Nowhere does Orbach suggest that this might simply be a result of having a support group at all, or spending more time thinking about food in a safe way to allow those women to later stop obsessing about it altogether, for example. She doesen't advocate going on diets and she encourages women to find their own weight and not be defined by the media.

As I have learned more about the fat activist movement and current issues in fat activism, I have also learned more about feminism — almost by default.

Bulimia, anorexia, depression, and anxiety, are all believed to be brought on because of the standards that society has over those considered social outsiders. Resistance to women participating in modern-day professional sumo tournaments is sometimes considered sexist.

There is the cosmetic industry, the cosmetic surgery industry, the doll market, the role of internet beauty bloggers who have followers in their millions and of course the horror for youngsters of living online and being continually scrutinised. Fit Is a Feminist Issue started with a conversation blog co-founders Sam and Tracy have been having for more than two decades about feminism and fitness. In the late-90s, the Health At Every Size (HAES) approach began developing and was incorporated into weight-neutral businesses. I have found that though I treated my 20 year old body badly, it still gave me 4 perfect children and 4 childbirths that each taught me something new about that body.Women were, and still are, consistently bombarded with messages on how they should dress, present themselves and what’s appropriate to enter their bodies. I have changed over the years and different parts of the book speak to me now than the parts that spoke to me before.