'I'm plus-size and blog about fashion. And apparently I glorify obesity, too.'

There’s this thing that happens when you blog about plus size fashion and combine it with confidence and body positivity. People will tell you that through doing that, you are glorifying obesity. That I am waving a flag and saying hey you, you should be fat too because look how happy I am!

But here’s the thing.

I’m fat and I like clothes. Thanks to the internet, people let me talk to them about personal style and finding clothes that fit. Which is actually a legitimate issue once you pass the standard clothing store sizes. I do this by taking photos of myself, there’s no one else around here I could use. I am front and centre, no ambition to model, but with a blog to fill and clothing holy grails to share.

That’s the problem, right? Not that fat women wear clothes or that we shop. Plenty of places to shop are getting on board to take our money these days. It’s that I’m visible and unapologetic about my body and what it looks like. That you have to see me and feel a certain way about that.

But that’s not all, right? I have the nerve to tell people how to live. Bonus, I love telling people what to do. Which, graciously, I’m given the space to do. I get to share my ideas on living a great life and I’m a self-appointed expert on confidence and kicking some ass.

A photo posted by Suger Coat It (@sugercoatit) on Jan 1, 2017 at 4:05pm PST

I’m simply here living my life. What I wear, what I do, the places I go, the people I love and what I cook (sometimes, I’m all about the good photo, you’re never going to see my beef stew on here, it’s just not pretty enough). This is a personal blog, which by definition is personal and prone to being all about me.

As part of that, I’m sharing with other women on the internet my view on things. My aim is to encourage all women (and men if they’re interested in such things) to live full, happy, exciting lives starting right now. Not ten years from now and certainly not 10kg from now. Now.

If that is glorifying obesity because I, a fat person, encouraged you to do that, bloody hell, I’ve been doing that this whole time. I probably owe someone an apology. Here I am, glorifying obesity all over the place. I was thinking I was a human doing things and forgot that you see me only as a fat woman who shouldn’t be happy or visible or considered remotely cool.

My bad.

A photo posted by Suger Coat It (@sugercoatit) on Jan 13, 2017 at 12:13am PST

Thank you for reminding me that my value is my body. My worthiness is found in my ability to attract a man. That my value doesn’t come from the life experiences I’ve earned or the skills I’ve honed but in the size of my waist, my ass or my boobs. Here’s the thing, you might believe that, but I don’t.

I find my value in my dedication to family and friends, in being kind, my ability to love, and always trying my best. It’s in my quick mind, the way I form a sentence and share an idea. My ability to question and learn. It’s not in my body, it never was. Sorry mate, you’re wrong again.

I know the value I bring and if a part of that is questioning societies ideas of the value or worthiness of fat people, then great. But in the end, all I am doing here is living visibly. If for some reason that challenges your idea that thin is the only way to be happy, fulfilled and whole, then mission accomplished.

This fat girl just won the internet.

This post originally appeared on Sugar Coat It and has been republished here with full permission. You can view the original article here.