Countering Fatphobia in kidslit

Meg St-Espirit, Pittsburgh-based freelance writer and editor, put together this incredibly thoughtful piece about counter-narratives to fatphobia in popular culture, and highlighted that children’s literature is still playing catchup. She cited the work of Tyler Feder and mine, and talked about the need for better stories and visual representations about fat children and/or fat families. In the article, she quotes Feder, who says:

“Before kids are exposed to diet culture, their curiosity about bodies is so pure and free of value judgments," Feder says. "I’ve heard from so many parents whose kids point out their soft tummies or stretch marks with genuine excitement.”

I really loved that Meg noticed the intersectional approach I took to making this book, making sure we had children past the words and looked at the visuals with varying heights and sizes, phenotypes, skin colors and hair types, disabilities, gender expressions, economic and religious backgrounds and markers of cultural belonging. I am thrilled that she included my commentary on the partnership of creative and publishing industries…

“It's up to the creative and publishing communities to hold each other accountable to a better standard,” she says. “We have to be intentional about inserting a variety of characters and illustrations in our stories. After all, all we have to really do is mirror life itself.”

Click here to read the entire article.