The Fattest Woman in the Room

Roxane Gay is one of my heroes. See, I didn't really have people I looked up to when I was growing up, not in a conventional way. I loved Siouxsie Sioux and Kate Bush, but I didn't feel that kind of deep, intense connection with them that one feels with a hero. I admired them and I respect their talent, but there was always a fundamental something missing about me really feeling that WOW thing on a personal level.

With Roxane Gay, it's different. This woman gets it. Like me, she's fat. Not just a little fat, but very fat. The kind of fat where you just can't accept things on a body positivity level and go on with your life. Mostly because everything in the damned world is made too small for your life. The article that I posted above explains a lot of this. She talks about the annoyance, the humiliation, and most of all, the pain.

I think where she reaches hero status for me is that despite all of the pain and hell, she's still OUT there. She still writes her books. She still says what she wants to say. She still travels by plane and makes speaking engagements. That is far more brave than anything I've ever done with my life nad I admire the hell out of her for it.

I'd like to meet Roxane Gay. I'd like to tell her how much I admire her. I'd also like for her to have the nice experience of NOT being the fattest woman in the room for once.