a lot of people draw fat characters as like Vaguely Round stomach, throw on stretch marks (drawn in a way that stretch marks DO NOT work) and often body hair (for some reason?? like i’m fat and have body hair but it seems like fat artwork is OBSESSED with adding it on as some sort of statement), pert boobs, maybe the glimmer of a double chin, big ol’ thighs cause they’re in vogue rn, and maybe round upper arms
and it’s like… zero acknowledgement of sag
or how you can be fat and have small boobs/ass/thighs/hips
no thick neck along with the double chin
no fat rolls
all fat people are also drawn to have looooong legs as if to apologize for the rest of the proportions
i look at a “fat” character and what i see is just a skinny character with weight added on, even though that’s not how that works
and it’s just very clear to me that some artists want credit for “diversity” but don’t want to actually look at fat bodies. they apologize with hyper feminine outfits or the implication that the fat character is athletic or something. the fat character still has the perfect figure because “well, some fat people DO still have curves like that!”
we’re thicc and thick and “chubby” and plus size.
but we’re never actually fat. even the “largest” characters i have seen drawn are just… larger chubby girls. zero acknowledgement of how fatness actually works.
Anyways! I don’t want this to be a wholly negative post with no takeaway other than “You should feel bad” (but you probably should), so here is what looks like a good resource:
Too many people base their understanding of fat bodies on plus size models, who are photoshopped, molded with cut outs, and chosen specifically because of how they still fit conventional beauty standards. They are not indicative of how most fat bodies look.
Please take the time to look at fat bodies that aren’t marketable and appreciate them for their own worth, beauty, and fortitude. Do not let fat bodies be alien to you, do not otherize us. This should be normalized.
Fat people deserve art and media that reflect fat bodies honestly. Seeing plus size models as our only rep only ends up setting out a new, impossible goal for fat people. We’re made to feel that we aren’t fat in the right way. It sends the message that you can fail at being skinny AND fail at being fat, which is an awful thing to do. No body is a bad body. All bodies deserve to be seen and to see themselves.
Fat people deserve to be seen as fat people, not as skinny people with added weight.
Like, if you don’t draw your thin characters with body hair but always do your fat ones? You might be using fat bodies as a catch all for body liberation, which is a can of worms because sometimes fat people just exist, some thin people don’t shave too. I understand where Op is coming from but I wanted to touch on this a little bit because body hair is natural and should be seen as natural but in many countries to not shave is a message. Just be mindful, I would say. Be diverse with your body hair positivity! You don’t want to automatically assume someone with x body does or doesn’t shave.
