Candice Casey Buss shares how she first came across Shadow on a Tightrope during her work with and research on fat dancing:

"Reading the stories of other fat bodies in motion, seeing how similar some of the stories are to the stories I hear about today's fat bodies in motion....this is a powerful work that gets at so many parts of fat existence!"

Liza writes a guest post for Megan Seely's Fight Like a Girl, describing her recent first encounter with Shadow on a Tightrope:

"Reading through it, I started to ponder whether or not society as whole is to blame for the growing obesity problem, and not because of poor metabolism, overeating, or lack of exercise."

Rochelle Rice tells us how her experience as a dancer motivates her work to end fat oppression:

Being a voice against size discrimination comes from my years as a professional dancer. I never felt thin enough, good enough or just enough. My life’s work stems from this place of wanting EVERY woman to feel that her relationship with movement can thrive regardless of the size of her body. Since I began training plus size clients in the living room of my NYC apartment in 1995– my vision has never changed.

Lesleigh Owen writes about her connection to Shadow on a Tightrope during the 90s:

This anthology, published in 1983, wasn’t an academic analysis of fatphobia but instead a moving and political collection of memoirs from fat, mostly White, lesbian feminists. I know not every politicized fat person could or can identify with these authors, but for me, their tales of forced diets, body shaming, and burgeoning body acceptance hit all the right spots. I can still remember crying like a kindergartener while reading Judy Freespirit’s “A Day in My Life.” “I make sure,” she writes, “that when I walk to the Xerox machine I breathe evenly and heavily so [my coworkers] will not interpret my asthma as the huffing and puffing of a fat slob” (118).

You get it, I thought then and think now, weeping. You get it.

Denise Friedman blogs about moments of Fat Clarity:

I would have tiny moments of Fat Clarity - tiny moments where I would realize that maybe the problem wasn't me. The first moment of Fat Clarity I had was when I was ten years old. My mom went up to my school to talk about why the other children were allowed to torment me to the point where I was afraid to go to school and was faking sick to be allowed to come home. My mom was informed that if I would just lose some weight, they wouldn't make fun of me for being fat. My mom also informed me of this. Her informing me of this was a somewhat questionable parenting decision. I am not sure it was really any of my business. But her informing me of that has become my Fat Fuel. I remember thinking for a brief minute that it was pretty unfair that the onus was on me to become acceptable rather than on the little shit kids to stop tormenting me. I was supposed to stop these kids from tormenting me by losing weight? I was supposed to stop them from drawing pictures of me and passing them around the classroom by losing weight? I was supposed to force them to call me by my name instead of myriad "nicknames" by losing weight? I wondered, for a minute, why the grownups thought only my body changing would change the other kids' behavior.

Peggy Elam tells the world that fat activists are fighting back:

There is growing recognition of the existence of weight stigma and the harm it does to body, mind and spirit. There is the birth of the fat studies field and associated publications. There is a vibrant Fatosphere allowing body liberation activists and advocates to connect across the globe. There is even a small press whose mission includes publishing fat positive fiction. (Ahem.)

Jeanette DePatie, blogger at The Fat Chick Sings, shares her admiration for the women of Shadow on a Tightrope:

I felt all of these things, but more than any of these things, I felt a sense of awe.  These women blazed a trail across this far-flung land.  They build a bridge to one another through their written words.  And they did it with pencils and typewriters.

Read DePatie's entire post here.