Fat activist says she's been hired by San Francisco as consultant against 'weight stigma'



A fat activist announced that she had been hired on by San Francisco to consult about combatting "weight stigma" and "weight neutrality."

Virgie Tovar posted the announcement on Monday on her Instagram account, where she has more than 84.2K followers.

'This work felt like the only way I could survive. I wasn’t going to live a life of shame any more.'

"I'm working with a team at the San Francisco Department of Public Health as a consultant on weight stigma & weight neutrality," read the post.

The 42-year-old activist combats dieting and weight discrimination and has published books including "You Have the Right to Remain Fat" and "The Self-Love Revolution: Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color."

"I'm UNBELIEVABLY proud to serve the city I've called home for almost 20 years in this way!" she added. "This consultancy is an absolute dream come true, and it's my biggest hope and belief that weight neutrality will be the future of public health."

Tovar has a master's degree in sexuality studies from San Francisco State University. Her thesis was entitled "How Fat Women of Color Queer the Feminine."

In an interview from 2017 she explained her crusade to combat dieting and thin beauty standards.

"I was born a fat person into a fat-hating culture. I’d made myself sick trying to lose weight. Even when I was trying my hardest, I wasn’t anywhere near a weight where people would say I was normal," she explained. "This work felt like the only way I could survive. I wasn’t going to live a life of shame any more."

Critics of the body positivity movement like reality show physical trainer Jillian Michaels say society should not be glorifying obesity because the health consequences can be dangerous and even lethal.

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Cosmopolitan magazine hit with fierce backlash over covers praising obesity despite coronavirus risk



Cosmopolitan magazine faced fierce online backlash and mockery for its latest cover that dabbled in body positivity during a global pandemic where obesity has been identified as a high-risk precondition.

The fashion and entertainment magazine geared toward women highlighted an article touting "11 women on why wellness doesn't have to be one-size-fits-all," on its cover for the February issue.

Our February issue is here! We asked 11 incredible women with 11 very different bodies to open up about their perso… https://t.co/p98aVyvWWN
— Cosmopolitan UK (@Cosmopolitan UK)1609505062.0

The article interviews several women who have become advocates for body positivity.

"Body-shaming was one of the first things I learned to do. I grew up in a community where all of my physical attributes – wide nose, big belly, big ass, big lips, dark skin – were deemed ugly," said Jessamyn Stanley, a yoga teacher. "I've had to accept that's how the mainstream sees me and not try to change. For me, that's been very therapeutic."

The article also includes stories from a woman who had to deal with body issues stemming from an accident that left her in a wheelchair permanently, a woman with a genetic condition that causes dwarfism, and others unrelated to weight issues.

Many on social media found the article to be problematic given how obesity has been identified as a high-risk precondition for complications from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls obesity a "common, serious, and costly chronic disease," and identifies it as a precondition that increase the risk of serious illness from the coronavirus.

"A very irresponsible PR stunt in the middle of a public health crisis," tweeted one Twitter user.

Cosmopolitan know exactly what they are doing here. A very irresponsible PR stunt in the middle of a public health… https://t.co/4OOe3CRLlI
— Bella Wallersteiner (@Bella Wallersteiner)1609771132.0

"We know diabetes puts people more at risk of Covid and obesity is the main cause of contracted diabetes in the world. Wokeness at its worst," she added.

"Obesity is the second most significant risk factor for death from COVID-19, after elderly age, and Cosmopolitan honestly thinks this ascientific rubbish is an appropriate cover," responded Jonathan Witt.

Obesity is the second most significant risk factor for death from COVID-19, after elderly age, and Cosmopolitan hon… https://t.co/MiVmcR5gCw
— Jonathan Witt (@Jonathan Witt)1609760852.0

Tone deaf and extremely ignorant," he added.

Supporters of the body positivity movement, however, were outraged at the criticism of the larger-sized women.

"Damn. People are BIG mad about the Cosmopolitan cover. BIG mad. They are literally foaming at the mouth. 2021 let's have more fat women on the front covers of magazines please. Keep it GOING," tweeted Stephanie Yeboah, a body image activist.

Damn. People are BIG mad about the Cosmopolitan cover.BIG mad.They are literally foaming at the mouth.2021 le… https://t.co/UOQY8piASb
— Steph (@Steph)1609777347.0

"I'm sorry but it just pisses me off that out of all 11 women featured in Cosmopolitan magazine, people are relentlessly abusing, harassing and bullying the two plus sized ones," she added.

PC police come for singer Lizzo for betraying the body positivity movement by trying to lose weight



Grammy award-winning singer Lizzo is being criticized for betraying the body positivity movement by trying to lose weight, and some are accusing her of "succumbing to fatphobia."

Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, sparked the outrage among some of her fans when she posted on Instagram about a 10-day smoothie cleanse program she tried.

"I think I just wanted to stress eat and do things that were like, kind of self-harming. I think that it's just great to reset your stomach and reset things, especially when you deal with gastrointestinal issues like I do. But I think I look f***ing great, too," she explained.

The backlash

Lizzo had been previously praised by many in the fat positivity movement for being very proud of her body size. Some accused her of giving in to "diet culture" and fatphobia.

"Lizzo....girl. Why?" tweeted Stephanie Yeboah, the author of "Fattily Ever After."

It was inevitable. The industry is so violent towards fat women. Of course she was going to submit to toxic diet… https://t.co/G3CZFJ5EDR
— Steph (@Steph)1607981478.0

"It was inevitable. The industry is so violent towards fat women. Of course she was going to submit to toxic diet culture. It was only a matter of time," Yeboah added in further tweets. "I think the disappointment lies in a lot of us (especially fat, black women) seeing ourselves in a woman who was so proud and confident in her body. It made us want to do the same to ours."

She went on to accuse Lizzo of giving in to "fatphobia."

"I have empathy for those who succumb to the pressures of fatphobia - especially when you are in the public eye. Especially when you exist within several intersections that carry little privilege," she said.

Others registered their anger and disappointment with Lizzo on social media.

"Fatphobia intersects with other oppressions. If you're a feminist, or an LGBTQ+ ally, or stand with BLM, etc... you have to stand with fat folk, too," complained another user, who later deleted her tweet when others objected.

"To see Lizzo finally fall into the trap of 'detox' scams is so disheartening. She was the beacon for fat girls like me. A goal that showed we could learn to love ourselves and damn everyone else. And now she's not. I feel so hurt," tweeted another user.

"YES I am angry, YES I am triggered, yes I am mourning a big b**ch *MIGHT* wanna get skinny, bc that's 1 more battle Fatphobia has won. Another loss to a system that wants me dead," tweeted Atlanta poet Aurielle Marie.

'Why are we celebrating her body?'

In January, reality show physical trainer Jillian Michaels was thoroughly excoriated by the body positivity movement after she declined to celebrate Lizzo's body size.

"We should always be inclusive, but, you cannot glorify obesity. It's dangerous. It kills people," Michaels said at the time.

"Why are we celebrating her body? Why does it matter? Why aren't we celebrating her music? 'Cause it isn't going to be awesome if she gets diabetes," Michaels added. "I'm just being honest. I love her music, like my kid loves her music, but there's never a moment when I'm like, 'I'm so glad she's overweight.'"

Here's more about Lizzo and her body image:

Lizzo Says She Will Get Through Her Body Image Issueswww.youtube.com