New animated short film reveals the anxiety and stigma of 'flying while fat'

In tiny airplane cabins, pressure mounts -- especially for plus-size travelers entering an aircraft that wasn't designed with them in mind.

To bring attention to the discrimination and stress plus-size people face when flying, London-based activist and artist Stacy Bias has created a new animated short film called Flying While Fat. She hopes to start a conversation about acceptance and inclusion of plus-size travelers.

Bias tells Mashable she created the animated short to amplify the often silenced voices of fat airline passengers, giving them the chance to unpack the challenges of fitting into spaces that physically exclude them.

The animated film is based off intensive research Bias undertook in her final year at the University of London, where she surveyed 795 people and conducted 28 in-depth interviews on the experience of flying while fat.

The animation debuted at the Deaf and Disability Arts Festival on Nov. 19, and was later a part of an exhibit at the Bluecoat Center for Contemporary Arts and the Tate Gallery. It was released online on Dec. 4.

Bias was inspired to conduct the research -- and create the film -- after she entered a long-distance relationship that required international flights from the U.S. to the UK. Bias, who weighs more than 300 pounds, was suddenly faced with the requirement of travel for love -- which, she admits, was potentially a deal breaker.

"The idea of frequent, solo international travel was pretty terrifying and, quite honestly, a factor in deciding whether or not I could actually commit to giving this relationship a try," Bias tells Mashable. "My concern was partly financial but, even more so, it was anxiety about not fitting and physical pain and facing hostile interactions with fellow passengers."

And she had plenty of reason to worry, given the realities of size discrimination on land. But the treatment of plus-size passengers is often an especially contentious issue, Bias says, with many passengers wrongfully labeling being fat as a choice.

Fat flyers, then, are often seen as rude or careless for merely existing on a plane.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

In the film, one plus-size woman interviewed by Bias said her love of flying has often been challenged by her fear of traveling with unaccepting passengers.

"[Other passengers] don't have to think about their space, and how much or little they are taking up," the woman says in the video. "I am always trying not to burden someone else with my body."

Several women also talked about the role of armrests as painful barriers, which fellow passengers regularly slam into their bodies to "reclaim" their space. They described the struggle to become as small as possible, leaning uncomfortably into aisles or windows to give others more space -- a type of "apology" for their body.

"For the most part, my tactic is to hug myself, squeeze into the window, stare out the whole flight and just sort of disappear," one woman says in the video.

According to the testimonies in the video, this disappearing act is often done for preservation of physical and mental safety.

"It's not just for your benefit as the person sitting next to us, but it's for our safety because we don't want to be abused," one woman says in the video. "We just want to get from Point A to Point B without physical pain or being harassed."

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Both Bias and the women featured in the video believe this reaction to plus-size passengers boils down to ideas of fairness. On small airplanes, people often have preconceived ideas of how much space they're owed -- and how much space they paid for. The idea of someone else existing in that prepaid space -- even if they have no choice due to their body size -- is enough to make some lash out.

"There are some hardwired ideas in our brain about what's fair," one woman says in the short film. "When there's a small place and everyone has decided what piece they should have, and they look over and they see someone who is so much bigger than them and has no choice to take more than their fair share ... the disdain for size is amplified pretty dramatically."

Bias hopes the animation -- and the research behind it -- will lead to expanded protections for plus-size passengers. But, perhaps more importantly, Bias hopes the animation will help shift a hostile travel culture into one of respect.

"I hope fat folks will feel seen and heard and held and validated," Bias says. "I hope that this animation will help folks who have negative opinions of fat passengers ... to simply acknowledge the humanity of the next person they are beside on a plane -- no matter who they are."