Last week, I asked you to weigh in (see what I did there?) on what word you would prefer me to use to describe myself instead of fat. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very popular post, and only about 20 people voted. Still, I think it’s a good idea to talk about the results, and to do a quick run-down on why I don’t like any of the choices better as a way of describing my body.
In the poll, the most popular choice was Other (I’ll tell you in the comments), but only two people commented. One picked fat, and the other encouraged me to use whatever word I want. A note about that: I should have explained that I did not host that poll because I am looking to replace the word fat in my body-describing vocabulary. I am completely comfortable and happy using that word. Rather, my goal was to get an idea of what other words make people more comfortable. Out of curiosity.
To that end, the second most popular choice was curvy, followed by full-figured, fluffy, heavy, large, plus-size, and obese. No one picked big, chubby, or thick.
Here’s why I don’t like any of those choices better:
- Curvy, to me, implies having a big bosom and a big butt. Not every fat woman has those, shall we say, assets. When I hear “curvy,” I think of women with hourglass figures, with large chests and small waists, that are considered “plus-size” in the modeling world.
- Full-figured is old-fashioned sounding to me, and yet still implies that hourglass shape with breasts and butt. Curvy is the new full-figured.
- Fluffy. Where did this come from? Animals are fluffy. Clouds are fluffy. I am not fluffy.
- Heavy and large go together for me. I don’t mind large so much, but heavy sounds strange. I mean, fat is the opposite of thin, but we don’t use “light” as the opposite of heavy when describing bodies. It just doesn’t sound like a word that should be used to describe a body.
- Plus-size is a clothing term, and a dumb one at that. Who decided where straight sizes end and plus-sizes begin?
- Obese sounds – and is – clinical, and implies disease. My body is not a disease. Sorry to disappoint you, American Medical Association!
The next best word on this list, for me personally, is chubby. If you called my that, I wouldn’t be offended. The bottom line is, we all get to choose the words we use to describe ourselves. (Unless you’re trying to categorize yourself on a dating site, and then good luck. Ugh, the worst.)
If me using the word fat to describe my body upsets you, you should consider why it bothers you so much. Because fat and me? We’re friends forever.
