Ragen Chastain

Ragen Chastain

Bio

Ragen Chastain is a professional speaker, writer, and real live fat person.  She has spoken everywhere from friend's living rooms to Google Headquarters to Cal Tech and Dartmouth.  She will not stop until we live in a world where the full diversity of body sizes is respected, and fat people are able to live in fat bodies without shame, stigma, bullying, and harrasment, regardless of why they are fat, what being fat means, and if they could (or even want to) become thin. She lives in Los Angeles with her partner Julianne and their adorable rescue dogs, and is training for her first (and hopefully only!) IRONMAN triathlon. If you can't get enough of her on Ravishly, you can check out her blog www.danceswithfat.org

Ragen Chastain Articles

Can plus-size people use menstrual cups? Be prepared for a learning curve...

Can Plus-Size People Use Menstrual Cups?

Many assume that the menstrual cup doesn't work for fat people. So we're tackling the question, "Can plus-size people use menstrual cups?"

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"Moreno's case still deserves our attention... because it really brings to light the fact that fat-shaming hurts people of all sizes." Image: today.com

Fat-Shaming Should Not Be An Olympic Sport

Alexa Moreno recently found herself the subject of a whole lot of fat-shaming on social media. Normally that would be no surprise since, sadly, there’s tons of fat shaming on social media every day (ask any fat activist), but this was a bit different, in that Alexa weighs 99 pounds — and is a gymnast who had just finished competing in the freaking Olympics.

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Keep working, keep pushing, live so that these people call you attention seeking activists every day.

A Love Letter To "Attention Seeking" Activists

Keep working, keep pushing, live so that these people call you attention seeking activists every day. You are making the world better.

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The only person who gets to decide the right way to deal with fat shaming is the person being fat shamed.

When Fat People Clap Back At Fatphobes 

Food shaming as a form of fat shaming has happened to every fat person I know. Here are some examples of when fat people clap back at fatphobes.

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"I’ve heard too many of my fat friends talk about being kept out of the club by “policies” that didn’t seem to apply to thin people."

The Thin Velvet Rope

"My beautiful, kind, big-hearted daughter was denied entry to a popular club in NYC called One Oak last night because, as they put it ,'they don't like girls with love handles.' They only allow a particular type of girl into this place."

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This is about way more than the freedom to dress in comfortable clothing while at school. Let’s talk about some stats that this principal should know if she’s going to talk to adolescent girls about body size. (Image Credit: YouTube/SanVic)

When A Principal Publicly Fat Shames Female Students

We could risk the mental and physical health of all the girls in the school by using fat shaming to try to control the way that they dress, or we could just let them wear some damn leggings. Seriously, how is this not a no brainer?

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The question I was being asked most in the e-mails flooding my inbox was, “Why in the world would a fast metabolism have anything to do with an editing gig?”

Slate’s Hiring Policy: No Fat Chicks?

Slate's new job posting for Political Editor requires candidates with a fast metabolism. This is why that phrasing is fat-shaming and discriminatory.

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"While there are tons of fathletes, fat people are often excluded from the fitness world — especially when it comes to working in the fitness industry." Image: flickr.com

Gold's Gym Posts Stunningly Misogynistic Ad; Activists Shut It Down

Using the corporate logo, a Gold's Gym franchise in Egypt posted a picture of a pear with the caption "This is no shape for a girl" to their Facebook page. There was an immediate backlash, which led to a bizarre non-apology apology that looks like it was written by Donald Trump's full time "Apologizing for Stunningly Offensive Stuff" Team.

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The problem isn’t the reactions of the people being bullied, it’s a culture where bullying and harassment are considered acceptable.

Should We Ignore Our Bullies?

Should we ignore our bullies? The problem isn’t the reactions of the people being bullied, it’s a culture where bullying is considered acceptable.

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Khloe Kardashian  © Glenn Francis, www.PacificProDigital.com

5 Hacks To Help You Ignore Khloe Kardashian's Thin Obsession

Khloe Kardashian who has been touted as a “body positive” advocate, recently wrote a post called 5 Hacks to Look Thin AF in Your Pics.

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