GO BIG or GO HOME

I’m guilty of writing about plus-sized tramping gear while being a very much non-plus-sized size 12. Sometimes a size 10, sometimes a size 14. I went through a phase in my 30s where I was ‘overweight’ by BMI standards when I woke up in the morning but, due to that day’s weight gain, I was considered clinically ‘obese’ by the time I went to bed that night.

Fat is a feminist issue, and weight can be political. But slowly, marketers are cottoning on to the idea that big people tramp, too, and that not everyone who’s climbing hills is a size 8, white, straight, cisgender person with blonde hair and a bangin’ Instagram feed. Social media would have you think differently; follow enough Insta accounts about hiking and you’d not be blamed for thinking that everyone in the wilderness is thin, lithe and tanned, with the latest (fashionable, expensive) brands.

And yes, sorry, I’m going to employ the term ‘plus-sized’ while fully recognising that it eschews inclusivity. It creates a divide, saying ‘this is normal’ and ‘this is not’, which is