#bodies

Invasive genes ⛱

Color, black and white, and the collage I started with!

Pre-coloring peek at this tangle o limbs

The darkness is closing
Hold me close until the light returns
I want to feel your body intertwined with mine
A constant reminder that you are real and not just in my mind
For I do not want the darkness to fade and reveal
That I am only being held by
The ghosts of what once was and
The shadows of what could have been

-an experienced gentleman

So, to help you stock your shelves with great fat positive books:

PRINCESSES VS DINOSAURS

One of my all-time fave picture books. Tremendous representation on all fronts & hilarious story.I do equity & bias reviews for kids books & mostly I get hired to read for race & gender issues. But there is one area of representation that I flag in almost every book I review.

We need more fat people in kids books.

CW: fatphobia & body shaming

(Disclaimer: I am thin & have thin privilege & am still v much learning how to break fatphobia both around me & internalized. One thing I’ve learned is to normalize & destigmatize the word ‘fat’. Hope I’ve done right in this thread but pls correct me if you find cause.)

Look at these pics. Entire communities, diverse in other ways, & not a single fat person to be found.

Do fat ppl go to parks? No.

But do they like to play with friends of all kinds? Also no.

Entire orchestras! But only think ppl can clarinet.

Yes we can build a scooter from a log & attach literal springs to our feet, but fat kids?! Can’t stretch the imagination that far.

MANY of these examples are from progressive books! I’m not talking about old ass Dick & Jane books. Such an ignored & overlooked area.

If you start looking you find that so many picture books exclude body diversity from their “diversity checklists” (barf)

This means that the only representation that kids who are fat see of themselves in books are the BAD ones. The problematic tropes that I won’t even give example of here because they bigtime suck.

Illustrators, pls stop doing this! Draw bodies of different sizes & shapes!!

And don’t stop there. Vitiligo, birthmarks, stretch marks, different hair, different eyes! Sameness is so lazy & also BOOOOOORING.

FRY BREAD

Big yes to stories about food & joy & not no [sic] fat shaming!

I REALLY WANT TO WIN

Another all-time fave & great teaching book. Good message, hilarious story. THIS GIRL & her belly & athletic prowess & dancing & kindness!!! Can’t get enough.

I wish mainstream body positivity focused less on “every body looks good” and more on “your body does not exis for the purpose of being looked at”

~ @ramencult

grackleclaw:

the human body is an engineering marvel. I sneeze in bright light. if I dont get enough sunlight on my skin I get tired and sad and have to drink a lot of milk to fix it. standing too much hurts, but sitting too much also hurts. if I get a virus, my body will increase its temperature in an attempt to cook it, which also cooks my brain cells. toenails exist. I have to turn the radio down to see better when I drive. there are 17 genes dictating what my hair texture is, but it completely changes when the air is too humid. yawning is contagious. there are more species of bacteria living in my body than there are species of birds in the entire world. every few months I grievously injure my neck by “sleeping on it weird.” it took seven million years of human evolution to form me, and now I’m afraid of phone calls.