Marilyn Wann is one of the key players in the current fat activism movement. With the creation of her zine Fat!So? in 1993, and the publication of the book of the same name in 1998, she has played a key role in bringing the idea that fat is beautiful to the public conscious. She is also the Activism Chair of NAAFA, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, or NAAFA, was founded in 1969 by William Fabrey in New York. ...

“I’m not interested in people accepting my fat, but in fat people’s rights." Marilyn Wann

The thesis of her seminal work "Fat!So?" is that you don't have to applogize for your size; a truly revolutionary concept to fat people everywhere who have grown up appologizing to doctors, partners, family members and themselves for being fat. Furthermore, she begins to unveil the inequalities suffered by fat people in terms of health care/insurance, earning potential and by such fat negative companies like Southwest Airlines. http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/cos_qa.html Wann is a vocal and effective advocate of Fat rights and a promoter of "Health at Any Size." She is a member of of the Bod Squad Cheerleaders, a fat-activist group who protest various injustices against fat people with a dose of fat humor. http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0408/feature3/zoom2.html

The Fat!So? Manifesto:

So there's nothing wrong with being fat. Just like there's nothing wrong with being short or tall, or black or brown. These are facts of identity that cannot and should not be changed. They are birthright. They're beyond aesthetics. They provide the diversity we need to survive.

Articles about Wann http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2003/julaug/features/wann.html