WEBVTT

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I'm here today to talk to you
about a very powerful little word,

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one that people will do
almost anything to avoid becoming.

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Billion-dollar industries thrive
because of the fear of it.

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Those of us who undeniably are it

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are left to navigate
a relentless storm surrounding it.

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I'm not sure if any of you
have noticed, but I'm fat.

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(Laughter)

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Not the lowercase 
muttered-behind-my-back kind,

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or the seemingly harmless
chubby or cuddly.

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I'm not even the more sophisticated
voluptuous or curvaceous kind.

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Let's not sugarcoat it.


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I am the capital F-A-T kind of fat.

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I am the elephant in the room.

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(Laughter)

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When I walked out on stage,
some of you may have been thinking,

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"Oh, this is going to be hilarious,

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because everybody knows
that fat people are funny."

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(Laughter)

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Or you may have been thinking,
"Where does she get her confidence from?"

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because a confident fat woman
is almost unthinkable.

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The fashion-conscious members
of the audience may have been thinking

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how fabulous I look
in this vestido dress

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(Cheers)
(Applause)

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- thank you very much!-

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whereas some of you might have thought,

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"Mmm, black would have been
so much more slimming."

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(Laughter)

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You may have wondered, consciously or not,

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if I have diabetes, or a partner,
or if I eat carbs after 7pm.

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(Laughter)

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You may have worried 
that you ate carbs after 7pm last night

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(Laughter)

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and that you really should renew
your gym membership.

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(Laughter)

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These judgments are insidious;

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they can be directed 
to individuals and groups.

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and they can also be directed
at ourselves;

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and this way of thinking
is known as "fatphobia."

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Like any form of systematic oppression,
fatphobia is deeply rooted

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in complex structures like capitalism,
patriarchy, and racism,

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and that can make it really difficult
to see, let alone challenge.

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We live in a culture where being fat
is seen as being a bad person;

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lazy, greedy, unhealthy,
irresponsible, and morally suspect.

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And we tend to see thinness
as being universally good;

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responsible, successful, and in control
of our appetites, bodies, and lives.

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We see these ideas again and again
in the media, in public health policy,

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doctor's offices,
in everyday conversations

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and in our own attitudes.

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We may even blame fat people themselves
for the discrimination they face

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because, after all, if we don't like it,
we should just lose weight.

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Easy!

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This anti-fat bias has become so integral,

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so ingrained to how we value
ourselves and each other

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that we rarely question
why we have such contempt

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for people of size
and where that disdain comes from.

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But we must question it

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because the enormous value we place
on how we look affects every one of us.

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Do we really want to live in a society

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where people are denied
their basic humanity

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if they don't subscribe
to some arbitrary form of "acceptable"?

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So when I was six years old,

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my sister used to teach ballet
to a bunch of little girls in our garage.

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I was about a foot taller and a foot wider
than the most of the group.

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When it came to doing
our first performance,

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I was so excited about wearing
a pretty pink tu-tu.

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I was going to sparkle.

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As the other girls slipped easily
into their lycra and tulle creations,

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not one of the tu-tus
was big enough to fit me.

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I was determined not to be excluded
from the performance,

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so I turned to my mother,
and loud enough for everyone to hear,

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said, "Mum, I don't need a tu-tu,
I need a four-four!"

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(Laughter)

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Thanks, mum.

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(Applause)

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And although I didn't recognize it
at the time,

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claiming space for myself
in that glorious four-four

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was the first step towards becoming
a radical fat activist.

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Now, I'm not saying
that this whole body love thing

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has been an easy skip
along a glittering path of self-acceptance

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since that day in class, far from it.

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I soon learned that living outside
what the mainstream considers normal

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can be a frustrating and isolating place.

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I've spent the last 20 years unpacking
and deprogramming these messages,

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and it's been quite a roller coaster.

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I've been openly laughed at, 
abused from passing cars,

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and been told that I'm delusional.

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I also receive smiles from strangers

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who recognize what it takes
to walk down the street

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with a spring in your step
and your head held high.

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(Cheers)

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Thanks.

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Through it all,

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that fierce little six-year-old
has stayed with me,

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and she has helped me stand before you
today as an unapologetic fat person.

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A person that simply refuses 
to subscribe to the dominant narrative

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about how I should move 
through the world in this body of mine.

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And I'm not alone.

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I am part of an international community
of people who choose to,

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rather than passively accepting
that our bodies are

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and probably always will be big,

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we actively choose to flourish
in these bodies as they are today;

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people who honor our strength

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and work with not against
our perceived limitations;

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people who value health
as something much more holistic

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than a number on an outdated BMI chart.

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Instead, we value mental health,
self-worth, and how we feel in our bodies

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as vital aspects
to our overall well-being;

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people who refuse to believe

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that living in these fat bodies
is a barrier to anything, really.

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There are doctors, academics, and bloggers
who have written countless volumes

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on the many facets
of this complex subject.

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There are "fatshionistas" who reclaimed
their bodies and their beauty

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by wearing "fat-kinis" and crop-tops

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exposing the flesh
that we're all taught to hide.

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There are fat athletes who run marathons,
teach yoga, or do kickboxing,

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all done with the middle finger
firmly held up to the status quo.

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(Laughter)

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These people have taught me

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that radical body politics is the antidote
to our body-shaming culture.

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But to be clear, I'm not saying

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that people shouldn't change their bodies
if that's what they want to do.

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Reclaiming yourself can be
one of the most gorgeous acts

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of self-love and can look
like a million different things:

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from hairstyles, to tattoos,
to body contouring, to hormones,

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to surgery, and yes, even weight loss.

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It's simple:

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it's your body, and you decide
what's best to do with it.

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My way of engaging in activism
is by doing all the things

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that we fatties aren't supposed to do,
and there's a lot of them;

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inviting other people to join me
and then making art about it.

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The common thread
through most of this work

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has been reclaiming spaces

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that are often prohibitive
to bigger bodies

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from the catwalk to club shows

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from public swimming pools
to prominent dance stages.

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Reclaiming spaces en masse
is not only a powerful artistic statement

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but a radical community building approach.

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This was so true of Aquaporko

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(Laughter)

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the fat femme synchronized swim team
I started with a group of friends

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in Sydney.

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(Laughter)

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The impact of seeing 
a bunch of defiant, fat women

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in flowery swimming caps and bathers

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throwing their legs 
in the air without a care

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should not be underestimated.

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(Laughter)

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Throughout my career, I have learned
that fat bodies are inherently political,

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and unapologetic fat bodies
can blow people's minds.

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When director Kate Champion

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of acclaimed dance theater company
Force Majeure

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asked me to be the artistic associate
on a work featuring all fat dancers,

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I literally jumped at the opportunity.

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And I mean, literally.

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(Laughter)

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Nothing to Lose is a work made
in collaboration with performers of size

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who drew from their lived experiences

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to create a work as varied
and authentic as we all are.

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It was as far from ballet
as you could imagine.

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The very idea of a fat dance work
by such a prestigious company

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was, to put it mildly, controversial

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because nothing like it had ever been done
on mainstream dance stages before

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anywhere in the world.

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People were skeptical.

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"What do you mean 'fat dancers'?"

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"Like size-10, size-12 kind of fat?"

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(Laughter)

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"Where did they do their dance training?"

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"Are they going to have the stamina
for a full-length production?"

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But despite the skepticism,

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Nothing to Lose became
a sellout hit of Sydney Festival.

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We received rave reviews,
toured, won awards,

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and were written about
in over 27 languages.

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These incredible images
of our cast were seen worldwide.

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I've lost count of how many times
people of all sizes have told me

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that the show has changed their lives,

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how it helped them shift
their relationship

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to their own and other people's bodies,

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and how it made them
confront their own bias.

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But of course,

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work that pushes people's buttons
is not without its detractors.

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I have been told
that I'm glorifying obesity;

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I have received violent death threats
and abuse for daring to make work

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that centers fat people's 
bodies and lives

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and treats us as worthwhile human beings
with valuable stories to tell.

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I've even been called,
"The ISIS of the obesity epidemic."

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(Laughter)

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a comment so absurd that it is funny

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(Laughter)

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but it also speaks to the panic,

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the literal terror
that the fear of fat can evoke.

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It is this fear that's feeding
the diet industry,

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which is keeping so many of us
from making peace with their own bodies,

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for waiting to be the after photo
before we truly start to live our lives.

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Because the real elephant
in the room here is fatphobia.

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Fat activism refuses to indulge this fear

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by advocating for self-determination
and respect for all of us.

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We can shift society's reluctance
to embrace diversity

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and start to celebrate the myriad
of ways there are to have a body.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)