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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

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to avoid becoming.

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Billion-dollar industries thrive

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because of the fear of it,

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and those of us who undeniably are it

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are left to navigate a relentless storm

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surrounding it.

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

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but I'm fat.

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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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When I walked out on stage,

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some of you may have been thinking,

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"Aww, 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

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may have been thinking how fabulous I look

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in this Beth Ditto dress --

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(Cheers)

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thank you very much --

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whereas some of you might have thought,

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"Hmm, 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,

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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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and that you really should renew
your gym membership.

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These judgments are insidious.

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They can be directed
at 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,

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fatphobia is deeply rooted
in complex structures

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like capitalism, patriarchy, and racism,

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and that can make it
really difficult to see,

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let alone challenge.

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We live in a culture

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where being fat
is seen as being a bad person,

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lazy, greedy, unhealthy, irresponsible,

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and morally suspect,

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and we tend to see thinness

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as being universally good,

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responsible, successful,

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

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We see these ideas again and again

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in the media, in public health policy,

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doctors' offices,

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in everyday conversations,

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and in our own attitudes.

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We may even blame fat people themselves

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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 antifat bias has become
so integral, so ingrained

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to how we value ourselves and each other

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that we rarely question why
we have such contempt for people of size,

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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

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affects every one of us.

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And 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 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 tutu.

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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 tutus
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

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and loud enough for everyone to hear

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said, "Mom, I don't need a tutu.

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I need a fourfour."

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(Laughter)

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Thanks, Mom.

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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 fourfour

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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.

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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 the 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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(Cheer)

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Thanks.

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And through it all, that fierce
little six-year-old has stayed with me,

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and she has helped me
stand before you today

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as an unapologetic fat person,

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a person that simply refuses to subscribe

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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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(Applause)

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And I'm not alone.

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I am part of an international
community of people

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who choose to rather
than passively accepting

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that our bodies are
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
and work with, not against,

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our perceived limitations,

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people who value health

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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
that living in these fat bodies

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is a barrier to anything, really.

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There are doctors, academics, and bloggers

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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 reclaim their bodies and their beauty

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by wearing fatkinis 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

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who run marathons,
teach yoga, or do kickboxing,

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

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And these people have taught me
that radical body politics

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is the antidote
to our body-shaming culture.

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But to be clear, I'm not saying
that people shouldn't change their bodies

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if that's what they want to do.

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Reclaiming yourself can be one
of the most gorgeous acts of self-love

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and can look like
a million different things,

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from hairstyles to tattoos
to body contouring

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to hormones to surgery
and yes, even weight loss.

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It's simple: it's your body,

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

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My way of engaging in activism

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is by doing all the things
that we fatties aren't supposed to do,

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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 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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And 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 fem synchronized swim team

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I started with a group
of friends in Sydney.

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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

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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

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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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"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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and 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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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,

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won awards, 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

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have told me 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, work
that pushes people's buttons

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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

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and abuse for daring to make work
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

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"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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but it also speaks to the panic,

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the literal terror,

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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 our own bodies,

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for waiting to be the after-photo

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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 ways
there are to have a body.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)