Meet Bats Langley, NAAFA's 2022 Fat Liberation Month Logo Designer and Artist

Bats Langley is a popular artist and illustrator, best known for his adorable children’s books about a very friendly monster called Groggle, his fine art work, his work for kids’ publications like Cricket and Scholastic magazines, and of course, his character Gus. Gus is a whimsical guy, a character who is “an exploration in bigness,” and whose adventures “reveal a freedom of being big, without the societal constraints or expectations of being a bigger person.”

When Bats set about creating the 2022 Fat Liberation Month logo, he first reflected on how the word “fat” is empowering to so many but is also loaded and challenging for people, especially those new to fat liberation concepts. Bats admitted that, even for him as someone who embraces his own body and creates art representing bodies of all shapes and sizes, it was hard to hear “fat” without remembering all of its negative connotations. So he wanted to make sure the word “fat” looked friendly and inviting in his logo design, with the word “liberation” looking strong and supportive. Bats started with a focus on the a, which could represent both acceptance and activism. “Fat Liberation Month is about both being accepting of your body and yourself and who you are, but also about this activism, making a movement to change the world.”

NAAFA Statement of Support and Accountability

We at NAAFA have been closely monitoring the situation Mikey Mercedes has brought to the community’s attention involving the harm that Lindo Bacon has caused to members of the Health at Every Size (HAES) and fat activist communities. We strongly oppose any institution or person that discriminates, causes harm, or impedes any fat person from the respect, equal opportunity, dignity, or rights we deserve.

We share this post as an offer of transparency around our own relationship with Lindo and HAES, and we encourage anyone who has still not done so, to read Mikey’s statement, as well as her follow-up tweets outlining accountability steps.

Activism, Allyship, NAAFA OrganizationNAAFA AdminMarch 28, 2022HealthAtEverySize, HAES, ASDAH, LindoBacon

Driven to End Weight Stigma

In this piece for Women’s History Month 2022, Barbara Altman Bruno PhD gives us a glimpse into why she felt “driven” in working to end fat stigma and toward fat liberation. Dr. Bruno conveys some of the history of the fat acceptance/fat liberation movement from her perspective, the beginnings of Health At Every Size and her work in preserving our history for the future.

Black History Month And Black History Always

A personal reflection on Black History Month and a look at today’s questions surrounding Black leadership in NAAFA and fat liberation spaces from NAAFA’s Board Chair, Tigress Osborn.

“We see fat Black leadership in other social justice movements at the time of NAAFA’s founding. What does whiteness have to do with why we don’t see Black leadership, or even much Black participation, in early NAAFA? What does anti-Blackness have to do with it? Is there simply more urgency of other issues for Black folx (then? now?), or is there discomfort in these spaces for Black people (then? now?), or are Black people simply not interested in NAAFA (then? now?). The questions feel rhetorical, but they’re not.

If you’re wondering how we got from my first grade memory of Black History Month to the difficult questions NAAFA and other fat lib spaces have to answer about lack of intersectionality in the history of fat community, here’s how…”

The NAAFA Community Voices Blog has a new Editor!

We're excited to introduce you to Janet Conroy-Quirk, who is taking on the role of Blog Editor of the NAAFA Community Voices Blog. Janet will work with our communications team to grow readership and build relationships with new writers. Welcome Janet!

Meet NAAFA’s New Board Members

NAAFA wrapped up 2021 with a very successful board search. We are thrilled to welcome the six new fat community leaders to our Board of Directors! Join us in welcoming them to the NAAFA Board of Directors.

Their bios and pics were provided by each new board member and featured in this posting.

From the Newsletter, NAAFA OrganizationNAAFA AdminJanuary 19, 2022NAAFA

NAAFA 2021 Year in Review

As I reflect on this year, I’m so proud of folx on the NAAFA team at every level, not only of our accomplishments, but also of the ways we have challenged each other, worked through difficult issues, grown and created opportunities for others to grow. We got soooooo much done this year. I’ve outlined some highlights here, but they are really only a fraction of all we achieved. We hope that our work is evident to our community, and more than that, we hope each of you finds it meaningful in one way or another.

From the Newsletter, NAAFA Organization, Activism, Antiracism, BIPOCTigress ODecember 20, 2021NAAFA, 2021

YOUR FEEDBACK NEEDED ON FAT LIBERATION MONTH 2021

Thank you to everyone who made our first Fat Liberation Month such a success!

We're already thinking about next year! What did we do well? What needs improvement? We would love your input! To share your thoughts about Fat Liberation Month 2021, please fill out our FLM Evaluation Form.

Events, Fat Liberation Month, NAAFA OrganizationNAAFA AdminJune 17, 2021Fat Liberation Month, NAAFA

The History of Health at Every Size®: Chapter 7: The Early 21st Century

HAES® and the war against obesity responded increasingly to each other by the 21st century. The war against obesity ramped up to what sociologist Abigail Saguy referred to as a moral panic, from the late 1990s on. This post discusses the history of Health at Every Size in the early 21st century.

Black Women and Femmes in NAAFA's History

Some time ago, I was tagged in an Instagram post about remembering that Black fat people are the roots of fat activism. The Instagrammar in question pointed out that if we are going to say things like "honor Black women & femmes," we should be backing that up by actually knowing fat activist history and naming the names of the people we mean.

From the Newsletter, BIPOC, History, NAAFA OrganizationTigress OMarch 9, 2021fatfemmes, BlackWomen, FatBlackWomen

The History of Health at Every Size®: Chapter 6: The Late 1990s

The late 1990s found increasing pressure from pro-weight-loss groups against the fledgling anti-diet, pro-health forces. This post discusses the history of Health at Every Size in the late 1990s.

The History of Health at Every Size®: Chapter 5: The Early 1990s

The early 1990s looked bad for diet programs and products and good for the developing anti-diet movement—a term possibly coined by Overcoming Overeating’s Carol Munter in response to a press query. This post discusses the history of Health at Every Size in the early 1990s.

The History of Health at Every Size®: Chapter 4: The 1980s

The decade of the 1980s was characterized in part by Reagonomics and a “greed is good” business ethos; the burgeoning size of Americans along with a greater societal focus on physical fitness; women increasingly entering and competing in the workforce; the emergence of AIDS; the explosive rise of personal computing, and the end of the Berlin Wall and the Cold War. This post discusses the history of Health at Every Size in the 1980s.

The Importance of Intersectionality

Over the last few years, we hope that you’ve noticed more and more from the NAAFA Board about taking an intersectional approach to our work as a fat rights organization. The term intersectionality was coined by law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw over 30 years ago. She used it to talk about the ways systems of oppression intersect and overlap. While legal scholars were the main ones using the term for many years, it’s gained in mainstream usage over the last decade. It has also been expanded to incorporate types of oppression not as widely discussed in the legal situations being analyzed when it was originally used. Fat community has adopted the term to talk about how size discrimination impacts people differently based on the ways other kinds of discrimination also do or do not impact us. We also use it to urge examination of the oft-spoken myth that anti-fatness is the “last acceptable prejudice.”

From the Newsletter, BIPOC, LGBT+, NAAFA Organization, VideosTigress OsbornDecember 10, 2020intersectionality, BillFabrey, NAAFA

The History of Health at Every Size®: Chapter 3: The 1970s

TRIGGER WARNING: DISCUSSION OF WEIGHT CYCLING INDUSTRY IN THE 1970s

The History of Health at Every Size®: Chapter 3: The 1970s

The 1970s saw the building of feminism, iconoclasm, introspection, a peace movement regarding Vietnam, and mounting pressure on women to be thinner. Multiple studies and programs around "weight management" come to the forefront. But others look at fat as a matter of biology or being a feminist issue with publications from Vivian Mayer (also called Aldebaran), Judy Freespirit, Susie Orbach and Carol Munter.

#NAAFAGivingTuesday

#NAAFAGivingTuesday is your opportunity to support the work of NAAFA and specific programs that work to support you. This year, our #NAAFAGivingTuesday campaign focuses on the NAAFA Webinar Series program. Help us help fat community and others who want to learn by supporting this essential program!

Events, NAAFA OrganizationNAAFA AdminDecember 1, 2020GivingTuesday, NAAFAGivingTuesday, NAAFAWebinarSeries

Watch: 5 Decades & Counting: Thoughts on the Past, Present & Future of Fat Acceptance with Bill Fabrey

NAAFA Founder, Bill Fabrey, and NAAFA Community Outreach Director, Tigress Osborn, will engage in a lively dialogue about how the fat acceptance movement has changed since the organization was founded in 1969.

Events, Videos, NAAFA OrganizationNAAFA AdminNovember 30, 2020Bill Fabrey, NAAFA, fat acceptance, intersectionality

Celebrating My Identities

So what about celebrating being a person of size? Where is our Fat Pride Month where our society celebrates the accomplishments of those brave individuals of size who have succeeded in life educationally, financially, and spiritually in a world that tells us we can’t.

BIPOC, Guest Posts, LGBT+, NAAFA OrganizationClark BeltranNovember 13, 2020LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, HispanicHeritage, Fat, NAAFA, intersectionality

The History of Health at Every Size®: Chapter 2: The 1960s

In Vermont, Ethan Allen Sims experimented on students and later, prisoners, to test intentional weight gain of 20-30 pounds. One subject required 7,000 calories a day to maintain weight gain. All the subjects doubled their normal daily intake of food and required an extra 2,000 calories a day to maintain their extra weight. Like the subjects of Keys’ weight-loss experiment in the 1940s, Sims’ subjects also got lethargic and apathetic, and rapidly returned to their pre-experiment weights once they stopped overeating.

MEET NAAFA’S NEW CHAIR ELECT - TIGRESS OSBORN

NAAFA is excited to announce that Tigress Osborn has been appointed to the position of Board Chair Elect by unanimous vote of the NAAFA Board of Directors. Her appointment as Board Chair will begin January 1, 2021.

Ms. Osborn has been working with NAAFA since 2012, when she produced the fashion show at NAAFA’s San Francisco conference. Tigress has been a member of the NAAFA Board since 2015 and acts as NAAFA’s Community Outreach Director. For more information about Ms. Osborn, go to https://naafa.org/boards

NAAFA Organization, Press Releases, BIPOCNAAFA AdminOctober 15, 2020TigressOsborn, NAAFA Board of Directors

NAAFA Community Voices Blog

Sharing thoughts and ideas from fat community.

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