Words

The word fat is ironically small.  It is easy to say, easy to spell and yet if the word looked like the meaning it has, it would surely take up most space.

And thinking of the meaning of the word, we can strip it down to it’s roots – fat is big.  Or, we can look at it in terms of what it really means.

Fat is powerful and it is feared.  We don’t like the word, and we certainly don’t like what the word means.  We don’t like being this word.  Being called this word, particularly if you are a woman, is even worse than being called a bitch.  We don’t want to be this word and there is an entire industry built around avoiding and not being this word.

When looking up “fat” in the Oxford English Dictionary, it presents me with the various forms of fat – noun, adjective and even verb (as in “to fatten up”).  Since the word fat is more often used as an adjective in our language, I reviewed that definition which simply said:        

            “With respect to bulk or condition.”

In other words, fat is a descriptor.  So is thin, square, clean, spicy, etc.

The OED does not give a moral value to the word fat.  It just is.

However, it’s a negative descriptor.  It’s not the difference between sweet and salty, spicy or mild.  It’s bad, disgusting and it means several other descriptors as well – lazy, unattractive, irresponsible.

I spent half my life in my eating disorder avoiding Fat.  Women and increasingly men are going to the gym to not be this word.  People are having surgery to not be this word because being this word is a health risk no matter any other factors that might not be, no questions asked.

We are so afraid of fat – so afraid – and all it fat is is an adjective!

If someone told me I was getting fat, I would be harmed by that.  Here’s the thing – I don’t want to be.  I don’t want Fat to be such a heavy word anymore, literally.  If I was getting fat, wouldn’t it be great if I could just say back “You know, you are right!” and have it be at that?  It would be as if someone said "you have brown hair!"  Yes, yes I do. 

Actually, what if we all did that?  What if we didn’t get so upset when being called fat, if we took back it’s power and just reduced fat to what it really was – a word?

Of course, this won’t happen overnight.  This might not even happen in my lifetime.  It could happen in my life though.  I can take back the power of words, define them for myself and strip away the connotations.  I can be fat, or not, and just let it be.