Fat acceptance

The fat acceptance movement (also known as the size acceptance, fat liberation, fat activism, fativism, or fat power movement) is a social movement seeking to change anti-fat bias in social attitudes. Areas of contention include the aesthetic, legal, and medical approaches to people whose bodies are fatter than the social norm. The movement, however, has been criticized, with Cathy Young, writing for the Boston Globe, claiming that "the fat acceptance movement is hazardous to our health", and Barbara Kay, writing for the National Post, stating that "fat-acceptance is not the answer to obesity." However, studies have shown that stress is linked to obesity, and that encouraging fat people to focus on their excess weight has been linked to an increase in over-eating.

Besides its political role, the fat acceptance movement also constitutes a subculture that acts as a social group for its members.

The history of the fat acceptance movement can be dated back to 1967 when 500 people met in New York's Central Park to protest against anti-fat bias. Sociologist Charlotte Cooper has argued that the history of the fat activist movement is best understood in waves, similar to the feminist movement, with which she believes it is closely tied. Cooper believes that fat activists have suffered similar waves of activism followed by burnout, with activists in a following wave often unaware of the history of the movement, resulting in a lack of continuity.

First wave activities consisted of isolated activists drawing attention to the dominant model of obesity and challenging it as only one of a number of possible models.

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