Research project: did you go to the Fattylympics?

The Fat Geography Massive (aka Bethan and Rachel) were the people organising the Gym Knicker Blinging stall. They are also researchers who do work on fat activism, and are doing some research on the Fattylympics, with Kay's and my support.

They are looking for people to give accounts of the event to help document the activism and community organisation that took place so that it can inform future fat activism and can help develop academic work on the creation of size acceptance spaces.

If you would be happy to be involved in this research, please email them at fatgeographymassive@gmail.com and they will send you more information - if you email them you can still decide not to take part after you've got the information, they promise they won't spam you.

Olympics/Uhlympics: Living in the Shadow of the Beast

I wrote this a couple of years ago and it marks the first public mention of the Fattylympics. Sorry for the academic language, just do your best with it and get in touch if you have any questions.

Cooper, C. (2010) 'Olympics/Uhlympics: Living in the Shadow of the Beast' [online], thirdspace, 9:2. Available: http://www.thirdspace.ca/journal/article/view/cooper [Accessed 31 December 2011].

Abstract: This essay explores some of the ways that the Olympics intervenes and intrudes on local life. Using a dialogue between two fat queer women who live close to the 2012 Olympic site in East London, UK, this work explores the ways that change and hype by the development agencies are experienced by local people. Such responses are characterised by anger and anxiety, resistance, activist humour, and imaginative possibilities which contrast powerfully with dominant commercial Olympic discourses. This reflexive essay acknowledges the intersections of fat and queer identities, and the use of public rhetoric and private gendered dialogue.

Your Fattylympics needs you