The above is a picture of me. As you can see, I’m adorable. As you can also see, I’m fat. That’s the thing about being fat. It can’t be a secret! Absolutely anyone who looks at me can see that I am fat. Even so, nine out of 10 times, when I try to talk about being fat, someone will say, “Oh, no you’re not! You’re fine!” However, it is a medical fact; my health record describes me as “obese.” So, yes, I am fat. And as you may have noticed, I have also referred to myself as adorable. I am both of those things. They aren’t mutually exclusive.

Yes, I know what you mean when you try and tell me that I’m not fat. What you’re saying is that I can’t use the word “fat” to describe myself because I’m not disgusting, and “fat” is an adjective reserved for gross people. But that’s the problem. Fat people aren’t gross, including myself. And when you associate “fat” with only lazy, ugly, rude and negative people you contribute to the myriad harmful stereotypes surrounding fat people.

Now, I have a problem. Not an eating problem (although, in a perfect world, I would eat three servings of dessert for every one meal), but I’m a drama queen. I am very vocal and I’m not afraid to cause a scene. You all saw that one Playboy model who body-shamed the woman at her gym. Well, some fat people said that people like her are the reason they are afraid to go to the gym. Honey, I wish someone would try to say something about my body while I’m at the gym! I own the gym when I’m in there. I would have shut the whole place down, red-alert style. I’m not afraid of being fat and I’m not afraid of you calling me that.

However, a lot of fat people aren’t as feisty as me, and they are legitimately afraid of what people think of them when they’re at the gym, eating, shopping or doing literally anything because of that fear of the dreaded f-word. The problem lies with how we use the word.

“Fat,” the way our culture uses the word, is not simply an adjective. It is an insult, and can be used at any time against anyone, no matter what size they are. I have friends who are much smaller than me who have been called “fat” multiple times in their life and I -- someone who actually is fat -- have only been called so to my face once. The funny part was that the perpetrator was that one kid in school that everyone hated because he was just a jerk, and who was fat himself, so it didn’t really count, although I did try to fight him and my friend had to pull me away because he would have squashed me. That’s beside the point. He only called me that because it’s an insult like any other -- because if he was really referring to weight, he had absolutely no room to talk.

I am reclaiming the f-word. Being fat is not a bad thing, like being skinny is not a good thing. Both words are just physical descriptions. And I could write a whole other article about people who body-shame fat people in the name of health, because obviously everyone is my doctor and knows my medical history and is so worried about my blood pressure or whatever else, so I won’t even start on that right now. The point is, fat is not an insult. If it is rebellious to unapologetically love my fat body, then let me just say that I love it so much, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Neener-neener, so there.

I am fat, which is equally as important as the fact that I have brown hair and eyes. I am fat, beautiful, funny, confident, loving and hard-working. I am fat and I am hypothyroid. I am fat and I love salad and ice cream and go to the gym several times a week.

So, the next time I crack a fat joke about myself, just laugh! Don’t be afraid, and don’t make that awkward pursed-lips face everyone makes. I don’t hate myself, I’m just hilarious.