Gabi Gregg of Young, Fat, & Fabulous

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘fat’? Do you think of Nutrition Facts labels and the first column you look at before deciding whether to buy the crackers? Or maybe you think of elementary school, when the best insult little boys could come up with for girls was “well… you’re fat!” (Good for you, little boys. You’re… dumb.)

Well, I don’t think of anything - or I try not to. To my editor’s dismay, I generally refuse to use the word, except when referring to this blog post. (”What are you working on right now?” “The ‘Fear of Fat’ blog post… Social networking…” “Hey, you said it! You said ‘fat’!”) She thinks “fat” should be used as an adjective, just like “thin,” or “tall,” or “short.” It shouldn’t be a negative thing - not if it’s true. I have a hard time agreeing with her. Nobody wants to be called “fat,” is my rebuttal.

But why not?

It’s not that I have memories of being called “fat” as a kid. In fact, despite being technically - or pretty close to - a “plus-size” (even though I refuse to buy plus-sized clothing, but that’s just a whole other story) for most of my life, I don’t ever remember being described that way. I still have friends who call themselves fat to get others to argue that they aren’t - something else I refuse to do. Be warned: if you call yourself fat, I’ll probably just agree with you, even if you’re a size 4. Because, what’s fat, anyway?

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across Gabi Gregg’s blog, Young, Fat, & Fabulous. “She’s almost the same size as me,” I thought. And she is. And she calls herself fat without cringing. And she doesn’t feel bad about it.

Can you tell me what you think of the word “fat”?
I think the word fat is unfortunately extremely stigmatized in our society, and that needs to change. Just because someone is fat does not mean that they’re lazy, unhealthy, unworthy, ugly, sloppy, or any of the other things that many people unfortunately associate with the word.

The word seems to have several negative connotations - many people I’ve talked to have said this is because “nobody wants to be called fat.” Why do you think that is?
We grow up in a society that tells us that being fat is a bad thing. We are constantly inundated with messages and images that portray thinness as the ideal and fatness as this “evil” thing to avoid at all costs. That’s why many people don’t want to be called fat, even when they are fat. It’s understandable because of what we are taught, yet that does not mean it’s okay. People should reevaluate the word! Being fat is simply a description of someone’s body type.

What do you think of the common association of “fat” with poor health?
I think that there are healthy fat people and unhealthy fat people, just like there are healthy skinny people and unhealthy skinny people. I don’t think anyone is arguing that it’s good to sit around all day and eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, it’s important not to assume anything about anyone’s health based solely on their weight. A size 16 woman might well be healthier than a size 6 woman. It depends, and it’s important to realize that other people’s bodies and health are not anyone’s business but their own.

My editor thinks that the word should be used as a descriptor, just like you would call someone thin. Nobody would get mad at you for calling them thin, but some people would definitely be offended if you called them fat. What do you think about that?
I agree 100%. It would be nice if the word fat could be de-stigmatized and used simply as a way to describe people. That is how I use it.

With your blog, you refer to yourself and other plus-sized girls as fat. Clearly you are working to change the meanings or associations the word possesses. Why do you think it’s important to embrace the word “fat”?
I think that giving other people power over the word does no good. Once fat people embrace the word “fat” and stop fearing it, they don’t have to walk around wondering if other people think they are fat or not, or be afraid someone will use the word against them. When someone calls me fat now, I just nod. It’s not an insult to me. I use the word in my blog, because too often fat people are thought to be ugly and unfashionable. I wanted to juxtapose the word fat with fabulous and show people that it’s possible to be stylish at any size.

- Stephanie Fereiro. Photos from YoungFatAndFabulous.com.

I must admit, I’ve never been one to keep up with models. I adore Heidi Klum for her often ridiculous critiques on Project Runway, but otherwise no one model has won me over as a big fan. However, I have recently become enamored with Crystal Renn. Not only do I find her beautiful, her lack of sexy-face brings something new and interesting to the table. Of course, she is known for more than just her expressive photographs; Renn is a size 12 and the leading “plus-size” model working in the industry right now.

At 23, Cystal Renn has been working as a model for seven years, a career she documents in her memoir Hungry (penned with Marjorie Ingall, a former Sassy contributor). Reviews of the book, or articles about Crystal Renn, all seem to provide the same synopsis of her life. She was discovered at a charm school in Mississippi by a modeling scout who told her she could be a supermodel if she lost nearly ten inches off her hips. To achieve this goal, she began dieting heavily and developed an eating disorder, bringing her weight down to less than 100 pounds. She realized the scope of her illness and was able to recover and has now become a very successful plus-size model that works in mainstream fashion magazines like Vogue. And of course, that is all true, but in this book she engages critically with her past, the industry, and her continuing career as a model in a way that is sold short by a sound bite summary. Her recollections of filling her mouth with peanut butter only to wash it out, crying, are enough to make me hungry. While she writes a personal memoir, Renn’s accounts of sitting starving and miserable in her crappy New York model’s apartment bring into focus a larger reality that exists behind the glossy pages.

The chapters that follow the Renn’s life are staggered, with chapters dissecting body image and the inner workings of the fashion industry. Size and beauty are concepts that are intrinsically linked in our society, and Hungry provides more analysis than I expected. One point that Renn focuses on is how the issue of extreme thinness in the fashion world is consistantly made out to be someone else’s problem. Magazines claim to show women who are thin because designers send them sample sizes, but of course designers say they are making clothing for thin women because the magazines define this size as what is in style. And when blaming each other doesn’t work, it seems that the industry blames the models themselves. The book also discusses how the “waif look” (read: skeletal) seems to be tied to xenophobia. While of course there are waifs of many colours, Renn notes how the seasons that are populated by extremely thin woman on the runway (a recent trend) are overwhelmingly white. She believes this is tied to people’s belief that thinness connotes higher class; marginalized populations (which include millions of people of colour) have higher obesity rates, so therefore whiteness and thinness can be read as signifiers of luxury. And what is luxury if it doesn’t exclude 99.9% of us? Or employ a migrant work force of teenage girls?

Renn comes off as a likable, introspective person. I can definitely see how this book will appeal to WORN readers; she poses some serious questions about how we view our bodies through the lens of fashion, but she still takes time to gush about working with Jean Paul Gautier and Steven Meisel. Her life story is no doubt similar to other young models, but because she has become so successful she has the opportunity to speak out. And luckily for us, she is ready and willing to intelligently examine the fashion industry, while still enjoying the widespread acceptance she has received by it.

Hungry: A Young Model’s Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves by Crystal Renn and Marjorie Ingall (Simon & Schuster 2009).
Reviewed by Hillary Predko.