Fat Activist Vernacular

Health and medicine are not the only ways of understanding fat, it is also a richly subjective and cultural experience as the massively expanded and revised edition of Fat Activist Vernacular demonstrates.

Originally published in 2016, the best-selling zine, now an eBook, is a collection of words, phrases and concepts exploring fat activist sensibility. It is written by Dr Charlotte Cooper, whose background in sociology, psychology, live art and activism underpins the work.

With over 600 entries, from Adiposer to Zaftig, the Vernacular represents grassroots knowledge and the voices and ideas of fat people themselves who are often overlooked in the current public debate about obesity.

Intended as a fun read with a serious message, the Vernacular stems from queer, feminist, DIY fat activism. This social and cultural movement has been active since the 1960s, according to the author’s research.

Fat Activist Vernacular offers subversive ways for people of all sizes to describe their thoughts and experiences. It also encourages people to think about activism and culture-making through language.

Fat Activist Vernacular is available directly from CharlotteCooper.net and the usual digital media outlets.

Please select a file type from the drop down menu. Kindles use .mobi, every other device should use .epub.

Dr Charlotte Cooper is a psychotherapist and cultural worker living and working in East London, UK. She has been making zines for the past 30 years. Her research and writing on fat defies categorisation. She published Fat Activism: A Radical Social Movement with HammerOn Press in 2016. She performs as Homosexual Death Drive.

Fat Activist Vernacular was launched with an event at LADA on January 23 2020.