alelectro:
I like that my body matches more who I feel like I really am. Since gaining, people have referred to me as "big guy." I sense more smiles and comradery from other fat people. It just feels right to be able to fill out an XXXL shirt. I think I felt more insignificant being thinner. It's nice to take up space, to have a presence, to give a big, giant hug. I like that when someone flirts with me, I immediately know that they like someone with a belly. Before, I felt like an imposter in a thin body. I feel more at home now.

buchanantarrant:
In my personal opinion I would say no. Maybe slightly chubby. But only slightly. It differs from person to person, depending on your hormone levels, rate of gain, activity levels and where you body stores fat. At 5,3 you would more likely hit that category before someone who is 5,8. Personally I would say not to even consider yourself fat until you're over 200lbs, but then I'd call that chubby. My wife is about 250lbs but I still wouldn't brand her as fat, yet society would say differently. It all depends on how you feel as a person. Not what the bmi says. Because we all know bmi isn't everything.

fatboy420:
So I've been eating as much as possible for about a month and a half. Some days I eat more then others but i make sure it's never less then 3500 calories a day, aiming for 4000 plus. I feel like my belly has gotten bigger but the numbers on the scale aren't moving much. Could I be losing muscle mass? What's the best advice to just blow up fast? Am I just being impatient?

alelectro:
I think they're actually quite common, but a many, perhaps most, come from more conservative cultures. I have been immersed in both Latino and Southern cultures, and in both cases, it was clearly more common to have traditional relationships e.g., wife cooking, husband paying the bills.

However, in neither case are the women pushovers. They will "claim" their man and fattening up a husband is a rite of passage I've observed many times. He can hide a wedding ring, but not a ring of fat around his waist. I suppose other women know something's up if he tries to wander off.

You don't have to ask if a girl is a "feeder" in such cultures. Just ask if she loves to cook and would still love you if you got fat. The answers are often yes.

Bigwideland:
So as a fat man with no wife, I would be look at like yeah right your single, mmm sure you are honey…. I never thought of that no wonder I don’t get hit on , d’oh.

alelectro:
Well, I do think that might be the unspoken, perhaps even subconscious, assumption. So most women might tend to be more reserved at first, because, yes, a 30+ year old man with a full paunch walking down the streets of Savannah, Georgia or San Antonio, Texas is likely married with kids. But, it just means you have to make the first move.

My point though was that such relationships don't begin as feedee meeting feeder, but as people seeking a traditional relationship. There's responsibilities in the relationship though. I have met many Latina and Southern feeders, and every one of them looked to their man as a provider and a source of pride. A good job, confidence, intelligence, and an appropriate, but modest, level of swagger seems to go a long way.

I guess what I'm saying is presenting yourself as someone reliable, faithful, honest, and a provider is what attracts feeders in the cultures I've personally experienced.

cuddlist:
Suddenly interested in moving to Texas! I like the sound of this

Munchies:
Noticed you live in Texas. Lotta Southern women are like that. Not even as a kink. We get a man we love, and it's almost a compulsion to keep his belly full and happy.

fatrnfatr:
Food = love in many cultures. Is it about doing something nice for the family, a tradition centered around holidays, or just about making traditional southern foods which are by nature fattening?

Munchies:
All of the above. In some parts of the South, a well-loved man is a fat man. Especially if you've been together for a while. There are definitely women around here that fatten up their men to show he's taken. Strangely, it's not even a kink for most of them.

GrowingLoveHandles:
Munchies, how right you are. These women kind of “mark” their man with a belly created by their fabulous cooking.

Munchies:
And the men are more than happy to fatten for them. They dream of finding someone to grow old and fat with.

GrowingLoveHandles:
All just very accepted by many people as part of the culture.

And it’s really kinky as f.

Miachu:
Thank you
[quote]
Munchies:
It's the equity vs equality debate. A lot of people say they want equality, but what they really want it equity.

Equity takes into consideration people's differences and acts accordingly.

For example, equality is giving people the same bike regardless of the rider's size, shape, or phyical ability. Equity is giving everyone a bike, but adjusting the bike to their needs.

There's a lot of intersectionality you need to take into account when it comes to being fat in public. Age, gender, disability status, sexuality, race, income levels, and other variables impact how people treat you in public. Calling fat women "plus-sized" is an attempt to reclaim dignity that the world at large wants to strip away.

Thaynor:
It is, but it's also sometimes "plus-size" is framing clothing as "oh, you're overweight" when I kinda would have preferred just a number? Especially when I was a bit lighter I was still considered a plus-size despite being kinda maybe average-ish weight? I also could kinda grumble about how sizes tends to be a bit weird at times, like how I wanted to get a 38A bra and, well, most places treat 38s as closer to Ds than As so I paid a bit more.

I dunno, grumble grumble.