In The F Word, 'fat' is not an insult

Fat.

It's not a bad word — or rather, it shouldn't be.

This idea, though simple in concept, has turned out to be quite radical in practice for playwrights Keshia Cheesman and Bianca Miranda.

The two theatre artists and best friends have created a new play called The F Word, where they address the misconceptions we have about weight and shape, and fatphobia in all its forms — whether it's the impulse to say the word "fat" in hushed tones, to using it as an insult. The play is onstage now at the Martha Cohen Theatre in Calgary until February 19th. 

The pair joined Tom Power to talk about what it was like to explore their journey with self-love and their friendship onstage. 

You can hear their full conversation from today's episode available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Tom: I'm so happy to talk to the two of you. So, this is my understanding of it: this started out as a 10-minute play in 2017, and then in the years that follow you develop it into a full-length play. Bianca, what do you remember from the experience of putting the 10-minute show together?

Bianca: We were part of a collective creation with Handsome Alice Theatre, where it brought together around 10-minute femme and non-binary folks to talk about different facets of their identities. And Keshia and I, first of all, had been wanting to work together forever and we thought, "hey, we should talk about our journey and larger bodies." And at that time, I had just picked up the book called Shrill by Lindy West, and it started the conversation as to, why is the word fat so bad? And then we kind of went through a whole timeline of our lives … and so how that piece evolved is that we essentially reclaim that word for ourselves and got the audience to chant along with us: "we're fat and awesome and beautiful."

Tom: That's such a beautiful story, and what I find really interesting about that is that 10 minutes, Keshia, as far as I can tell, was not enough. What do you continue to explore?

Keshia: I think one thing that always fueled me and Bianca was anger. There was a moment after we did the original piece and we were talking about photography and how photographers never want to take pictures of us. So then, in the next 10-minute iteration we kind of explored, why don't people want to take pictures of us? We made the audience pull out their phones and take pictures of us. And another thing we explored in that same thing was a segment called "Ask a Fatty," which is in our play right now as well, where we did a poll online for fat people and people who are not fat, and just ask them some questions, and they were able to ask whatever they wanted to ask about fat people. And we put it into a segment where Bianca and I are like talk show hosts, and we answer the questions live.

Tom: Bianca, can I ask a little bit about the "f" word? Like, when the show is called The F Word, and the "f" word in this case is "fat," there's an implication that when you say the "f" word, it's a bad word. As much as you want to tell me, what's your relationship like with that word?

Bianca: It's definitely changed and evolved over the years. I think before it was something that I just did not want to be associated with. I would hide, I would make myself smaller if that word was said out loud. And a lot of people have such different relationships with that word. I think some people who don't know how loaded it is for some of us, just kind of use it really without thinking about the consequences of what that word might evoke for someone else … But I think throughout the journey of this piece, it's now given me so much power to step into that identity and really reclaim that word for myself. I feel that when I say it out loud in a room full of people who don't expect it, it's like, "yeah, that's right. I did call myself fat."

Tom: Yeah, right, like they're not expecting it. To them, it's this word that they might be a bit afraid of, or they might be a bit afraid of you referring to yourself as. But when you say that, it kind of freaks them out as much as it makes you feel empowered, I guess.

Bianca: Yeah, exactly.

Tom: Keshia, in the play you also address the intersection of race and weight too, right?

Keshia: I think first and foremost, Bianca and I being women of color, we can't separate any of our identities from that. When people see us at face value, it's like, "oh, you're fat." And for me, "yeah, you're fat and you're Black." My existence is an intersection. And in the show, Bianca and I talk a lot about our cultural foods and how much we love those things, but we also have a segment where we play family members that are being interviewed about us and how they feel about our bodies and our journeys with fat, and everything like that, and a lot of the cultural things that come up for us.

Tom: Have those intersections shown up in your career? Because in the theatre world, you are a body on stage and you are judged against other bodies for roles. Has that intersection showed up in your career journey?

Keshia: Even in theater school, we never had the opportunity to play a lead character in a play or have more than a couple of lines or do anything besides, like, a gender-neutral side character in the background … so we were never given the chance to actually fully form our craft onstage because we don't fit the mold of what people think are those who are deserving to be seen on stage or characters on stage.

Tom: That's a powerful thing. Bianca, I'm acknowledging my own discomfort here, which is perhaps the point of the exercise, but the "Ask a Fatty" survey you do … can you tell me the kind of questions you might get?

Bianca: That survey is inspired by us acknowledging that, you know what? For the world not loving fat people, they sure do think a lot about fat people. And so, this was kind of the opportunity to be like, "hey, we know you got questions, and we may have answers." Some of the questions are like, "hey, so when, why, where, what, how, what did you do to be fat?" And it's like, "oh, okay, you want to know the origins?" Okay. And some as invasive as like, "what happens in the bedroom? What exactly does that look like? Like, is it more challenging?"

Tom: These are real questions you'll get?

Bianca: These are real questions that real people have. You know, we gave them the power to be anonymous, but I think when you have that power, it's all unfiltered.

Tom: Is that comfortable for you, to be onstage answering these kinds of questions?

Bianca: It's kind of the point of that segment. It's this overwhelming, like, "are you hearing what y'all just asked?"

Tom: I should say, I don't want people to come away with an impression that this is a dark or heavy show. The idea is that this has to be a joyful excursion too, right?

Keshia: Yeah, like Bianca and I are funny people. We just love laughing and joking around. One of our nerves about the show is, can we make it through without laughing? We wanted to incorporate so many different types of storytelling and comedy into the show, not only because that's just who we are as people, but it's also a great way to tackle tough subjects in a way that's approachable and accessible for others without feeling like we're like pointing the finger at them and blaming people. We still hope that they're going to reflect, but we hope that that does come with joy and laughter, because that's what happened when we wrote the show.

You can hear their full conversation from today's episode available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.