‘FatCon’ features therapist who blames ‘fatphobia’ on white supremacy

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A Philadelphia university is hosting the city’s first “fat people” convention featuring a keynote speaker who blames fatphobia on white supremacy ideals.

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FatCon, hailed as a conference “for fat people, by fat people,” will run for two days in October at Temple University, and feature “fat speakers, influencers, performers” as well as some good old-fashioned sex advice.

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Keynote speaker Sonalee Rashatwar, widely known as The Fat Sex Therapist, is also known for chalking up fatphobia and fat-shaming to white supremacist beauty ideals, calling it the “social construct” of health, “fat trauma” and the intersection of fat and gender.

In a recent Instagram post, Rashatwar, who uses they/he pronouns, describes himself as a “superfat queer bisexual non-binary therapist” who specializes in “treating sexual trauma, diet trauma, racial or immigrant trauma, and South Asian family abuse, while offering fat positive sexual healthcare.”

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Rashatwar previously hosted workshops on topics such as “Understanding the White Supremacist Origins of Fatphobia,” “Race is a Body Image Issue” and “The Gender Abolition of Fatness,” according to his website.

“This is such a dream to have a space for the fat community where fatphobia doesn’t exist,” Adrienne Ray, one of FatCon’s organizers, posted on Instagram.

Ray hopes the conference heavy people who are “often overlooked because of their size” feel acknowledged.

“We’re not into the buzzwords because we’ve seen how it affects and impacts people — it makes people feel either included or excluded,” Ray told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The phrase “body positivity” has become “bogged down,” according to Ray, as are terms like “body image” and “body neutrality,” which can be harmful for some.

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“What people in larger bodies need is to step away from constantly talking about body image, because that can be very triggering for folks who have disabilities, chronic illness, have been dieting on and off all their lives and developed eating disorders because of it.”

FatCon’s goal is to bring together a community of fat people who share commonalities based on their size and to help each other navigate the “fatphobic world and society.”

Fitness classes including yoga, sound bath and “twerk-lesque” will also offered.

“People just want to be able to be themselves — that’s the dire need for something like Philly FatCon,” Ray told the outlet.

“Some people are not in love with their body every day, but this is the body that they exist in.”

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