While I highly value all of the readings
by Justice et al., I am most drawn to writing about the interview of Virgie
Tovar by Nia King. I felt that a lot of
the points about storytelling were very important and resonated with the
readings we had by Moraga, Anzalua, and hooks.
I am only aware of fat positive activism in a very limited way, so I was
glad to hear more about it and to come across some new resources for it.
Virgie Tovar, who self-identifies as a
fat Latina femme, a writer, radical, political, bohedonist (combination of
bohemian and hedonist), describes herself as a public intellectual, someone who
generates knowledge for the public good. She is academically trained but describes
herself as loyal to the culture at large and especially the people who are
marginalized within it rather than to a university.
It was nice to hear some of the ways that
Tovar articulated her role as a storyteller. Her description of needing to “grow
up” and respect the stories she had sought out and publish them in their
complexity really demonstrated the honoring of story and the responsibilities
that go along with people sharing their stories with you. Her description of
her decision-making process: “I can either edit out the complexity of this
story, or I can tell the story and honor the person who’s hearing the story
enough and honor the persons who’s telling the story enough that they will be
able to work it out. And I decided to go with that”, to me exemplified a deep
respect for the power of story and a strong sense of the empowerment that goes
along with sharing ones story in an authentic way. Because these stories were
shared in a vulnerable way, sometimes for the first time, through her book,
Tovar made sure to be authentic and included the storytellers in the process.
Her articulation of the interconnectedness
of systems of oppression was excellent:“I sort of see fatphobia as something
that is hugely nuanced and complex, and it is part of the same matrix of
patriarchy, heteropatriarchy, racism, classism, sexism. They’re all a deeply
intricate part of fat phobia. So when I talk to people about fatphobia and why
they should care about it, I put it in the context of even the seeming
beneficiaries of fatphobia are actually victims as well. And this is true of
any system of oppression.” I thought that this was a great point and it speaks
to the importance of acting together with people working against all kinds of
oppression because they are connected on some level, instead of opting out of
acting against systems that “aren’t your issue” (because they all are!).
The power of storytelling, the
interconnectedness of systems of oppression, the personal as political, the
bridging of academic theory into meaningful real-life work, and the involvement
and inclusion and valuing of stories that aren’t often told or included were
some of the themes that connected to the previous weeks readings.
I found Virgie Tovar’s passion and determination
inspiring and I look forward to reading more of her work.
Anzaldúa,
Gloria. "To(o) Queer the Writer—Loca, escritora y chicana."
hooks, bell. "Theory as Liberatory
Practice."
Justice, Daniel Health. Mark Rifkin and
Bethany Schneider. Eds. Sexuality, Nationality, Idigeneity. GLQ: A Journal of
Lesbian and Gay Studies. Volume 16: 1-2. 2010.
Moraga,
Cherríe. Loving in the War Years: Lo Que Nunca Paso por Sus Labios. (South End
Classics Edition). Cambridge, MA: South End, 2000.
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