Fat
I am so much more than my weight.
I am so much more than my size.
is not a word that fits me.
from More to Love © elizabeth patch, all rights reserved.
In your heart-of-hearts,
you know that you are so much more than just your body.
You know it is your talents and skills,
your memories and dreams,
your intellect and emotions
that define who you really are.
You know that the real you has no size, no shape, no color, no age!
This “you” has no concern for what other people think,
she is carefree and creative,
funny and playful,
unselfconscious and innocent.
This “you” is deeper, stronger and more real than anything the eye can see!
And yet we live in a world where weight can seem more important than anything else.
We live with the myth that our bodies define our true selves and determine our value as human beings.
Remember:
No single word can ever define or describe a person.
No single word can limit who you are, or predict who you may become.
No single word has the power to contain the magnificence of you!
No matter what size you may be,
fat is not a word that fits you.
You are so much more!
Other posts about my illustration of plus-size Venus, “Goddess of More to Love”:
Boticelli’s Venus and Me
the preliminary sketch
PS: I know that the word “fat” is difficult for many women, as it often has been used in a very hurtful way.
I deliberately use this word to help recapture it as a descriptive word (like tall or short) rather than an insult.
Happy Saturday Sharefest!! Fat doesn't fit me, either, there's certainly more to love, though!
Another lovely post Elizabeth – your writing is always so thoughtful.
While I appreciate many people are trying to reclaim the word 'fat' – for me – it's just not a word I like. For the overwhelming majority of both children & adults from Western cultures it is a word that is used hatefully & hurtfully & I don't see that as a postive thing at all.
As you say – people are so much more than a word that merely describes their physicality.
For me the word fat doesn't have a negative connotation, but that is only because I don't let it. I am fat; that is all there is to it. Fat is a descriptive word that has no more power over me than I give it, and I refuse to give it any power at all.
Being fat is just one part of who I am, it is not all that I am. I am beautiful, kind, intelligent, happy, sexy and I can be all of those things and still be fat. Being fat doesn't diminish me in anyway as long as I don't let it.
I think what you are doing is wonderful. I hope that your book is read by those of us who are part of the fat community, but I think it is almost more important for thinner people to read it. Maybe then they would have a better understanding of how we (the larger community) feels.
Thank you for your hard work.
Elizabeth, I love the work you're doing. Yours is such a powerful message!
For me, "I am so much more than my size" is a message all women — "fat" or "thin" — should embrace…and teach our daughters to do the same.
Your kind words are so touching, thank you! When we, all of us, can embrace size/weight as just one more wonderful aspect of our entire being, think of how much happier we could all be!
When my 4-year-old daughter saw the More To Love postcards that you sent with the book, she immediately asked if she could have one, "Because it's so pretty." So I showed her the book, which she has (permanently, it seems) commandeered. She says the women are so beautiful and their clothing is so pretty. When I asked her if she noticed anything that all the women had in common that was maybe different than the women in a lot of her books, she thought for a minute and said, "YES! They are painted. I like painting." By the way, she wants to be an artist when she grows up.
I love that we have this book in our house–in her room–with these colorful, beautiful, happy women.
Oh, and her favorites: the mommy with a child on her hips, and the two women "with fruit hats."
I concur wholeheartedly! SITS sent me by, and I'm glad they did…
Found you thru SITS when you visited my sewing blog. Very glad you did! I am impressed with what you do and will be back again. Signing up to follow you on FB and twitter too!
I was watching this show about a mother who weighed close to a ton and was begging to have gastric bypass. She finally found someone who would do it. And died. I've seen it a few times because her personality is…was so bright. It's true, we are so many things outside and apart of what the eye can see.
Your blog is beautiful and your Venus' are not plus-sized, they are Rubenesque…
I love that type of shape – real. I actually have the three graces sculpture (all Rubenesque shaped women) in my bedroom! Love it.
Happy Saturday Sharefest!