Eating in Public

I tend to talk about food and to eat in public. I do this as an act of rebellion and fat activism. A woman eating in public and relishing her food is almost unheard of in our society. A fat woman eating in public and relishing her food is an act of rebellion. Fat men may have much the same experience in these days of the obesity epidemic.

Food is such a laden topic and experience for the fat person. Almost everyone I eat with notices what I eat. Few will say anything, but I get “the look”: the look of disapproval if I eat anything even slightly “fattening” or “unhealthy” or the look of approval if I eat lightly. Complete strangers judge my eating. I have a pretty strong don’t-mess-with-me air, so few actually say anything. However, I know lots of fat people who do get comments.

People can be very uncomfortable when I enjoy eating, especially fat people. One day, I was standing around with a group of acquaintances talking about local restaurants. Suddenly, my fat office mate said to me in an anguished voice, “will you please stop talking about food!” I realized that he was embarrassed for me, being ashamed of a fat person talking about food. I can’t remember what I responded at the time, but I made a conscious choice to continue talking about food in front of him. And he squirmed every time.

Part of the reason I talk about food is to reclaim pleasure. In our Puritan society, no one is supposed to actually enjoy anything – especially not women, and fat women even less. We have so much fear of our appetites; we have so much fear of allowing ourselves to enjoy life (I’ve written about this before when I wrote on Practicing Joy).

Part of the reason I talk about food is to give others the right and opportunity to do so as well. Often, fat bloggers will talk about food with relish. I believe that is because we are denied this simple pleasure in our society. Whenever I talk about food with people outside of FA, our conversation is fraught with tension. I love being able to talk about food here without all of the undercurrents.

So, if you want to be a fat activist today, try eating in public. Believe you have the right to eat: the right to eat the food your body wants, the right to enjoy that food, the right to eat as little or as much as you so desire. I encourage you to practice this act of rebellion. I have found it to a freeing experience.