The morning after Nicole Arbour’s despised “Dear Fat People” video launched on YouTube, Stacy Bias had an idea.
Much like Arbour, Bias’ crusade got her a lot of attention. Unlike Arbour, that attention was largely positive.
Through her “Rad Fatty Merit Badge” campaign Bias raised nearly $5,000 from 206 people in just under a month, using the funds to launch a sticker and pin collection with cheeky phrases like “Took up space” and “Broke chair don’t care.”
We chatted with Bias about her activism, concern trolling and loving yourself at any size.
How did you come up with the idea for the Rad Fatty merit badges?
SB: The badges were a case of art-as-therapy for me. There was a terrible fat-shaming video going around the Internet and I woke up one morning thinking about it and all of the people who might have been hurt by it and I felt angry. I thought to myself that I deserved a merit badge for not flying to Canada to sit on its maker and that made me laugh. So I went to my laptop and I drew it up along with a few others and I posted them to my Facebook wall, thinking they might make a few others laugh as well. And apparently they did!
Did you ever expect to receive such an outpouring of support for your badges?
(Photo courtesy of Proud2BMe)
SB: Not at all. But that’s the way of it, isn’t it? When I talked about expression as activism, the power in there is in its resonance. What resonates with you and moves you to action is likely to resonate with others. Creating an expression also creates an opportunity for communication, connection, and exchange. Where there’s silence, there’s no possibility for any of that. It takes some bravery, I think, to express one’s self in a form that’s open enough to create that possibility for connection—we risk rejection, or criticism, or attempts to silence us—but it’s in that vulnerability that we give one another strength. Granted, the badges fall into the realm of the light-hearted and it might seem a less ‘vulnerable’ thing to share. But given the response, both positive and negative, the issues they address in a light-hearted manner run deep. And the connections have been powerful.
Who or what first inspired or compelled you to become an activist?
Her sticker and pin collection features cheeky phrases, like above. (Photo: Proud2BMe)
Stacy Bias: I guess the truth is that I’ve never NOT been one. If you ask my Mother, she’ll tell you all kinds of ‘activist toddler’ stories. I’m not sure how to say this without sounding ridiculous but when something feels wrong to me, it is a literal feeling in my body. It’s uncomfortable—like restlessness or building pressure. The only thing that releases that tension for me is taking action. That’s just always how it’s been for me. When I was young and religious, I was picketing and proselytizing with the grown-ups. When I came out of the closet, I turned my energy towards LGBTQI rights and community-building. When I finally understood stigma (fat and otherwise) and the impact it has had on my life and the lives of those I love, I turned towards social justice…
To continue reading the rest of this story from our partner, Proud2BMe, click here.
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