one can take from you!
–Janesse Leung

I am a 29 year old woman who has been battling image and fat issues since childhood. I am eating disordered as a result of this…We need to change the perceptions that fat is something we wilfully do to ourselves. Fatist attitudes must change, or how else are we to accept who we are and what we look like?It’s time to fight back and break the cycle. If the Willdendorf Venus can be an icon of beauty, so can we.
–Danielle Nunn-Weinberg

We may be three thousand miles away in Oakland, CA, but we are standing shoulder to shoulder with you!
–Timnah Steinman

I am very sorry you had to endure the response letter. I feel so very sad to know that people think that way. My own (physician) father would have been on that list. As I have gotten my nerve to contest him (in my late 30’s, early 40’s), I continually challenge his fat prejudice. He has gotten quieter and quieter in response, until most recently he saw me speak with Glenn Gaesser (author, of Big Fat Lies: The Truth About Your Weight and Your Health }…he asked for a copy of Glenn’s book!!!!! I consider this a personal victory of unimaginable dimensions. It is so gratifying to know that my very intelligent father has opened up to these important messages. –Karin Kratina, MA, RD

I read an article about your organization in Sojourner Magazine, and I was so completely floored that there was an organization devoted to resisting fat hatred! I grew up hating my body, and it is a constant struggle every day not to fall back into the awful habits of anorexia and bulimia that I had all through my school-age years. Despite having an amazing and beautiful fiancé who adores me, and my body (and it drives him nuts that I get so insecure about it so often) and the deep- down knowledge that I am a beautiful person, sometimes the old hatred still comes up. I’ve even modeled! And still sometimes I hate how I look. So I guess I just wanted to say, thank you for having such a wonderful thing going. I used to live in NoHo and I wish I could have gone to the rally you had recently. But if you have any information about anything happening in the Boston area, that would be great. So, again, thank you. It’s really something America needs to see– beautiful people loving who they are despite what society tells them. So, again, thank you.
–Renae Martinez

P.S. For the record, I am 24 years old, and I wish I had found you guys ten years ago! But better late than never, eh? Thanks.