Dear Reader,

Your body is perfect. Yes, yours. Exactly the way it is, right now in this second.

That’s the first thing I want everyone who picks up this book to know. But especially all the fat readers. This book is a love letter to you and a guidebook on how to navigate this world . . . and maybe even a blueprint for how to change it.

There are so many moments in your life as a fat person that are burned into your brain: the first time you awkwardly pulled down a shirt to cover yourself up on the beach when everyone else was pulling clothes off, the first time you heard a skinny friend call themselves FAT like it was the worst thing they could possibly be, the first time you went into a store and realized that even their “plus”-size section didn’t have anything that would fit you, the first time someone who cared about you said something about how much prettier/more handsome you would look if you were just a few pounds lighter. Now imagine you’ve had all those experiences—and more—before you even turn eighteen. Many of you have lived that and much worse. And many of you are living through hard times right now. And I want you to know that so many people understand how it can be so hard and so lonely.

But there’s another moment more and more fat people are getting to experience: the first moment they realize there’s nothing wrong with being fat.

The book you are holding in your hands is about all those moments and, moreover, it’s about helping you get to that second moment. I have always believed that when we learn to accept our bodies the way they are—when we learn to love ourselves exactly as we are in the immediate moment—it can shift the world. And now, with this book, with these words, I hope that YOU can begin to change your world and in doing that maybe change a little bit of the rest of the world too.

When I assembled the 30 voices in this anthology, I strove to portray the entire fullness of the fat experience. So often when you hear people talk about “body positivity” you see able-bodied, white women who are a size 12. I wanted this anthology to move past this small box, and so, within these pages, you’ll hear from queer fat people, disabled fat people, and fat IPOC (Indigenous/people of color). There are voices in this book of superfat runway models and fat poets, artists, entrepreneurs, designers, writers, and scholars. This is a book that encompasses the true breadth and depth of fat life in a unique way that I think will give you a chance to see all the possibilities of living a full, happy, fun life as a fat person. You can have all this, and more, and all your dreams can come true. None of it depends on what size pants you wear.

More than anything, this is a book about love. If I had to come back to the one theme that brought all these pieces together, it’s how much love they were all written with. It’s a note, from the other side, from all the fat people who have had that other moment: the moment when they know that hating yourself is a losing game, the moment when they know it’s OK to wear the crop top, the moment they stop apologizing and start living. We love you, and we want you to know that you’re not alone. There’s a whole community of fat people waiting for you, and we think you’re awesome. We made you this book because we want you to know that you’re important and you matter. Thank you for reading this book, for sharing it, for helping spread the moments that can change the world.

Your body is perfect. Yes, yours. Exactly the way it is, right now in this second.

Don’t ever forget it,

Angie Manfredi

SAMANTHA D. ANNA PHOTOGRAPHY

ANGIE MANFREDI
is a librarian and writer who owns every season of Law & Order on DVD and sends over 150 handwritten valentines every year. She is a passionate advocate for literacy, diversity, and decolonizing the discourse surrounding children’s literature. Angie enjoys watching obscure world cinema, traveling, and trying out regional sodas, and must insist there’s no way Jack could’ve fit on that door in the freezing cold ocean. You can find her writing in the YA anthology Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World and online at www.fatgirlreading.com and on Twitter @misskubelik.