My Mum Thinks Fat Is Fame

And why she still believes it means you’ve “made it”

My mum was born in 1948 — smack in the middle of post-war Britain, when food was still rationed, sugar was locked away like gold, and nobody was throwing away a half-eaten biscuit. Back then, if you were fat, it meant one thing: you were winning.

To her, being plump wasn’t a problem. It was practically a personality. It meant you had money, comfort, plenty of meat, and didn’t have to break your back scrubbing someone else’s floors for a living. Fat was fame. Fat was fortune. Fat meant you could afford pudding and heating.

Fast forward to now, and the world’s flipped. These days, being overweight is no longer seen as luxurious — it’s weaponised as a failure. Health is a privilege. Avocados are £1.50 each. Gym memberships, chia seeds, turmeric lattes — it’s all expensive, time-consuming, and constantly pushed as the “right” way to live.

So when my mum sees someone slim, her reaction isn’t admiration. It’s worry.

“Poor thing,” she’ll say. “Look how skinny she is. She must be ill or broke.”

And if someone’s gained a few stone?

“Oh good for them! They look happy, they’re doing well!”

It’s hilarious and kind of tragic all at once.

Because from her lens — the one built during a time when people literally couldn’t get enough to eat — fat still equals success.

And from today’s lens — where we’re drowning in ultra-processed food but starving for time, money, and mental energy — fat often equals stress, poverty, and struggle.

It’s not about vanity, really. It’s about what fat and thin symbolise in different generations.

In my mum’s world:

• Fat = safe, wealthy, thriving
• Thin = poor, sick, struggling

In today’s world (especially online):

• Thin = rich, disciplined, desirable
• Fat = lazy, broke, needs fixing

Two completely different realities — and both shaped by class, food access, and cultural trauma.

But you know what?

Neither version gets it completely right.

Your body isn’t a status symbol. And food shouldn’t be either.

So if your mum, like mine, still thinks gaining weight means you’ve “made it” — just smile and nod. She survived a time we can’t fully understand. And deep down, she’s just trying to say: you look full, you look safe, and that makes me happy.

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