The world teaches us to look at plus size bodies as less desirable. We look at the word fat as derogatory. We have used it that way to ourselves and each other, as a society.
But regardless of how you identify, bodies of all shapes can be earnest in their pursuits of love. And this has to be said. It can't be implicit. Our brains are not as nuanced as we would like them to be.
Representation matters to your neurological wiring. How your mind reacts to body size, gender presentation and color are programs.
And sometimes art reflects life. In this way what we witness in Mirrors by Azure D. Osborne-Lee is a reflection of many social layerings.
Mirrors is a particularly revolutionary piece. Its protagonist is a plus size Black masculine-presenting woman. We are not prompted to captivate on any of these external markers of identity.
Our attention is instead drawn to the pursuits and failures of love, that we all relate to.
Are We Creating Love Scarcity?
When we write stories about people of sizes outside of a social standard... their wholeness is often missing. This has become a norm. But do we realize that we have people’s self love on the line?
It's important that our media reflects practices that are inclusive of all peoples. And not as a plot line. Not actors in bodysuits. Mirrors isn’t a story about someone desirable being unexpectedly fond of someone not.
Mirrors is, according to Azure about, "Foundational love.” The body should always be granted visibility to love and be loved.
Body Positivity is Not a Niche
Nothing is a niche, when it can be a matter of life and death. When our words and media can rewrite someone's narrative. What someone feels they could expect from life.
As if being fat could mean having something to prove to the world. As if people of different sizes, diverging from privileged norms, must earn a keep.
Racial preferences, size phobias. Both present underlying sickness within our society. It is odd to debate the worthiness of another's love. Yet the value of our love is questioned by a manufactured-worthy. Uninterested in our bodies beyond consumption.
How to Produce Body Positive Work
For one, avoid the use of body suits - hire plus size actors.
Avoid having actors on their knees pretending to be little people.
Avoid using size as a comedic touchstone, get more creative.
Don't write stories about plus size actors swooning over "the popular cis-het guy at school."
Let plus size characters' transformation be within their thoughts, not their size. Not popularity. Avoid making stories about normalized versions of beauty.
Focus on telling a full story of people with complexities. Not a gimmick. Not a lesson of self acceptance from a gaze outside their own.
Mirrors tackles these deep rooted issues, simply within the casting of this play. It does not soliloquy around the ideas of race, size, gender, or colorist societal effects. It is here to tell a story.
Mirrors premieres November 10th, 2021 at 6 pm ET at Parity’s 5th Annual Awards Ceremony & Celebration. Get in-person or online tickets to Mirrors.