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This is going to be a controversial one, but stick with me here if you can: I'm worried the active travel community might have a fat-phobia problem.
Full disclosure: I'm fat, or obese if we go by the BMI measure, and I have never once faced any hostility or criticism about that from anyone in the movement. It's not personal.
But I have seen things that are a lot more subtle than that. Things that when I've heard them or read them have given me that anxious twinge in my stomach that make me feel like I might be being judged.
Comments about lazy drivers in the McDonald's drive-through, or having to go for a cycle so you can earn a piece of chocolate cake and lots and lots of talking about how people have to cycle otherwise they'd be huge -- essentially, statements implying that being big is bad.
The fact that I'm fat was one of the things that stopped me from cycling. I was worried people would look at me and think I didn't belong there, or think I was only on a bike to try and look different, or see me panting going up a hill and laugh.
I didn't then, and still don't, see many fat people celebrated for walking and cycling. There wasn't much representation, and that made me worry about what the reaction would be when I joined that world.
And this is such a shame because the active travel community has the potential to be a brilliant home for fat people.
What if we refused to accept the "obesity epidemic" narrative put forward by the government and instead focused on the damage of inactivity?
Because when I hear active travel advocates talk about "tackling obesity" what I hear is they think that I'm wrong, I'm broken and I need fixing.
That isn't going to make me more likely to get on a bike or walk to the shops.
That isn't going to make me more likely to get on a bike or walk to the shops.
What if, instead, we celebrated the idea that active travel is the perfect companion to being healthy at every size?
That walking or cycling to get around is great for you regardless of your weight?
That people shouldn't do it to change their bodies?
That walking or cycling to get around is great for you regardless of your weight?
That people shouldn't do it to change their bodies?
I challenge you to start looking for fat-phobic commentary in our community and question it.
I think you might see it more often than you expect. Like this example that @AlistairMcCay just sent me.
I think you might see it more often than you expect. Like this example that @AlistairMcCay just sent me.
Or this from the Prime Minister himself.
As a fat person, I crave being as inconspicuous as possible. Telling fat people to get on their bike to lose weight is the exact thing that will stop me from getting on a bike.
As a fat person, I crave being as inconspicuous as possible. Telling fat people to get on their bike to lose weight is the exact thing that will stop me from getting on a bike.
Let me be clear: our community is no more fat-phobic than the rest of society.
But I think it's so important for us not to be. Because getting fat people on their bikes is valuable for our cities, our environment, and their health - regardless of if we lose weight.
But I think it's so important for us not to be. Because getting fat people on their bikes is valuable for our cities, our environment, and their health - regardless of if we lose weight.
I haven't lost weight since I've started cycling, in fact I've gained it. But I feel more capable in my body than I ever have before.
That's worth the world to me -- but if I just listened to the government and many advocates I'd feel like I'd failed because I'm not any lighter
That's worth the world to me -- but if I just listened to the government and many advocates I'd feel like I'd failed because I'm not any lighter
I want to see more active travel messaging like this (very hastily put together) image.
I know this is a controversial one, and I'm definitely biased by my own experiences, and I know lots of you will disagree with me for a whole bunch of reasons.
That's why I'm so grateful to you for hearing me out.
That's why I'm so grateful to you for hearing me out.
