It’s hard to feel all right about yourself in this sort of toxic beauty culture: as long as “fat” is the worst thing you can possibly call a woman, any of us who dares to speak up or out about what is happening will be called fat, whether or not we are.

“Fat” is subjective and socially situated, and it’s the slur most commonly directed at any girl or woman who asserts herself, whether physically or politically. Even the most stereotypically thin and beautiful woman will find herself dismissed as unattractive if what comes out of her mouth happens to threaten male privilege, which is why feminists of all stripes continue to be labelled “fat and ugly”. This culture would still prefer women to take up as little space as possible.

Laurie Penny for the New Statesman: http://www.newstatesman.com/lifestyle/2013/05/i-don’t-want-be-told-i’m-pretty-i-am-i-want-live-world-where-that’s-irrelevant

I don’t agree with everything in this article (I think the last para could have been phrased a lot better—thin/pretty used casually, weirdly enough) but I do think this is a point worth highlighting over and over again. But you know… “if they’re shooting at you - you know you’re doing something right” (TWW. duh).