Elizabeth Heatwole ’26
Contributing Writer
As kids, we all received the same cliché advice on bullying: don’t show that the bully’s actions affect you. Take the enjoyment out of their aggressions. What we didn’t realize is that by doing so, we removed the power from the bully. The notion of reclaiming power from an oppressor is one that infiltrates our world history. It is even demonstrated by one of the most well-known U.S. songs: “Yankee Doodle.” The song was originally created by the British during the Revolutionary War as an insult. Americans, however, were quick to adopt the song, using it as a mockery of British losses. Over time, the insult evolved into a song that fostered patriotism and national pride.
Similarly, reclaiming power is a notion that is actively being applied to contemporary society. Discriminatory language and oppression through linguistics is representative of the inherent power of words. A ‘skirt,’ for instance, was once an objectifying reference to women. In television shows from the midcentury, a viewer can hear a female character casually labeled as such. The term’s unquestioned acceptance into mass culture is representational of the patriarchal structure of the early 20th century.
The reference has since fallen out of fashion, as its use and meaning ebbed and flowed. The society in which the reference was used was conducive to most women accepting the term as a part of life.
The evolution of ‘skirt’, eventually into near extinction, occurred gradually and without a specific group spearheading the change. It succumbed to the death that slang often faces but did not eradicate the impact of similar words. While ‘skirt’ was not a word that joined the sociopolitical battleground, ‘fat’ is. The contemporary reclamation of the word ‘fat’ is a plight to remove connotations, rather than the word itself.
This push is tied to the body-positivity movement. Proponents of the movement consciously oppose bias and seek active ways to alter perceptions of body appearance. The word ‘fat’ is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “having a large amount of excess flesh.” The denotation casts ‘fat’ as innocent, until one realizes the word’s connotations: society’s vilification of bodies that do not conform to standards.
The word ‘fat’ has not always been the derogatory term it is today. In an article by Audrey Austrew, the word ‘fat’ once implied “abundance,” and “a wealthy person”. By the early 19th century, however, both the denotation and connotation of the word assumed contemporary meaning. As demonstrated by the evolution of ‘fat’, words are inherently malleable. This idea furthers on as the body positivity movement, for instance, realizes language is a mechanism of power.
In 2024, many people are using the word to describe themselves with pride, rejecting previously constructed connotations. My reasoning for this piece is to encourage readers to reclaim, or otherwise harness, the power of words that harm them. Physical demonstrations are not the sole means to protest and enact change. Sometimes, resistance is closer to home.
