I’m Carly and I’ve spent 32 years learning how to exist in a body that society has strong opinions about. I’m obese. Not the kind of chubby that gets cutesy nicknames in romance novels. I’m the kind of fat where strangers feel entitled to comment on my grocery cart contents. The kind where I’ve mastered the art of making myself smaller in public spaces, even when it’s physically impossible.
Which is why I always buy two airplane seats when I travel alone.