A Work in Progress

Content Warning: This section discusses anti-fat bias.

Though Nick’s comment toward Will was an individual insult, it is the product of a much larger societal system of anti-fat bias that Will comes to realize shapes his world. Will realizes that both society and individual people have an anti-fat bias.

Fat activists—a social and political group that advocates for the rights and dignity of fat people—suggest using the term “anti-fat bias” over the more popular “fatphobia.” Fat activist Aubrey Gordon explains that phobias “are real mental illnesses, and conflating them with oppressive attitudes and behaviors invites greater misunderstanding of mental illnesses and the people who have them” (Gordon, Aubrey. “I’m a Fat Activist. I Don’t Use the Word Fatphobia. Here’s Why.” Self, 2021). Gordon defines anti-fat bias as “the attitudes, behaviors, and social systems that specifically marginalize, exclude, underserve, and oppress fat bodies,” and importantly, the term speaks to both “individual bigoted beliefs as well as institutional policies designed to marginalize fat people” (Gordon). Since Will experiences dehumanization on an individual level from peers as well as exclusionary and marginalizing social systems, this term describes his experience.

When Nick calls Will “fat” in the hallway, the thing that makes Will ashamed is not the revelation that he is fat, which he already knew.