Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The Fat Experience Projects

Good morning :)

I awoke this morning to find a notice and request in my inbox, and I am more than agreeable to share it with everyone here. I agree with the project, and if I a) had a video camera tat connected to my computer in some way, shape or form, b) feel way less comfortable speaking than I do writing, and c) were passed the "still working on it" stage of my "I am hideously ugly because I am fat" thing I would do it in a heartbeat.

***************************************************

Hi there -

I wanted to let you know, in hopes that you might let your audience know, that I've recently launched a new project that I'm very excited about!

The new project is called "The Fat Experience Project." and you can view it here:

http://thefatexperience.com

The goal of the Fat Experience Project is to map the global experience of fat in a way that is human, has a face, a heart, a mind, a body and a voice. The Fat Experience Project is an oral, visual and written history project which seeks to be a humanizing force in body image activism. By collecting and sharing the many and varied stories of individuals of size, the Fat Experience Project seeks to engage with, educate, empower and enrich the lives of people of size, our allies and the world at large.

As the project grows, it will be filled with first-person, non-fiction narratives (in text, video or mp3 format) that speak to the many and varied aspects of the life lived large. Some of the content will come from interviews already gathered on an extensive 2-month road trip (with the lovely Val Garrison) in both audio and video format. Some content will come from trips on the horizon. Most content will be submitted via thewebsite by readers such as yourself.

It is my hope that the project will be a community tool to combat prejudice/stereotype/discrimination as well as to help externalize shame so it can discussed and dissipated. The things we keep silent about are the things that do us the most harm. Shared burden is lighter. I am hoping, as well, that the project may eventually be used as a humanizing resource for fat studies and social anthropology courses.

I am writing to ask for your help in both the promotion of and the participation in this project. It is my fondest hope that, ultimately, with time and resources, this project will grow beyond a specific and exclusive fat focus and move toward addressing the many intersections of shame.

In the meantime, I would love your help in the form of passing this along to your readers/mailing lists/friends/family/anyone you feel may benefit from hearing about this project.

I also welcome comments, constructive criticism and volunteers.

Thanks for your time and energy!
Big BIG love,

Stacy Bias
http://thefatexperience.com
http://www.stacybias.net

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey - Thanks for posting this! To address your concerns:

1) Video is going to be a rare exception. :)

2) we welcome text as well as oral entries. :) In fact, the majority of our entries will be textual. It's just slanted right now because that's the content I already have and we're awaiting further submissions.

3) That's just the point -- we want to map the GLOBAL experience of fat. You, where you're at, right now. :) You don't have to fit into some perfect mold of model empowerment. This is all part of the journey and we want to hear everything. :)

happyduck1979 said...

ok, so I sent something in. Hope it works for you :)