I Am Fat
The uprising of fat activism and body positivity in Scandinavia
They’ve had enough.
They refuse to be ashamed. They refuse to hide. And they’ve had enough of being shouted at. Stared at. Laughed at. Spat at. Of being objects of ridicule and hate on social media.
In a new series of photos, I portray young Scandinavian women who insist on living in their fat bodies without trying to change or become smaller.
Some of them are Instagram activists and have chosen to stop only posting selfies of their faces, but to show their bodies. Including on the beach. And in bikinis. Some of them try to change society in their daily lives by — as they say:
“Simply existing in their bodies”
And a lot of them are fighting to change the systems and society that oppress fat people.
I had been working with stories about body and mental health for years when I bumped into a friend I hadn’t seen in a while.
She taught me a whole new language. She was fat and she wanted to reclaim the word ‘fat’. She wanted to take it back because, as she said, the word fat is just a description of a body. It’s the same as saying ‘I have dark hair’ or ‘I’m tall’.
My friend was a fat activist and she introduced me to a community in Denmark of (mostly) women who call themselves fat positive, body-positive or fat activists.
I’ve never in my career felt such an urge to make a story. When I started photographing these women back in 2016, not a lot of people in Denmark had heard about the movement. I am 100 percent certain that in 10 years time, we will all look back at the way society talked about fat people and be embarrassed that people didn’t know better.
Society talks about being fat like it’s a choice. You could just lose the weight, right? It’s not at all that simple. I’ve heard this being compared to the way people back in the day thought sexuality was a choice.
HELENE: “If you look at things critically you could actually say I am an activist just by walking out my front door. Because a lot of people think it’s extremely provoking that I exist in my fat body.
Also because I choose to eat in public. And because I choose to dress however I want, for example by wearing crop tops.
I care a lot about fat representation in the media. I participate in commercials, films and photo shoots. I also do talks at organisations and schools . My goal is to show that it is achievable to live in a fat body without shame. To show that a fat person can achieve everything in life and be happy just as well as a skinny person.
Living in a fat body goes along with being yelled at, spat at, discriminated by both loved ones and for example the health care system. But what I actually find the hardest is the disbelief I get met with when telling my story. I want to shout out to the world and make them aware that this is daily life for fat people. And we aren’t lying or just being too sensitive. This happens to fat people everyday.”
Marte: “All of my life I’ve been trying to lose weight. Get smaller, take up less space. I’ve been on diets again and again. Since I was a child.
Body activism and fat positivity was a big eye-opener. Suddenly, I had permission to just be me. Not try to change. I began to enjoy life. I ate an ice cream if I wanted to and slowly started to talk nicely to my reflection in the mirror.
After a few months I visited my mother in Stavanger. ‘You’re beaming,’ she said, and asked if I had lost weight. I hadn’t. I had actually put on five kilos. But something fundamental had changed in me. And I think that’s what made me look pretty.
I love that you can follow fat influencers and get inspiration for outfits.
The clothing industry is a key issue for me. It’s really strange that it’s still so difficult to find clothes for fat people — for example good workout clothes and outdoor clothing. Which, ironically, makes you feel that you, as a fat person, don’t participate in all sorts of activities — and therefore become more passive.
Opening Instagram and seeing girls celebrating showing off their bodies makes me feel stronger. Suddenly, I see myself as a whole person who’s on the same level as everybody else.”
Linnea: “I was born fat. I have two siblings, and my mother told me that you could see from a very young age that I was just bigger. After all, I’ve eaten the same food as my siblings, been breastfeeding the same, and so on. I was just fat.
My 6-month-old daughter is also placed too high on the weight scale and we have already been told that we need to be careful with how much we feed her.
I’ll take care of my daughter, but there is no way in hell I will deny her food if she is hungry. She is only six months old, for God’s sake.
When I was pregnant with Luna, I was going to health consultations, as all pregnant women should. The nurses said my blood pressure was a little high — which turned out not to be right. I was just nervous, which can affect the blood pressure. Also the arm buckle was too small — and that ended up giving a wrong result.
But instead of looking at these as possible factors, I was given medication for high blood pressure — which as a side effect gave me depression symptoms.
It was only because I suspected the result to be false that I had my blood pressure measured again a few weeks later, which turned out normal. But because I was fat, they just assumed I was sick. After that experience, I was insecure. Also about having to give birth.
That’s why I hired a ‘duola’ (a birth assistant) and she was absolutely amazing. But at the same time, I think it’s absolutely insane that I have to spend a thousand pounds from my own pocket to make sure that I’m treated as a human being by the health care system.
I feel like I am an activist just by choosing to stay as I am in my fat body.”
Matilda: “Three years ago, I had never seen a fat body on social media. I only knew my own body, and I was deeply ashamed of it. Didn’t even look at it in the mirror.
With Instagram, I was introduced to a whole new world. When you see people who look like yourself represented in the media, you suddenly feel less wrong and strange. Someone looks like you.
I dated when I was younger, and I couldn’t figure out which photos to show on my dating profile: Should I show my entire body? And should I tell that I’m fat? I wrote with some super cute guys. There was chemistry. But as soon as they asked me if we should meet up, I shut down completely. Deleted the match.
I was terrified that men would reject me because of my body. I once had a friend who met a guy. They had sex and right after he got home, she got a text that said: ‘I don’t like fat girls and you didn’t look so fat in your picture.’
I met my boyfriend, Emil, at a party. We talked all evening — it was magical. He had to leave the party because he had to get up early the next morning. I decided to send him a message on Facebook. I wrote something about him being cute and how nice the evening was. And at that very moment I pressed ‘send’, a long message popped up on my screen — from him. And he had felt the same way. He ended up coming back to the party to pick me up and then we went to his place. We’ve been together ever since.
But if Emil had been one of the people I wrote with on the dating profile, I would never have dared to meet him…”
Ida: “I had seen a guy for a few weeks and we really enjoyed ourselves. We had always been at my place or his, having sex, watching movies and having fun. It felt serious. We were together the whole time. I thought we were probably soon going to be boyfriend and girlfriend — so I asked him. And he simply replied: ‘Well, I can’t be with you in the street. I can’t take you home to my family and friends. You’re fat.’
I don’t remember what I answered. Only that I was completely in shock. I was in love. And I really think he was crazy about me too.
After all, everyone has their preferences. There’s nothing wrong with that. For example, I like men with dark hair who are a bit chubby. And I can understand that you like fat ladies, because we are damn nice to touch.
But with some of the men who like fat bodies, I experience it as a fetish. So it is only about the body and not the whole person.
And then I’m off.
When I was dating in my 20s, I often felt that’s what it was all about. And I was treated badly because it was great to feel wanted. But when I look back on it, I was really just used.
Recently, I was giving a talk and a woman told me something interesting: She had been at a workplace for years where there were almost exclusively men. And she told us that the men were bullying other men who had fat wives. The idea was that there is probably something wrong with you if you have to settle for a fat woman.
In reality, it can be said that it’s also a shame for the men, that there’s pressure on them. But I do not think that we’ve come very far if women are still a symbol of status for men. For everyone’s sake, I think something new should happen in that area.”
Sofie: “I’m really fortunate to have had a mother who has always supported me and told me I am exactly the way I’m supposed to be. But it would be really nice if I could walk through any street without being pointed out or yelled at.
About a year ago, I went to Roskilde Festival with my friends. We were sitting in front of one of the stages having some some drinks, minding our own business. Suddenly I see a guy pointing at me, laughing with his friends.
After a while I realize he is pointing his phone at me. Filming me. My friend confronted him and he just said: ‘Well, it’s not illegal.’
I think people should open their eyes and see that these things happen every day for fat people. And it’s not okay.
One of the worst moments I have experienced was in the healthcare system. I was feeling really sick with flu symptoms and went to the doctor. When he saw me he refused to listen to my lungs, arguing, ‘I won’t be able to listen to your breathing — there is too much fat.’ Afterwards, I was diagnosed with double pneumonia.”
Kamilla: “I was eight years old the first time I started thinking about losing weight. In other words, I have spent more than 20 years of my life dieting — disliking my own body.
My mom has always been big and bullied a lot because of her weight.
She didn’t mean anything wrong with it, but she always told me that I shouldn’t put on weight. And that I should lose it if I did.
My interest in body activism began on Instagram. I started following a very inspiring, fat, Danish woman. I was skeptical at first and thought: ‘Hey, what are you doing, you can’t just walk around being fat and liking the way you look.’
But now it’s been a whole year since my last diet. And I’ve tried SO many. From The Danish Weight Consultants and Dukan, to eating 1,000 calories a day.
I had no energy. I got up, went to the university, went home and then to bed again. It wasn’t the physical part of it. The courses took up my thoughts. I couldn’t think of anything else.
In the body activist environment, there is a lot of focus on not having to lose weight. But if people want to lose weight they are allowed to, of course. For me, it’s about why you want to lose weight. If it’s self-hatred, I think you have to start somewhere else.
Right now, I’m in a situation where I have to lose weight to be approved for fertility treatment. And although I’m satisfied with the body I live in, it’s a requirement that I don’t have time to fight on my own.
But this time, I want to do it my way — without hating myself.”
Pauline: “I’m fighting for children to never be called ‘fat’ as a curse word. Fat is nothing but a descriptive word for a body type. And I’m fighting for schools to get better at stopping bullying.
But parents also have a huge responsibility. Parents should not walk around in front of their children and say ‘I feel fat’ or speak negatively about people’s fat bodies in front of their children, because then they will learn that ‘fat’ is a negative word.
Other than that, I’m very passionate about democratic fashion. Fashion should be for everyone.
Skinny people need to understand how difficult it is for fat people to live in a fat-shaming society. There is a lot of talk about confidence and self-love. For skinny people, it’s all about working with oneself.
For us fat people, it’s about working with ourselves while also working with the whole world’s view of us.”
Wilde: “I want to contribute to the change of beauty standards. And the notion that being fat is the same as being unhealthy.
No one has X-ray vision. No one can simply look at a person to determine if they are ill or not. Dieting and ‘diet culture’ are not the same as being healthy. If more people realized that, we would have less fat shaming.
You deserve love regardless of how you look. And if someone makes you feel unhappy, then there’s something wrong with them — not with you.
When I participate in debates, I’m often told that my opinion isn’t valid because I don’t understand how to ‘take care of myself’. My definite opinion is that it’s NOT illegal to be fat. One should not be forced to lose weight to be part of the society and to earn respect.”
Marie Hald is a documentary photographer working in Copenhagen, Denmark, who has won a World Press Photo Award, The Danish Picture of the Year and many other international prizes for her long-term project documenting the life of a danish mother of three working in the sex industry.
“Marie Hald is working thoroughly with projects about women and their relationship to beauty and the female body. Her work is very intimate and personal, both with reportage stories and portraits. Even though she has received prizes and her work has been published and exhibited, she deserves a larger recognition for her work focusing on important gender issues.” — Søren Pagter, Denmark, photojournalism department head The Danish School of Media and Journalism, World Press Photo 6x6 nominator
