【1990 Archives】

This article has been published to coincide with an episode of Mashable's new podcast990 Archives History Becomes Her.Listen here

Sofie Hagen is a Danish comedian who co-created the Guilty Feministpodcast with Deborah Frances White. Hagen is non-binary and uses pronouns she/they/he.

Hagen is a fat acceptance campaigner and plus size fashion designer, who speaks candidly about our culture’s ingrained anti-fat bias and the subtle and overt ways society continues to marginalise and discriminate against fat people. 

In this episode of History Becomes Her, Hagen discusses her admiration for civil rights activist Rosa Parks. Hagen also shares how she first learned about the fat acceptance movement and how people can unlearn their ingrained anti-fat bias. She also explains the difference between body positivity and fat acceptance.

Hagen explores the origins of the fat acceptance movement, which can be traced back to 1967 when 500 people met in Central Park, New York City, and staged a "fat-in" to protest anti-fat bias.

"500 fat people gathered, and they ate ice cream, and they burned diet books," she says. "And they had posters of whoever was like the most voluptuous larger woman they could find, you know, so just, and they their slogan was 'a diet is a cure that doesn't work for a disease that doesn't exist.' And that says everything."

You can listen to the episode onApple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In her book, Happy Fat, Hagen writes about the reality of being fat in a world that wants you to take up less space. She talks about being spat on and having someone tell her, “If you weren’t so fat, I’d rape you.”

Hagen wants to reclaim the word “fat” and live in a world built on self-acceptance and loving your body.

Asked how we can, as a society, overcome and fight against our internalised fatphobia and anti-fat bias, Hagen said the answer is not to "love yourself, hug your body, love your curves, buy this lotion."

"The actual answer hurts a tiny bit because we have to really acknowledge our privilege and find out that, oh, I'm part of the problem as well because we all are."

Subscribe to History Becomes Her onApple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast, or wherever you get your podcasts.