In an effort to allow people to be themselves, “Fat Beach Day” events are popping up across the country, offering plus-size people a chance to gather and be themselves at the beach.
The organizer of one of the events, which took place on Saturday in Far Rockaway, New York, Jordan Underwood, spoke with the Guardian about the event and why it’s important.
“We’re going through something culturally that is impacting us every day on an individual level and a systemic level,” Underwood told the Guardian. “We’re really trying to open up a space for people to be themselves.”
Underwood, a plus-size model and artist, is organizing events throughout New York City in collaboration with the Brooklyn-based vintage store Berriez. She shared that they are now working to hold an event at Jacob Riis Park.
But Underwood isn’t the only organizer looking to give the plus-size community some fun in the sun, as similar events are popping up across the country.
In Chicago, on July 13, a Fat Friends Pool Party is scheduled to take place, and a Bellies Out Beach Day is slated to take place in Los Angeles in a few weeks.
The events also come as weight and weight loss are at the forefront of many people’s minds thanks to the growing popularity of medications like Ozempic and Mounjaro.
A KFF survey from last month found that one in eight adults across the country had used weight-loss medications.
Underwood says that this growing trend has sparked a new wave of fat-phobia, like that seen decades prior.
“In the 2000s, there was a strong anti-fat, intense cultural swing that really parallels what we’re going through right now,” Underwood said.