This is my JR IS - With this work I’m trying to raise awareness of a big issue, staring at bigger people and the feelings of invisibility that are a product of that staring. As a big person, at 388lbs, this is something I deal with every day. I feel the eyes on my back and hear the things whispered under people’s breath about me and just smile, not saying anything; it has affected how I view others, the world around me, and myself. I’ve named this work, “Fuck You for Staring: Hope and Contempt” because that’s what I feel when I look over it. I feel hope that others will realize what their staring does to an overweight person and how it makes them feel invisible and like a side show freak to be ogled, but on the flip side I also feel contempt because I hate how big I am, I want to change the way I look, and I don’t want to make being this big okay, for me at least. The “Fuck You for Staring” part comes from the feelings of being less human while around people of a smaller more average size. The words are supposed to be read as if they’re at the end of an old movie where the narrator says, in a polite closing manner, “Thank You for Watching”. I chose that tone because, as a bigger person I take the comments, the snide remarks, and the stares, with a polite smile. Therefore, when someone stares and I smile, the smile is one of sick personal irony, because I’m thinking, “Fuck You for Staring” with a “Thank You for Watching” expression. In my experience, to say the latter would get me called a fat bitch, while a smile, while thinking the former just gets a smile back, which is much easier to deal with. Especially, when I already look down on myself with contempt and then I realize somebody else is too, I almost feel hopeless for change or normalcy. I hope my work sparks some conversations around the water cooler and I really hope you’ve enjoyed it. Thank You for Watching. :)