While fat is frequently used to insult people of all sizes, many fat activists--those of us who are undeniably, indubitably fat by any measure--reclaim the term as an objective adjective to describe our bodies, like tall or short. It is used accordingly in a matter-of-fact way throughout the pages ahead. Fat stands in contrast to an endless parade of euphemism--fluffy, curvy, big guy, big girl, zaftig, big boned, husky, voluptuous, thick, heavy set, pleasantly plump, chubby, cuddly, more to love, overweight, obese--all of which just serve as a reminder of how terrified so many thin people are to see our bodies, name them, have them.
Fat hasn't become a bad word because fatness is somehow inherently undesirable or bad--it has fallen out of public favor because of what we attach to it. We take fat to mean unlovable, unwanted, unattractive, unintelligent, unhealthy. But fatness itself is simply one aspect of our bodies--and a very small part of who each of us is. It deserves to be described as a simple and unimportant fact.
-Aubrey Gordon, What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat
