Fat is not a bad word. Nor should fat people be unable to see themselves reflected in the world around them—this is the very ethos behind Annette Richmond’s Fat Girls Travelling Instagram account, Facebook community and blog, where she empowers plus-size women to do and be and wear and travel wherever they please.

A plus-size fashion blogger since 2003, Richmond was initially alerted to the need for increased representation in the space when she began travelling internationally, and creating travel content in the hopes of landing features on various travel platforms. At first, she thought perhaps her images just weren’t “up to par,” but, instead, she quickly began to realise that there was a trend occurring: the people who did tend to get featured were predominantly blonde and thin and white. All of the things she is not. 

“None of the travel platforms were sharing any curvy, fat travellers [but] when I'm out in the world, I see us travelling,” she says. And so, Fat Girls Travelling was born—as a call to action, and a way to tell fellow fat travellers, “Hey, I see us. I know that we're out here and this is a place where we can go to see ourselves represented.

”The word “fat” is at the core of her brand in an effort to reclaim it, she explains. When she first started out, she would re-share images of plus-size fashion bloggers on vacation. Some of the bloggers reached out asking her to remove their pictures, because they didn’t want to be associated with the word. “This was in 2017,” she says, “I’m sure now they might feel differently about the term, because it’s a little more accepted.” 

Indeed, the last few years have seen the rise of the body-positivity movement, with the likes of Lizzo making great strides in subverting the negative connotations and stereotypes associated with being plus-size. “We are less fearful, we just don't give a f**k and we are like: ‘You know what? We deserve to live, we deserve to be happy, we deserve to travel, we deserve to wear bathing suits, and if someone has a problem with that, that’s on them,’” says Richmond of the change in attitude.

But this noticeable shift is not necessarily due to increased acceptance from society, or even from the body-positivity movement, she explains, but rather from within. In truth, it’s a movement that has been increasingly co-opted to centre thin, white people “that maybe have some wrinkles or some cellulite.” Accordingly, she prefers the term fat-positive.

Richmond makes it clear that it will take more than representation to make travel more inclusive, she says. “It takes talking with fat people and seeing what we really need when we're out there in the world, and also educating straight-size people so that we're not being ostracized and gawked at when we’re out,” she adds.

 While most forms of prejudice are at least considered wrong, Richmond explains that “size discrimination is one of the last acceptable forms of discrimination. Fat jokes and fat stigma are still highly acceptable and laughed at. It’s like, ‘That’s in your control so I’m going to s**t on you because you can control that.’ But that’s a lie.

”With the Instagram account quickly amassing thousands of followers, a Facebook community with over 13,000 members, and the ‘Fat Girls Guide,” blog, the growing community became a source offering practical advice on everything from dating and getting COVID-19 vaccinations to recommendations for clothing, as well as information on travel. 

“[The Facebook page] turned into a support group that encourages and share tips, travel struggles, suggestions on fat friendly airlines and all these things that straight-sized travellers don't necessarily have to consider,” explains Richmond. Things like seat sizes on airplanes, weight restrictions for activities like zip-lining and parasailing, recommendations for chub rub and more. 

“There's lots of unique situations that fat people need specific information [for], and that's where they go,” she explains, adding that it’s these sorts of worries that may prevent someone from taking a trip.

The community also serves as a safe space for people to share pictures and to vent when feeling disempowered by fat-shamers, whether those be family members, friends, or strangers on their travels. But that’s not to say that the community has never been compromised by trolls, despite Richmond taking great pains to personally vet all members before approval. 

Running the Instagram page, which comprises of mostly white women, also comes with its share of challenges, in particular in the wake of the resurgence of the #BlackLivesMatter movement last summer, where white guilt surged, resulting in racial gaslighting and misguided attempts by followers to prove their wokeness. 

Indeed, there are nuances to everything, including travel and the privilege surrounding it, such as in conversations around animal tourism. “I’ve been travelling for a while [so] I am aware of animal cruelty, but some people are just starting to travel and they're not as aware that these places, [for example], drug animals,” she explains.

 “A lot of white people will come down on people of colour taking these opportunities and utilizing these experiences…all of these judgments come with a lot of privilege and not acknowledging how, historically, their people have had these experiences and have had all of these years to learn and grow from those experiences,” she says. “As a society, we need to have grace and there needs to be a grace period for everyone to come to the same place.

”These are conversations she recently brought to light on her personal Instagram account. To address them, Richmond says that starting therapy with a Black therapist with whom she can talk through and process some of these issues has helped her immensely. “That shit is tricky, especially when it's this labour of love to try to put out positivity in the world. I get so much positivity back but when you do get those negative things, or that gaslighting or microaggression, it hurts you because you're like, ‘Dude, all I'm trying to do is empower fat people.’”

And she does. She receives thousands of messages about the positive impacts that being part of the community has had on others, and many members have forged friendships through the group. She hosts weekly support sessions, monthly virtual parties and an adult summer camp for fat adults, which hosts events and clothes-swaps (pre-pandemic). 

She credits her own journey to bodily acceptance in part to her mother, who is also fat. “She’s yo-yo dieted my entire life but she’s always been that person that when we're watching TV, she's like: ‘Where are the fat people at? Where the big girls?’… As a child growing up and constantly hearing my mom being like: ‘Where's something for my size?’ made me question like, ‘Hey, why aren't we being represented?’”

 That’s not to say she hasn’t had her own bouts with diet culture, or that she doesn’t ever have any issues with her body, but, through reading, educating herself and surrounding herself with the right people, she’s been able to build her confidence, she says. 

“Overall, I remind myself that my body allows me to do so many great things that I'm not going to put it down for one thing that I want it to do, or one way that I want it to look in this dress,” she concludes. “My body is so incredible and helps me do so many things. When I think about that, it really empowers me to appreciate my body more for the things that it does for me, versus tear it down for the things that it doesn't.”  

You can catch more of Annette Richmond at the Wanderlust: The Travel Webinar at AMAKA's Our World Festival on May 2nd. For more details, click here!