Through a friend, I got the email and phone number of a guy who does home repairs. My cousin needed work done on her house, but never had much time to make arrangements, so I made the appointments for her. The work was done wonderfully and at a great price, so I sent an email […]
I have been in a long-distance relationship for six months with a guy I’ve known about two years through work; we’ve seen each other in person for what amounts to a month during vacations and we talk daily via Internet chat and video. I’m in my late twenties; he’s in his early thirties. I really […]
In my early 20s, I wore size 24 jeans and my enormous boobs demanded an H-cup bra, a letter no woman should have to associate with lingerie sizing. I couldn’t fit into restaurant booths or through the subway turnstile. I even once held up an entire roller coaster ride at Six Flags so I could […]
It’s been seven years since I owned a scale. Back then, I was 19, and obsessively chronicling my calories, workouts, and incremental weight changes. 105 one day. 106 would send me into a panic attack. 106.5 put me over the edge. When a handful of months later, I’d find out I was 121, my world […]
I thought I’d dealt with most of my body image issues before I started dating my current boyfriend. But during the three years we’ve been together, he’s taught me a lot about size, fatness and self-care. How? By being fat and unapologetic. My boyfriend weighs over 300 pounds, and one of the things I appreciated […]
About six months ago, I met this guy, Alex, who I thought was perfect. He is about to graduate law school, he is unbelievably kind, respectful and empathetic, and also the sex is great. But I have slowly begun to realize that Alex is very safe — meaning he’s not spontaneous and not very funny […]
Dan had a big grin in his profile picture, like he’d just said something super funny. He liked foreign novels, old buildings, and could spell in complete words. He looked like a cute professor. Could this be … my guy? I’d been online dating for a few months – long enough. There were the guys […]
It usually starts with widened eyes and a slight lift of the eyebrows. As I walk over to greet a new student, they slowly stick out their hand to meet mine. “Hi, I’m Anna. I’m so glad you’re here!” “Hi,” they say back. “You’re the … teacher?” Most of the time when people come to […]
Dear Fat Girl, Last week, I saw an overweight news anchor respond to a bully with such power and confidence that it made me cry. It also made me want to write about my own experience of being a fat girl. I almost wrote this letter to my younger self: a deeply sad, chubby fourth […]
