“Hi I love this project. It’s really itneresting to see many different shapes of fat. I would encourage you to include in your call for more bodies, a specific mention of bodies of different colors. Going through the slide show it really struck me how white this was. One way to change this, if that is something you think is important, would be to encourage people of color to post pictures of themselves.”

is a lot different in tone than your privilege-check and subsequent comments to Substantia.

And I’m guessing it really sucks, and I have no idea what it’s like, having to point out white-privilege to people. And I agree that it’s not your responsibility to manage other people’s privilege.

I just think the problem is your tone. So, you get pissy, maybe justifiably, and then SJ gets pissy. Defensiveness is a natural reaction when criticism is harshly presented. No wonder her response to you was different than Kate’s was.

And you can’t expect someone who is legitimately TRYING to change the status quo to have it changed immediately. Of course you have the right to criticize their attempts. And even to be angry. But then of course SJ is more likely to be angry back. Anger is not hate, but I think that when it is ill-used it can encourage it. So let’s break the cycle.

Peace, all-

Because I am light skinned my photographs may not read as black. Should Substantia have asked me to tan before my shoot in order to satisfy her detractors? Should she have included features which might have better identified my race to you? How offensive!

Of the Adipositivity models that I know are black I’d say the percentage is higher than the participation at any other FA site I know of, including this one. So why is she getting this treatment here?

Saying she needs to reconsider her approach to black women… she must have bit her tongue when she read that. If you knew what she does for a living you’d be embarrassed to have said something so disrespectful and OFF.

Not only do I respect what Substantia is doing, but I LIKE her. I’ve invited her out with my friends and THEY like her. We’re cranky women who can smell a fake a mile off. Substantia Jones is good people. Now I wonder if I should apologize to her for this.

I don’t like spending my sanity points within my own community either.

Kate’s response
“Thanks, Julia. I’ve uploaded a couple people of color this morning, but the first batch was definitely awfully white. (The men are just starting to trickle in, too.)”

She then updated her call for submissions to include “Oh, and yes, men are absolutely welcome for both projects, too, and I’d love to see more people of color.”

I have given you some specific criticisms on ways to improve diversity in your models, and resources that can help you. What you seem to have got from my comments is that I think you’re racist. I don’t think you’re racist. I think you, as a white women, experience white privilege. This is something all white people have to deal with it since all white people benefit from white privilege (whether they want to or not). If you had read any of the links I gave you, you would have learned that. You also would have noticed that a really common reaction to getting a privilege check, is to think doing so is horrible, cruel and unkind.

To put that bluntly, you seem to think that saying “your project is woefully lacking in racial diversity. This reinforces whiteness as the standard” is worse than the act of reinforcing whiteness as the standard.

As to why I name checked Tara, she is a person of color, posted a very popular essay on people of color in the fat acceptance movement on fatshionista.com, lives in NYC, and is involved in fat acceptance in NYC. Thus, if you are involved in the fat acceptance in NYC, she is someone you would likely have seen. I actually regret name checking her because I don’t think it’s fair to put her on the spot like that.

You might want to consider why you can write earnest responses to complaints except when they ask you to consider your own racial privilege and how that manifests.

I’m confused as to why you insist I’m not interested in civil discussion. I’ve provided you with a specific example of something you could do (examine why your pitch to people of color isn’t successful) and resources to help you change that. It’s unclear to me if you have read any of those resources or taken them into consideration. I have not said you are a bad person. I have not said you are racist. I have focused my comments on your project, not on your personality.

On this, we agree.

Fillyjonk: Are you getting ‘aggressive’ from the word ‘assertive?’ The two are quite different, and the distinction is in fact one of the cornerstones on which modern feminism talking points were built.

To those who suggested a published plea for more models of color, aside from several mentions in the site’s comments section, I don’t advertise for models for security reasons. The same security reasons prevent me from explaining it in a public forum, but everyone who writes and asks will get the full deets.

Look, I’m a broke-ass nonprofit drone (who just spent the day in a Harlem hospital, gotta love the irony) busting her ass to do something positive for fat acceptance with very little free time and wildly limited resources. Nevertheless, when people write me with complaints or concerns, I compose an earnest response. “Why not include thin people?” “Where are the men?” “You’re doing the movement a disservice showing women as large as 400 lbs.” “Why no 500-pound women?” “Eww, you’re showing strechmarks and cellulite.” “Why aren’t you showing stretchmarks and cellulite?” And the ever popular combo, “This is gross. Don’t you know fat is unhealthy?” I had one detractor so hate-filled, she violated federal law in her efforts to stop me. But even she got a calm, thoughtful response to her complaints.

But Julia, when you, without knowing the first thing about me, accuse me of something as ugly as you have, in a forum where I must assume you thought I’d not see it, my response is naturally going to be less diplomatic. And slighting me for not knowing your friend Tara? While I’m certain Tara is a lovely person, this is another baffling choice of argument. In fact, many of your points seem disingenuous.

Still, you’ve every right to your beliefs. Since you don’t appear interested in civil discussion, I’ll let you hang on to what I believe are baseless allegations. I just wonder why you never wrote and expressed them to me.

Again, thanks to everyone else for your support.

Yes, Becky, that’s one of the reasons I said it.