Fat Bodies and the Library

Abstract

Many of us have attended lots of diversity trainings, inclusion exercises, and implicit bias workshops, and have learned a fair amount about topics surrounding race, sexuality, gender identity, and disability. In my experience, however, inclusion of fat bodies has gotten relatively little play. , , The stereotypes are, in many ways, familiar; they are very much like the stereotypes surrounding other groups. Lazy. Stupid. Irresponsible. Sick. Dirty. Ugly. These insidious ideas are rampant, and they play into how we collectively treat people we perceive as obese. They also create an environment in which we overlook ways in which we could be making our users more comfortable or more able to participate., , In this presentation I will discuss some of the ways we can create more inclusive spaces for our big-bodied users (and selves), and share stories of times we've failed to do so and how we might have done better.,