Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

Anti-Fat Bias is the belief that bodies should be thin and/or muscular to fit within commonly held standards of beauty, fitness, and health. Pervasive anti-fat biases have serious ramifications such as:

• discrimination in education, hiring, and employment
• personal relationships with family members and potential partners
• life-threatening health disparities resulting from doctors’ misdiagnoses or refusal to treat patients until they lose weight.

Body Positivity began as a political and cultural movement towards self-acceptance, self-love, and acknowledging the beauty present in a wide range of body shapes and sizes. Though originally connected to radical movements, over the past decades, corporations and influencers have largely co-opted the term and converted it into a marketing ploy that encourages consumption as a route to beauty and self-satisfaction.

Fat Activism/Liberation is a political movement that advocates for the rights and dignity of fat people. 

From: Center for Diversity and Inclusion. (2022). Fat Liberation Self-Study Guide. University of Washington. https://students.wustl.edu/fat-liberation-self-study-guide/

Related Terms: Health at Every Size (HAES), plus-size, fat misogyny, fatphobic, fat wage gap