Let Me Eat Cake: non-dieting as a political act

Thursdays 5:30 - 7:30pm, UC 332, Starts Thursday February 21st.

This freeschool group is a forum for exploring the politics around food, bodies, and eating. Drawing from ideas found in Fat Activism, the Size Acceptance movement, Health At Every Size, as well as our own individual experiences, we will take a critical look at the underlying factors that fuel size-based discrimination and fat-phobia. We will look at issues around health, body size, and weight loss and explore alternatives to the prevailing (and damaging) belief that “thinner is better.” We will also address the underlying political and economic forces that drive the current interest in the so-called “obesity epidemic,” and look critically at the diet industry and healthcare system.

By empowering ourselves with information from a variety of sources (film, radio, music, websites, readings, discussions, and our own experiences), we can inform our relationship with our own bodies and others, as well as the world we live in. As a group we will be mindful of maintaining a respectful, non-judgmental, safe space for exploring what can be a very complex and provocative issue. Each of our voices, ideas and experiences are of value. Our collective interests will help determine the direction this course will take—what specific issues we’ll explore over the sessions, and whether or not we’d like to take action (as a group, or individuals) to challenge the culture of body hatred and size-based discrimination, in whatever form that might take.

-- AnarchistUGuelph - 02 Feb 2008