San Francisco’s new “fat positivity” expert, hired to fight weight stigma in the city, is causing a stir before she even sinks her teeth into the job.
A recently resurfaced clip of Virgie Tovar, who describes herself as a “leading expert on weight-based discrimination and body positivity,” shows her talking about how cutting back on cake is a form of oppression.
In the video, titled ‘No, I won’t cut you a piece of cake smaller’, the 42-year-old plus-size woman criticizes people who ‘ruin everything’ by ordering less cake while attending events.
He then coins this phenomenon as “Cake-Related Fatphobic Incident (CRFI).”
Explaining what this concept means, he tells viewers: “A cake-related fatphobic incident or CRFI is that moment when the time comes to eat a delicious cake and it is interrupted by a moralizing impulse.
“Inevitably, there is always someone at the party who has to publicly declare that their slice is too big and that the person cutting the cake (almost invariably a woman) must do a disproportionate amount of work to satisfy their need to feel superior. ‘
The video, from 2018, shows three actresses playing a CRFI.
One woman says, while playing the “annoying” party-goer role established by Ms. Tovar: “Can you make some (of cake)… like, say, scrape off all the frosting and cut it in half?” and Give me two forks, because I’m sharing.’
A recently resurfaced clip of Virgie Tovar shows her talking about how pie cutting is a form of oppression.
Another woman appears, echoing similar demands and constantly changing the size of her slice of pie to make it smaller.
The third goes further and complains on camera: “Could you just cut my piece into 12 equal symmetrical pieces and put each in a little Tupperware, so I can have a bite each month of 2018? Thank you!”
Ms. Tovar then continues her monologue about CRFI.
She says: ‘Let’s take a step back and look at what’s happening through a critical feminist lens.
‘CRFIs usually occur in environments where there are mainly or exclusively women.
‘Women are disproportionately and negatively affected by diet culture because diet culture is associated with sexism like many parts of diet culture.
‘There is an important performance component that you have to show others that you are being good.
‘Controlling how much you eat is part of what it means to be a “good woman.”
“This type of behavior is a way for people to keep other people in check through food moralizing, vigilance, and surveillance.”
In the video, titled “No, I won’t cut you a smaller piece of cake,” Ms. Tovar criticizes women who “ruin everything” by ordering less cake while attending events. stock image
Virgie Tovar, a self-described “anti-weight discrimination,” announced her appointment to work with the San Francisco Department of Public Health on her Instagram, calling it “an absolute dream come true.”
He continues: ‘These are the mechanisms that are at the center of diet culture and weight control. The idea that you can position yourself as superior to others through self-control in self-denial is super sexist.
“CRFI has a history of creating a hierarchy among women and ultimately maintaining misogynistic expectations.”
The video was shared on Ms. Tovar’s Facebook page in 2018, but the link no longer works. It was shared this week on End of awakening’ account.
In a caption accompanying the YouTube clip, Ms. Tovar wrote: “Statistics indicate that 104 percent of women will experience a cake-related fatphobic incident (CRFI) before the end of 2018.”
While the clip is no longer on Ms. Tovar’s page, it has recently circulated on social media, with many commenters outraged by its “huge push for acceptance.”
@EndWokeness posted the video on X, with the title: “San Francisco weight czar Virgie Tovar explains why eating less cake is oppression.”
This week it was announced that the San Francisco Department of Public Health had hired Ms. Tovar as a consultant on “weight stigma and weight neutrality” even though the city is in the midst of a battle against homelessness rampant violence, open drug use and violent crime.
Announcing his appointment on his Instagram, he called it “an absolute dream come true.”
‘I am incredibly proud to serve in this way the city I have called home for almost 20 years!’ Mrs. Tovar wrote.
“This consultancy is an absolute dream come true, and my greatest hope and belief is that weight neutrality will be the future of public health.”
Critics argue that San Francisco has much bigger problems to deal with than how people feel about their weight.
As the city struggles to deal with homelessness, drug addiction and public safety issues, prioritizing a weight stigma consultant seems tone-deaf, they argue.
‘Is this real?’ Elon Musk tweeted upon hearing the news, believing it could be satire.
‘So the goal is not to solve any problems. Just to make people feel better about having them,” one user surmised.
“San Francisco is only making its problems worse,” added another.
Ms. Tovar is a prominent advocate for “fat positivity” and body acceptance.
In another Instagram post, she held up a sign that read, “I don’t want Ozempic,” explaining that she didn’t want to take the medication because it wouldn’t address “weight bias.”
‘You have the right to stay fat, but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy!’ joked a fourth.
Supporters see the measure as typical of a progressive policy that emphasizes the importance of addressing weight-based discrimination as part of broader public health goals.
Mrs. Tovar, author of a book titled You have the right to stay fatpositions itself as a leading voice against weight-based discrimination.
Her website describes her as a “Latina plus-size body positivity author, speaker, and expert with over a decade of experience.”
She has managed to build a career as an outspoken advocate for diet culture and traditional health metrics like body mass index, or BMI.
Her published works and social media presence often criticize society’s beauty standards and “fatphobia.”
In an online video, she reflected on her own struggles with “eating disorders” and described how medical professionals pressured her to lose weight from a young age.
“I really believed it was about my health,” he said. “I really believed my doctor was right, and that’s why he was using the language of ‘getting better,’ but in reality I was deep in anorexia.”
Ms. Tovar has been vocal on social media about reshaping workplace conversations about food and body image.
In another Instagram post, she held up a sign that read, “I don’t want Ozempic,” explaining that she didn’t want to take the medication because it wouldn’t address “weight bias.”
While Ms. Tovar’s consulting role is official, the details remain murky and the San Francisco Department of Public Health has not yet revealed the specific nature of her responsibilities or how much she is paid.
The department also has not specified how its consulting will impact its programs or how success will be measured.