Bad Fat Person: A Reflection on Plus-Size Bodies in a Cookie-Cutter Culture, (Paperback)

Too many of us have forgotten that hating our bodies is a learned behavior, not a natural one. Too many of us have been shamed into submission, leaping from one diet to the next and causing ourselves physical and emotional damage as a result. Too many plus-size folks have spent our lives being Good Fat People - that is, following a strict set of rules to ensure we are always trying to take up less space in the world.

What if we could be Bad Fat People instead? What if we could wear what we wanted, dare to be seen, recognize ourselves as inherently worthy, and - most importantly - love ourselves just the way we are?

In this sharp, witty, and starkly honest work, Ali Owens gets real about our cultural obsession with thinness by exploring its oppressive roots and challenging commonly held stereotypes about fatness and fat people. She dissects her own internalized shame and shares her experiences of living in a body that has been very thin, very fat, and everything in between. Most importantly, she presents a set of tools - the tools she used to finally move from a place of self-hatred to unconditional self-love, dress size notwithstanding.

Part memoir and part social commentary, Bad Fat Person will make you laugh, make you cry, and provide practical applications for dismantling your own limiting beliefs about your body and embarking on the journey toward unconditional self-love. (Hint: the number on the scale has nothing to do with it.)