F*ck your grossophobia | Laughing at fatphobia to play it down

Being declared obese morbid by a doctor. Being told about your weight when you consult for a simple sore throat. Traveling, when airplane seats are anything but suitable for your stature. Deal with blunders and prejudices.

All of this (and more) is part of life for fat people. Rather than crying over it, the show F*ck your grossophobiawhich will be presented at ZooFest on July 14 and 16, proposes on the contrary to laugh about it.

“Everything becomes less awkward once you laugh about it. It’s like naming the elephant in the room, ”sums up comedian and columnist Josiane Aubuchon, during a videoconference interview with author and comedian Marie-Hélène Racine-Lacroix – who will host both parties – and photographer Julie Artacho.

On the program: their two numbers, that of the columnist and author Catherine Éthier (who will address the clumsiness of the thin friend), and those of two personalities who are not comedians: the burlesque artist Rosie Bourgeoisie and the photographer Julie Artacho.

Activism through humor

According to Julie Artacho, laughing helps to de-dramatize things. “There are plenty of hyper-universal experiences related to big bodies,” she says. Fatphobia, discrimination, it’s not fun, but being fat, it’s not serious. I think laughing about it can kind of bring that too. »

Julie Artacho willingly accepted the challenge of stand-up. Militant messages, she says, go much better when there is humor. She seems comfortable doing it. “I think we all have a sense of self-mockery that we’ve developed to protect ourselves. Her issue, she explains, will be about accessibility. Accessibility in transport (“for me, traveling is super terrifying”, accessibility in sports (“there is no machine suitable for doing sports and there are always limits of weight ! “).

Josiane Aubuchon, for her part, will address the fatphobia she experienced in a medical setting. When a doctor officially declared her morbidly obese, it opened a Pandora’s box in her home. “I said to myself, come on, morbidly obese, I am active! There would be no way to change the words and call it, I know don’t know me, chubby or jigglypuff? “, asks Josiane Aubuchon, triggering the laughter of the other girls.

Marie-Hélène Racine-Lacroix will speak for her part of the “nonsense” she heard when she was dating men, but she would also have a lot to say on the medical side. “A doctor has already taken my pressure several times because he did not believe that I had a good pressure”, she says.

“It concerns everyone”

This will be the seventh and eighth performances of the show F*ck your grossophobia. The first took place last summer, at the Minifest. And each time, say the artists, a beautiful bond is formed between the comedians and the public, already aware of the codes. Julie Artacho, who was part of the public last year, confirms this. “It’s fun to hear about our reality from people who really live it, and not from people who imagine it in some kind of grotesque fantasy. »

That said, the trio insists, the show is open to everyone, it’s “mega-inclusive,” and there’s nothing preachy about it. In the description, viewers are even invited to “bring [leurs] thin friends”.

“I like to say that, even if we wanted to prevent the thin ones from coming, they are so thin that they could sneak in anyway! laughs Marie-Hélène Racine-Lacroix.

And fatphobia concerns everyone, says Julie Artacho, who points out that pretty much everyone is afraid of gaining weight.

“It’s above all a fun comedy show, a funny show, which can do good to everyone,” concludes Marie-Hélène Racine-Lacroix.

the cabaret F*ck your grossophobia will be presented July 14 at 10:15 p.m. and July 16 at 5:30 p.m. at the Sainte-Catherine Theater.