Fat and Proud

Fat and proud
Activist Heather MacAllister brings message of fat liberation to Ann Arbor
By Jason Michael
Originally printed 2/10/2005

ANN ARBOR - OK, let's start here: What is "fat liberation?" Admit it, you read the subhead and wondered, right? Well, worry not. Heather MacAllister has an answer for you.

"It is the radical concept that people can be healthy, happy and sexually attractive at every size, large or small," she said. "That's not to say that everyone is healthy. There are people who have health issues. But that's thin or fat. It's not inherently unhealthy and - more importantly - no one deserves to be discriminated against and fat liberation is about ending discrimination."

Now before you size threes out there throw this story down and move on, consider this:

"Ultimately, fat liberation helps everyone with any kind of body because it flies in the face of the billion dollar industry that supports people being dissatisfied with their bodies - the weight loss industries, cosmetic surgeries and fashion," said MacAllister. "I love fashion, but the industry holds up an ideal that very few people can obtain so we spend our time focused on how we look rather than how we feel."

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