Fat Bubble: Tabria Majors
Welcome back to the Fat Bubble, where every week we celebrate and uplift fat culture, and I connect you with fat vision and fat pride! This work is a real honour for me, and gives me a real glimmer each week as I look beyond fat trauma and hate, and connect with how much there is to celebrate in fat experience!
Today I'm celebrating someone who bought a wonderful vision to life last year in an iconic photoshoot - it's Tabria Majors. Tabria is a model and social media influencer, with a modelling career spanning a decade, and shoots for Fenty and Ivy Park in her portfolio.
And in December she created an absolutely iconic response to a recent shoot by Emily Ratajkowski for M magazine. In Emily's editorial shots, she was photographed wearing a pair of plus size jeans, holding the fabric out at the waist, and with the fabric bagging around her ankles. I guess it was an attempt to be edgy? Whatever. Because the coding is always 'look at this tiny body'.
I haven't posted it here because, honestly, if you're fat you can imagine it. You can imagine it because you have memories of seeing these photoshoots on the cover of Weight Watchers magazine or Slimming World magazine, or in ads for Slimfast. And, guess what? The coding then was always 'look at this tiny body'. It's kinda always the code. And it shows this is nothing new or edgy, because those ads were around when I was a kid in the late 80s...
So often we just have to carry the frustration of seeing those images. Perhaps we write to the publication and explain why those kind of images are harmful. Perhaps we share it to our stories with an understandable rant about how triggering and inappropriate those shoots are. Understandably, we might even comment under the images and question why someone who has written a body positive book would have ever considered it appropriate to participate in a shoot like that?!
But that wasn't enough for Tabria and, with creative vision, she responded.
In the stunning images she shared, she used straight size denim pieces to clothe HER body. It was edgy! It was new! It was innovative and smart, and it made a powerful statement. The images were rapturously received - not just by fat people, but also by the modelling world, with a host of Sports Illustrated and plus size models commenting on the post, and SI even covering the post on their website.
We shouldn't have to use our precious energy to teach people how to be respectful of fat bodies, but of course we find ourselves here again and again. Still, we will continue, because our shared humanity is so worth it. Images like Tabria's are a part of the Fat Bubble in their beauty, their rebellion and their creativity. I really hope Tabria will be a fun new follow for you.
Until next time, friends, wishing you safety and joy.
Vicky