Foster Care Training

Many of us readily engage with certain systems of oppression, but others are discussed less, which can make them more challenging to recognize, understand, and interrupt. Sizeism, a form of discrimination that says that people of higher weight are inferior physically, intellectually, morally and health-wise, defined by author Virgie Tovar, is one such system. One reason for this is often the ways in which we collude with sizeism are framed as being concerned for a person in a larger body, but author Sabrina Strings asserts, fat phobia isn’t about health at all, but rather a means of using the body to validate race, class, and gender prejudice. Even when conversations about diet culture, fat shaming, and what it means to live and be healthy in our bodies are happening, a lack of critical analysis of sizeism and anti-fat bias prevents us from truly creating a world in which people of all body sizes can thrive. In this half-day interactive workshop, we will learn what sizeism and anti-fat bias are and how they fit into our larger systems of oppression, focusing on their roots in anti-Blackness and colonialism. Participants will have an opportunity to explore their own socialization with a focus on body size and to consider how sizeism continues to impact our understandings and experiences of societal inequities. We will also consider ways to recognize, discuss, and challenge sizeism and anti-fat bias in our daily interactions to consider our health as a whole and to create a more inclusive world for us all to thrive.