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Thoughts on body positivity
This piece that features Dorian Nox, my thrid fursona, is both part of an announcement and a little article that will follow. First up, I want to announce that from now on I'll offer a discount of 15% for all my commissions under 75 USD and 20% for all my commissions over 75 USD that will feature overweight characters. Why is that? Well, I had a very long discussion about body diversity in the fandom with a very dear friend of mine that lead me to write what follows, so please, take two minutes of your days to read this for it's a really important issue that is rarely adressed by anyone.
Let's start by this picture. Everyday, I see countless images showing furry characters wearing only t-shirts and pairs of undies. And for the most part, everyone seems to like it... when it's about a lean or muscular character. Whenever it's showcasing an obese character, things start to get complicated... first there's the people who start to feel uneasy and just skip the arwork. Then there's the people who start giving your usual negative attention. And then there's inevitably the fat fetish callouts...
And no, before anybody brings this out, I'm not kink-shaming anybody. I have nothing against fetishes, as long as it is between consenting adults, you do you. However, I will heavily judge people that will shove their fetish in other peope's faces when they have no interest in it whatsoever. So now that this is clear and out of the way, let's get back to the subject...
There are two main types of fat fetish callouts: there are those who will call you names or say they're disgusted by your art because they think it belongs to the realm of fat fetish that they despise for whatever reason. And then, there will be people that will automatically assume you are into fat fetishes because you posted art of an overweight character and will start to interact with you accordingly. They will give you a type of attention you might find misplaced, insulting, gross or obtrusive. Both types of reactions are toxic behaviors and none of them is more acceptable than the other, even if the comment from the rather intemperate fat fetishist was intended as a compliment. Both are still considered negative. Therefore, whenever you post art of an overweight character, it exposes you to all this attention that you don't want to get and that you're probably already pretty sick of getting everytime you do. This has to change, mainly because there are more people out there than you might think that are refraining to post art of overweight characters in fear of the backlash that will likely ensue from doing so.
Yet again, I can't stress this enough: just because a character is fat does not mean that their owner/maker are into fat fetish. You don't need to have a fat fetish to be attracted to bigger bodies or just to like their overall aesthetics. And although fat fetishism in itself is no bad thing, automatically associating overweight characters to it really is, as it's a blatant example of overgeneralization. This is why both those who hate fat fetish and those who are into it should stop assuming right away you are a part of it because of what you like.
I think part of this specific issue is also that the proportion of the fetish art is significantly higher than the non-fetish art regarding fat characters in the fandom. And although this is a direct consequence of the issues previously stated, I think it is possible tackle the problem and to make a difference by raising the proportion of non-fetish art of overweight characters, in order to help the normalization of it. After all, we cannot properly promote body diversity in the fandom without dealing with this situation first. So this is all why I will offer a discount to anybody who wishes to have a commission featuring an overweight character in a non-fetish setting. I want to encourage it so people can be exposed to a different representation of fat and realize it doesn't all revolves around fetishes, quite far from it.
In summary, owners of fat characters are prone to be percieved as part of a fetish only a small proportion of them are actually into. Thus, they get a whole bunch of attention they find obtrusive that prevents them to enjoy posting body-positive art and offer content overweight people can relate to, intentify to and take pride in sharing. This whole situation leads to misrepresentation and/or underepresentation of fat characters and it is an issue that is rarely addressed, but that shouldn't be taken lightly.
And at some point, me, other artists and just curve lovers in general are sick of getting negative attention while we try our best to promote body positivity in the fandom, so I've justed decided take it a step further and make my body-positive pieces more affordable in hope it can make a difference.
To those who read me until the end, I thank you very much, and wish you a wonderful rest of your day, and hope you too will help spreading body positivity where it lacks!
Let's start by this picture. Everyday, I see countless images showing furry characters wearing only t-shirts and pairs of undies. And for the most part, everyone seems to like it... when it's about a lean or muscular character. Whenever it's showcasing an obese character, things start to get complicated... first there's the people who start to feel uneasy and just skip the arwork. Then there's the people who start giving your usual negative attention. And then there's inevitably the fat fetish callouts...
And no, before anybody brings this out, I'm not kink-shaming anybody. I have nothing against fetishes, as long as it is between consenting adults, you do you. However, I will heavily judge people that will shove their fetish in other peope's faces when they have no interest in it whatsoever. So now that this is clear and out of the way, let's get back to the subject...
There are two main types of fat fetish callouts: there are those who will call you names or say they're disgusted by your art because they think it belongs to the realm of fat fetish that they despise for whatever reason. And then, there will be people that will automatically assume you are into fat fetishes because you posted art of an overweight character and will start to interact with you accordingly. They will give you a type of attention you might find misplaced, insulting, gross or obtrusive. Both types of reactions are toxic behaviors and none of them is more acceptable than the other, even if the comment from the rather intemperate fat fetishist was intended as a compliment. Both are still considered negative. Therefore, whenever you post art of an overweight character, it exposes you to all this attention that you don't want to get and that you're probably already pretty sick of getting everytime you do. This has to change, mainly because there are more people out there than you might think that are refraining to post art of overweight characters in fear of the backlash that will likely ensue from doing so.
Yet again, I can't stress this enough: just because a character is fat does not mean that their owner/maker are into fat fetish. You don't need to have a fat fetish to be attracted to bigger bodies or just to like their overall aesthetics. And although fat fetishism in itself is no bad thing, automatically associating overweight characters to it really is, as it's a blatant example of overgeneralization. This is why both those who hate fat fetish and those who are into it should stop assuming right away you are a part of it because of what you like.
I think part of this specific issue is also that the proportion of the fetish art is significantly higher than the non-fetish art regarding fat characters in the fandom. And although this is a direct consequence of the issues previously stated, I think it is possible tackle the problem and to make a difference by raising the proportion of non-fetish art of overweight characters, in order to help the normalization of it. After all, we cannot properly promote body diversity in the fandom without dealing with this situation first. So this is all why I will offer a discount to anybody who wishes to have a commission featuring an overweight character in a non-fetish setting. I want to encourage it so people can be exposed to a different representation of fat and realize it doesn't all revolves around fetishes, quite far from it.
In summary, owners of fat characters are prone to be percieved as part of a fetish only a small proportion of them are actually into. Thus, they get a whole bunch of attention they find obtrusive that prevents them to enjoy posting body-positive art and offer content overweight people can relate to, intentify to and take pride in sharing. This whole situation leads to misrepresentation and/or underepresentation of fat characters and it is an issue that is rarely addressed, but that shouldn't be taken lightly.
And at some point, me, other artists and just curve lovers in general are sick of getting negative attention while we try our best to promote body positivity in the fandom, so I've justed decided take it a step further and make my body-positive pieces more affordable in hope it can make a difference.
To those who read me until the end, I thank you very much, and wish you a wonderful rest of your day, and hope you too will help spreading body positivity where it lacks!
Category Artwork (Digital) / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 905 x 1280px
File Size 229.9 kB
Listed in Folders
Thank you so much darling for posting this today! I wish for a world where body positive is something widely encouraged. I myself have struggled to find artists who would draw beautiful curvy plump characters without feeling like I would be judged or thrown into the "fat fetish" category as well. I love curves, I think they are so beautiful and can give so much character when it comes to creating an oc, and certainly it makes me happy when I see those who embrace the curves they have instead of striving to force themselves to an "acceptable skinny" weight. I feel there is so much pressure for people out there to not have ANY extra fat or curves on them at all, and for some people it is either very difficult or maybe they don't WANT to be super skinny.
There are so many cultures out there that embrace the curves. It was a sign of status, beauty, good health... but most of what I see people do nowadays is constantly shame those who are not what the outsiders consider "attractive weight" The judgment out there is over the top, the body shaming itself is not just incredibly harmful all around, but the vehemence in which it is done sometimes worries me so much.
Heavily having to sit there and fear that posting an even remotely curvy character on your artist or social media page, fearing you are going to get nasty comments, reactions, notes, or outright UNWANTED attention is awful. You can’t even post a romantic picnic featuring one or more varying stages of curvy characters without getting jumped on by who knows how many people who suddenly want to have romantic role-play with you featuring food, or people who just think it is wrong to post/draw “fat” characters. I am all for people having their fetishes, that is all fine and dandy by me but don’t jump to conclusions if you see a curvy plump character in my gallery and think I follow the same. As much as I don’t like getting asked these sorts of questions, if you really must send the person a note and ask in BASIC language if they appreciate the food/fat fetish. Or take a little bit to browse their gallery or journals and see if you can find out yourself if they like it. Please please don’t just assume.
And the shaming goes even a step further for those that WANT to gain weight. Oh goodness heavens forbid someone <wants> to gain. I swear the looks, the sneers, the comments you get are remarkably insensitive.
I myself was sickly skinny for most of my life. Tall, could not put any meat on the bones whatsoever. I was treated as if I was fragile, breakable. One moment I would be body shamed by those who would sit there and go "Oh my GOD, you must have an EATING disorder or something. NO ONE is that skinny by CHOICE. Eat a f*ing HAMBURGER or something!" and the next minute they would see how much food I was eating and go "EWWW that is so GROSS! What a PIG!"
No matter HOW hard I tried I could not keep weight on. It was a serious problem that doctors worked with me for years on. It was not just that I was skinny. I was seriously underweight and always losing because my metabolism was overly hyperactive. At 12, even 15 years old I could pound away a full-topping large pizza by MYSELF in one sitting and STILL be hungry. Eating too much did not make me sick. My body would burn it off almost as fast as I could eat it. All through high school I stood 5 foot 6 and a half inches tall and weight a, hold on, wait for it, 115 maybe at MOST, and sometimes I would drop down below 110.
The people that would look at me and go “Oh you are so lucky you are so tiny, and tall, I wish <I> could be that skinny!” absolutely no you do NOT wish you were that skinny, and certainly not with what I had. Hyper-metabolisms cause a huge amount of problems, and I am not just talking a giant dent to your wallet because of how much food you have to consume to not have your body eat itself. Not only are you in frequent full blown agonizing hunger pains multiple times a day, people look at you like you are going to break if they so much as breathe on you, hug you awkwardly like they are trying to bear hug a butterfly. Other problems crop up with hyperactive metabolisms like anemia, which is oh so great to add exhaustion and dizziness/frequent hospital visits into the mix. And you WILL get the nasty comments. Simple things like “You should eat more” will become just another painful reminder of how HARD it is to eat ENOUGH.
It was not until I had my first child that my metabolism FINALLY <started> to slow down. And alllll the years leading up to that time period I was scorned and looked at funny and outright viciously body shamed for daring to WANT to put weight on. Now I am at a point in my life after two kids where I finally HAVE meat on my bones. I have more curves. I am still tall, I have long legs. I still look mostly “average” when it comes to the weight in most areas. But my stomach sticks out a little more and outright makes a tiny shelf when I sit. I’ve got meaty thighs, a butt, certainly have hips. But I am HAPPY, or try to be happy, to be here.
But it can be hard to feel “happy” with the weight I struggled for over 2 decades from the time I was 11 to now, 31 years old. Now that I have more curves to me I get told by my doctors that I am “A little obese and need to drop a few” They want me at 165 for my height. And I am trying to proudly sit at 200 thank you very much. We live in a society that largely believes that “barbie skinny” is the way to be. Get into those size 5 and under jeans. Shame the “fat” people.
Bottom line here for me ; everyone has what they consider their “ideal body weight” but please do not push those ideals on other people and certainly do not encourage or partake in body shaming at ANY level. I know many skinny people who are very beautiful, attractive in many was , and the same can be said for some of the “overweight” and in-between people I know. A beautiful person is a beautiful person and I for one would certainly like to see more support out there for those who are trying to just live their lives and be happy with themselves.
There are so many cultures out there that embrace the curves. It was a sign of status, beauty, good health... but most of what I see people do nowadays is constantly shame those who are not what the outsiders consider "attractive weight" The judgment out there is over the top, the body shaming itself is not just incredibly harmful all around, but the vehemence in which it is done sometimes worries me so much.
Heavily having to sit there and fear that posting an even remotely curvy character on your artist or social media page, fearing you are going to get nasty comments, reactions, notes, or outright UNWANTED attention is awful. You can’t even post a romantic picnic featuring one or more varying stages of curvy characters without getting jumped on by who knows how many people who suddenly want to have romantic role-play with you featuring food, or people who just think it is wrong to post/draw “fat” characters. I am all for people having their fetishes, that is all fine and dandy by me but don’t jump to conclusions if you see a curvy plump character in my gallery and think I follow the same. As much as I don’t like getting asked these sorts of questions, if you really must send the person a note and ask in BASIC language if they appreciate the food/fat fetish. Or take a little bit to browse their gallery or journals and see if you can find out yourself if they like it. Please please don’t just assume.
And the shaming goes even a step further for those that WANT to gain weight. Oh goodness heavens forbid someone <wants> to gain. I swear the looks, the sneers, the comments you get are remarkably insensitive.
I myself was sickly skinny for most of my life. Tall, could not put any meat on the bones whatsoever. I was treated as if I was fragile, breakable. One moment I would be body shamed by those who would sit there and go "Oh my GOD, you must have an EATING disorder or something. NO ONE is that skinny by CHOICE. Eat a f*ing HAMBURGER or something!" and the next minute they would see how much food I was eating and go "EWWW that is so GROSS! What a PIG!"
No matter HOW hard I tried I could not keep weight on. It was a serious problem that doctors worked with me for years on. It was not just that I was skinny. I was seriously underweight and always losing because my metabolism was overly hyperactive. At 12, even 15 years old I could pound away a full-topping large pizza by MYSELF in one sitting and STILL be hungry. Eating too much did not make me sick. My body would burn it off almost as fast as I could eat it. All through high school I stood 5 foot 6 and a half inches tall and weight a, hold on, wait for it, 115 maybe at MOST, and sometimes I would drop down below 110.
The people that would look at me and go “Oh you are so lucky you are so tiny, and tall, I wish <I> could be that skinny!” absolutely no you do NOT wish you were that skinny, and certainly not with what I had. Hyper-metabolisms cause a huge amount of problems, and I am not just talking a giant dent to your wallet because of how much food you have to consume to not have your body eat itself. Not only are you in frequent full blown agonizing hunger pains multiple times a day, people look at you like you are going to break if they so much as breathe on you, hug you awkwardly like they are trying to bear hug a butterfly. Other problems crop up with hyperactive metabolisms like anemia, which is oh so great to add exhaustion and dizziness/frequent hospital visits into the mix. And you WILL get the nasty comments. Simple things like “You should eat more” will become just another painful reminder of how HARD it is to eat ENOUGH.
It was not until I had my first child that my metabolism FINALLY <started> to slow down. And alllll the years leading up to that time period I was scorned and looked at funny and outright viciously body shamed for daring to WANT to put weight on. Now I am at a point in my life after two kids where I finally HAVE meat on my bones. I have more curves. I am still tall, I have long legs. I still look mostly “average” when it comes to the weight in most areas. But my stomach sticks out a little more and outright makes a tiny shelf when I sit. I’ve got meaty thighs, a butt, certainly have hips. But I am HAPPY, or try to be happy, to be here.
But it can be hard to feel “happy” with the weight I struggled for over 2 decades from the time I was 11 to now, 31 years old. Now that I have more curves to me I get told by my doctors that I am “A little obese and need to drop a few” They want me at 165 for my height. And I am trying to proudly sit at 200 thank you very much. We live in a society that largely believes that “barbie skinny” is the way to be. Get into those size 5 and under jeans. Shame the “fat” people.
Bottom line here for me ; everyone has what they consider their “ideal body weight” but please do not push those ideals on other people and certainly do not encourage or partake in body shaming at ANY level. I know many skinny people who are very beautiful, attractive in many was , and the same can be said for some of the “overweight” and in-between people I know. A beautiful person is a beautiful person and I for one would certainly like to see more support out there for those who are trying to just live their lives and be happy with themselves.
Thanks for sharing all of this, dear!
You touched the main point here: support is key. It's what makes a difference. If people of all shapes and sizes could feel supported and could identify to a notion of beauty recognized by the general population, they wouldn't have to fear this overwhelming pressure. Although I know people on the larger side that don't care about what people think of them and they love themselves for who they are (and this all comes from their own strength and will power), there are also many people suffering from this pressure. People whose self-esteem had been destroyed at a very young age because of it all. And this would not happen if curves were normalized and supported!
You touched the main point here: support is key. It's what makes a difference. If people of all shapes and sizes could feel supported and could identify to a notion of beauty recognized by the general population, they wouldn't have to fear this overwhelming pressure. Although I know people on the larger side that don't care about what people think of them and they love themselves for who they are (and this all comes from their own strength and will power), there are also many people suffering from this pressure. People whose self-esteem had been destroyed at a very young age because of it all. And this would not happen if curves were normalized and supported!
Absolutely! And it always makes me so very happy to see people who love their curves and appreciate their beauty, it is very empowering. And goodness I got so caught up with responding to your main post I forgot to say once again how much I love this art piece <3
You did such a beautiful job with the colors and the shading and of course I adore all his lovely curves! I think part of what I love the most about this picture is it looks like he woke up first thing in the morning and is just enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. He really does look quite happy <3 <3
You did such a beautiful job with the colors and the shading and of course I adore all his lovely curves! I think part of what I love the most about this picture is it looks like he woke up first thing in the morning and is just enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. He really does look quite happy <3 <3
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