Fat Bottom Blog

Over the summer, ABC aired a series called Huge.  It was a revolutionary show, portraying teenage characters at a fat camp.  Despite that potentially problematic setting (and, in fact, perhaps because of it), the show was a progressive and subversive look at teenagers who do not fit the mold of what bodies are “supposed” to look like.  Huge featured young, fat actors, and included a broad range of experiences from aggressively size-accepting to self-loathing and confused.  One of my favorite fatosphere bloggers, Leslie Kinzel of Fatshionista, blogged show recaps after each episode, and also aired several “Huge-isodes” on her Fatcast podcast with Marianne Kirby of The Rotund where they both marveled at the existence of the show and put it in a social justice context. Leslie recently had an opportunity to interview Savannah Dooley (OMG JEALOUS), where they talk about the show and the context in which it was being created.

For my part, it was an exciting summer to be fat: to get to see actors that looked like me on TV (or, okay, streaming on my computer monitor, in my case), was both incredible and terrifying.  Many people in the fatosphere refused to watch the show because they were sure that they would be disappointed.  That somehow we were being tricked; lulled into a false sense of security over our excitement at seeing people who LOOKED LIKE US on TV, only to find that the moral of the story is that we’re all much happier when we lose weight.  Fortunately, that wasn’t the moral of the story at all.  On the contrary, the show really seemed to be setting out to say, “These are some of the experiences of being a teenager.”  Period.  Yes, some of the characters are fat, and some of the content is about that, but not in a body-shaming or self-loathing way.  More in a matter-of-fact, this-is-how-this-character-experiences-life sort of way.

There was a point during the season where I got a little bored with a few of the episodes, because it was really just your typical teenage drama and didn’t have much of a political message attached to it.  Until I realized: THAT in and of itself IS political and revolutionary.  It has a normalizing effect to see fat characters just interacting as individuals, not talking about their fatness, and just being people.  It reminded me of one of the reasons that I work with clients of ALL body shapes and sizes: because seeing bodies that represent a range of sizes and shapes next to each other helps send the message that all bodies are beautiful just exactly as they are.  And that’s what I’m trying to do here, with my little photography business: make everyone feel as beautiful as they are.

Go read the interview with Savannah Dooley over on Fatshionista, and then come back over here and tell me what you think.  And then let’s book your session so we can rock your self image through photography. 

Want to see future seasons of Huge?
ABC has not yet said that they plan to produce further seasons of Huge. If you want to help make sure we continue seeing this kind of body diversity on television, here’s what Leslie recommends:

Huge’s future continues to be unclear. If you want to help ensure a speedy return, please let ABC Family know you want more fat on your television by contacting them directly:

Send an email through the ABC Family feedback form letting them know how much you dig the show, and that you want a second season.

Hit ABC Family with your Twitter-based demands for more Huge at @ABCFHuge and at @ABCFamily. Or give them a shout on the Huge Facebook page.

Send a dump truck of mini-muffins to ABC Family’s physical address at:
ABC Family
500 South Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521-6078

Personally, I live pretty close to the Hostess factory in Seattle, so maybe I’ll send them Twinkies.