Publicly Fat in Australia – eine Geschichte aus dem Big Fat Blog, einem Fat-Acceptance-Weblog. Leserin rainalee beschreibt ihre Teilnahme als dicke Frau an einem Workshop der Living Library, die sich damit beschäftigt, Vorurteile abzubauen:

„Borrow a person you normally would think you would not like. We have a wide selection of unpopular stereotypes. Take a walk, have a talk, or don’t. Just remember to give back the person…When you’re done, you are guaranteed to feel like you have just lost a friend.“

So beginnt ihre Geschichte:

„I work at a university in Australia as an academic. Part of my job is being the ‘Women in Technology’ program coordinator, and recently we had one of the staff come talk to us about a ‘Living Library’ project on our campus, as part of multicultural week. People volunteer to become ‘books’ for a day, and borrowers can ‘borrow’ a book for a half- hour conversation about their life experiences. The idea is to confront prejudice and break down barriers.

I believe this is a wonderful project, and I volunteered to be a book. My “blurb” was:

FAT PERSON – “I think one of the biggest ‘light bulb’ moments in my life was when I realised that I am not a broken thin person. I’m a person with feelings, dreams and aspirations – and those don’t all revolve around the size or shape of my body.” In an atmosphere of hysteria about the obesity crisis, what is it really like being a fat person today? Have a read and find out.“

Teil 1, Teil 2, Teil 3. (Abkürzungen in der Story: WLS = weight loss surgery (Magenband und ähnlicher Schrott), FA = fat acceptance)