Self-love is not going to fix us or the colony: Reclaiming fat Blak embodiment

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Authors: Péta Phelan, Olivia Meyers, Bindi Bennett, Kelly Menzel
Cited by: 0
References: 48

Abstract

This article critically examines the limitations of self-love as a tool for healing fatness within the colonial framework, arguing that its mainstream promotion is insufficient to address the structural, historical, and ongoing traumas of living in the colony. These harms include the violent disruption of Indigenous relationships with food, land, and cultural food systems, alongside continued restrictions on access to culturally grounded food resources that are central to health, identity, and collective wellbeing. Instead, the authors call for a reclamation of Blak embodiment that names colonial violence and erasure. In this article, we throw our ancestral, intellectual, and physical big Blak bodies around as we demand abundance, space, and refusal.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Indigenous Health Education and Rights Obesity and Health Practices Decolonial Thought and Epistemologies

Publication details

Journal / source
Fat Studies
Volume
15
Issue
1
Pages
38–48
Publication date
2 January 2026
Language
EN