fatgrllvr:
I don't think attraction to fat women is a fetish, any more than attraction to thin women or women with big boobs is a fetish. It's just an orientation that probably dates back to our early childhood (really early, in my case) and may even be inborn.
I'm very much in agreement with this - you don't hear people saying they have a 'skinny fetish', even though in most of our societies these days, being average/overweight is probably more common than being thin!
People are only ashamed to have fat partners or be attracted to fat people because they've internalised a lifetime of society being ridiculously fatphobic. If you can make an effort to get over that, not only will you feel more confident in your preferences, you'll probably be a better partner as well. I can guarantee, nobody wants to be dating someone who's embarrassed to be seen in public with them.