One of the tools that is used to silence fat people who speak up about the oppression, stigma, and mistreatment that we experience is to just call us liars. This can be incredibly frustrating because often it’s really difficult to talk about in the first place. I recently blogged about having eggs thrown at me and in amongst the outpouring of support that I received – for which I am incredibly grateful – there were people who just had to insist that it didn’t happen.
The comment below was, to me, the most egregious example and was e-mailed to me by blog reader Missy. It was in a fitness forum [TW: weight loss talk] where there were a bunch of really supportive comments and then there was this:
anyone else think its a fake story?
i dont want to think that but shes not just a blogger
she is selling her book on her site too
she is selling dance routines, t-shirts, and dvds
she calls herself a “fatctivist”
this story just seems like a publicity stunt
i wouldve believed eggs being thrown at her
but then another car called her fat? on the same run?
and she just so happened to have a good punchline for that part
she posted a pic for proof but you cant even tell its there
why post a pic at all? like anyone wanted to see the egg shells
sounds like she went above and beyond in fabricating the story
i dont believe it
Let’s break it down, bit by bit:
anyone else think its a fake story?
i dont want to think that but shes not just a blogger
she is selling her book on her site too she is selling dance routines, t-shirts, and dvds
Yup, you’ve uncovered my nefarious plot. I’ve been secretly commissioning studies and it turns out that people are 83.27% more likely to buy books, t-shirts, and dvds from people who’ve been pelted with eggs. You totally caught me. Anyone who has an issue with me working to make a living doing work that I think is important and helps people is welcome to check out this post.
she calls herself a “fatctivist”
No. I really, really don’t. (I just did a search of all my posts just to make sure, you can take the quotation marks right off that.) I don’t know what the hell a “fatctivist” is and I think I’d need to buy a vowel to be able to pronounce it. In reality I call myself a fat activist. Easier to pronounce and I don’t have to make up an awkward word.
this story just seems like a publicity stunt
Again, I can’t believe you knew that my life goal was to be known as the fat woman who had eggs thrown at her. You must be psychic!
i wouldve believed eggs being thrown at her
but then another car called her fat? on the same run?
The second group wasn’t in a car – they were standing on a lifeguard station as I walked down the beach, regardless I wish that getting slurs yelled at me twice on the same walk was a rarity, it happens All. The. Time. A quick read of the comments on the original post will show you that this happens to fat people a lot.
and she just so happened to have a good punchline for that part
First of all, I didn’t just so happen – the egg thing was pretty fresh on my mind since walking for 9 miles is boring as hell and it was a pretty impactful experience. Also, having a witty thing to say has never been a problem for me. My problem is saying it without thinking (as in “That was witty, but I shouldn’t have said it to the Dean of my college.”) In this case it served me well.
she posted a pic for proof but you cant even tell its there
why post a pic at all? like anyone wanted to see the egg shells
sounds like she went above and beyond in fabricating the story
Sorry about the pic – my hands were shaking when I took it, what with having just had eggs thrown at me. Also, it was dark and I was using my cell phone. I actually thought about not posting it because it was so crappy, but thought that if I didn’t post some proof then people would call me a liar, which is exactly what I imagined you would have done had I not posted a pic.
i dont believe it
Fuck you.
Calling us liars is just another form of fat bullying. I think it’s important to stand up to these attempts at erasing our experiences. In my experience and from what I hear from other fat people, we people experience an incredible amount of bullying and harassment – much of it government sanctioned as part of the “War on Obesity” and supposedly for our own good. I hope that we don’t stop talking about it just because some jackass will call us liars, in fact, that’s motivation to talk about these things more.
Like my blog? Here’s more of my stuff! (and you should totally buy it cause, you know, flying eggs… 
Become a member: For just ten bucks a month you can keep this blog ad-free, support the activism work I do, and get deals from cool businesses Click here for details
Interviews with Amazing Activists!! Help Activists tell our movement’s history in their own words. Support In Our Own Words: A Fat Activist History Project!
The Book: Fat: The Owner’s Manual The E-Book is Name Your Own Price! Click here for details
Dance Classes: Buy the Dance Class DVDs or download individual classes – Every Body Dance Now! Click here for details
