Frequently Asked Questions

May I repost or share your content?

Absolutely! Just make sure to credit me by name with a link back to the original source. If you can’t find the source for whatever reason (the internet is weird!), feel free to link back to this website.

How can I support your work?

If you find my work compelling or useful, please share it and let me know you like it! It helps to know that my effort is appreciated and I’m always looking for ways to better understand my impact. If you’d like to financially support my work, feel free to use my ko-fi, venmo (@marquisele), or CashApp ($marquisele). Subscribers to my Patreon are most helpful in funding this work and mutual aid agreements to marginalized folks in need of funds.

I messaged you—when can I expect a response?

I try to get back to all messages that need a response within a week. But as my visibility increases, I am receiving more correspondence from people who have been exposed to my work and it can be overwhelming! Sorry if I mistakenly leave you hanging.

I’ve seen you go by “Mikey” as well as “Marquisele Mercedes”. Which do you prefer?

For written things/bylines/publications, I use my full name (Marquisele Mercedes). But Mikey is a childhood nickname that I’ve always gone by and I’m pretty fond of it. If you correspond or interact with me at all, feel free to call me Mikey—most people do!

I’m a journalist who would like to speak to you about a weight-related article I’m working on. How can I go about doing that? What should I know?

Feel free to send a message through this website and we can schedule a meeting. Just so you know, though, I’m not a “body positivity” advocate or part of the Health At Every Size movement. I am a fat educator, writer, and expert in weight stigma, race/ism, and critical public health studies.

There are many differences and points of tension among those who challenge weight- or health-centrism in society. You do not have to understand these nuances, but you do have to understand that mainstream body positivity and fat liberation, for example, are very different angles if you would like to accurately cite and appropriately respect those you interview, including myself.