Join the Fight Against Fat Hatred
Lindsey Averill, Viridiana Lieberman |
TEDxGraceStreetWomen
• December 2018
Fat people are subject to discrimination everywhere they look. From the fat villains in children's books and movies to the television shows filled with fat jokes and fat shaming, falsely constructed views of fat people reign supreme. Advertising scorns fat people and news media dehumanizes the fat body as an object to project negative ideas onto. When it comes to representations of fatness a dangerous media landscape is thriving, despite the fact that 60%+ of Americans are - or at the very least consider themselves - fat.
In their TEDxGraceStreetWomen's talk, Lindsey Averill and Viridiana Lieberman, directors of the documentary Fattitude, pin point seven simple ways you can be part of the movement that seeks to end the harsh realities of fat shaming and fat hatred.
Fat hatred is an unchecked prejudice that can only be combated by all of us by showing up for ourselves and for others to remind each other that we are valued for who we are, not what we look like.
Lindsey Averill & Viridiana Lieberman | Filmmakers
Two highly accomplished, fierce feminists chose to collaborate on a documentary… There’s no punch line but there is a resulting powerful film that challenges the narrative of fat bias.
Both Lindsey Averill and Viridiana Lieberman are filmmakers, academics, writers, foodies– their interest lists are endless. From 2005 to 2016 Lindsey Averill worked as a college professor teaching women’s studies, literature and writing courses. The focus of Averill’s work is feminism, fat civil rights and the representation of fat bodies in popular culture. Averill is generally a public intellectual type who has dedicated her life to ending the hateful relationships people have with their bodies. Lieberman’s focus is primarily on filmmaking. She is currently wrapping up directing a feature documentary which follows a badass women’s tackle football team through their 2018 season. Both Averill and Lieberman are vocal proponents for changing the national conversation about body image so the focus is on the very real issue of unchecked bias and systemic prejudice.
Averill earned her M.F.A. in Writing from Emerson College and her Ph.D. in the Comparative Studies from Florida Atlantic University. Lieberman earned her B.F.A. in Film from the Miami International University of Art and Design and her M.A. in Women’s Studies from Florida Atlantic University.