If you’re in the non-diet, HAES instagram space – you may have seen a lot going on over the past few weeks regarding some very problematic interactions between Lindo Bacon, the author of the book Health At Every Size, and several other individuals. We wanted to address this directly so we can be very clear on our thoughts here – and we have a lot of them!
{not sure what we’re talking about? Learn more about it here and here.}
There are a lot of layers to this conversation, but WE (Cristina and Dana) think Lindo’s actions and conversations with these individuals are inexcusable. It will be a surprise to no one that we stand firmly behind Marquisele Mercedes aka Mikey (@fatmarquisele), and all those who have displayed immense courage to come forward about the outrageous treatment by, and experience with Lindo Bacon, It’s extremely disappointing to see that one of the leading voices in the field of HAES has displayed such blatant anti-fat bias, white fragility, and steamrolling marginalized voices and attempting to coerce them into ghostwriting a new version of the HAES book for Lindo’s own profit and benefit.
We hope we have made this abundantly clear in all our work: we have never and will never use body size as a barrier to entry for anything, and we firmly support body justice and fat activism for all sizes. For us, Health at Every Size has always included this. Lindo Bacon is not the creator or owner of this movement, they have just received the most notoriety for their book titled Health at Every Size. We will obviously no longer be recommending this book or supporting their work.
lf you’re looking for more books and resources discussing fat positivity, fat activism, etc. that aren’t Health At Every Size, Vinny Welsby (@fierce.fatty), compiled an incredible resource list that can be found on their instagram page here.
A few episodes where we dive more into the topics of fat liberation and racism in health:
- Body Justice and Fat Joy with Amanda Martinez Beck
- ‘Good vs bad fatties’ and weight bias in healthcare with Ragen Chastain
- The impact of intergenerational trauma on inflammation, disease, and eating disorders with Dr Carolyn Ross
- Redefining Sexiness and Confidence with Body Image with Bri
We firmly believe that someone with thin white privilege (Lindo) cannot sit at the top of the table for a movement that was created by individuals seeking fat liberation and equitable treatment for those in marginalized bodies – founded by fat, black women. For Lindo, an able-bodied, thin, white person, to tell people who belong to these marginalized groups that they haven’t earned their seat at the table to be the face of this movement, because Lindo has more clout from the book, is disgusting and appropriating.
As WE are thin, able-bodied, white women in this field – it’s our job to listen and do the work to support & elevate the marginalized voices who are behind and are living the body justice and fat activism movement. We want to do everything we can to make our space a safe space for EVERY body. So it’s our job to educate ourselves to sit on the sidelines to learn, so we can share their work with the people that have found our podcast, instagram, newsletter, website, etc.
Anything short of this is performative.
If you have any questions or comments on anything, our inbox is always open.
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