Be an Organizer!

We are excited that folks want to organize Chunky Dunks in their own cities, states and countries!

We’re totally happy for you to use the name Chunky Dunk for your body-positive swim. It is our sincere hope that you will also incorporate our learned-from-experience guidelines. We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what the Chunky Dunk is and should be, its mission and its politics, and we hope you’ll share our vision and commitment.

Also, do let us know if you’ve started one so that we can help promote your work!

Resources: Please check out our Organizer Resources page where we’ve laid out all we’ve learned in the last decade! We can’t offer you much direct help. You’ll know better than we will what pool spaces are appropriate and accessible in your area. What we can do is answer any questions you may have to the best of our ability and also include your event pages and organiser bios here on this website so that folks can find you when they’re looking for dunks in their area.

Guidelines

The Chunky Dunk is dedicated to being a safer, intersectional space. We seek to center the most marginalised members of our collective communities. We also function under a harm reduction philosophy — realizing that there is no true way to guarantee the emotional or physical safety of everyone in attendance — but that by providing a focused, intentional space where the natural diversity of human bodies is respected and revered, we can create a safer and more joyful space than most. In order to do this, our events require:

1) An accessible venue. Where possible, we ask that you book a pool with an accessibility lift. If this is not possible, we ask that you choose a pool with a sloping entrance and a wide stairway. We highly recommend visiting the pool *before* booking an event to verify the accessibility of the entrance to the venue, changing areas, toilets and the entrance to the pool itself are appropriately accessible for all members of the community.

2) An intersectional approach. If you’re not sure what intersectionality is, here is an explanation from Kimberle Crenshaw, the originator of the term. And here is an animation that explains it as well. Creating an event like the Chunky Dunk is about making space for marginalised people to more safely inhabit their bodies in joyful ways. To do this well, fatness can’t be the only thing we make space for. Read more about how to accomplish this in the Organizer Resources.

3) An informed staff. We ask that each organizer consult with the pool managers in advance of the event to inform them of the nature and intention of the event and to ask them to ensure that their on-duty staff be mindful and respectful of those in attendance.

4) An all-inclusive event. Chunky Dunk events are all-inclusive of race, gender, age (children must be supervised by parents or guardians at all times), sexuality, size, ability and class.

5) No one turned away for lack of funds. Chunky Dunk encourages (but does not require) sliding scale events. If you choose to have a non-sliding-scale event, we do ask that you not turn away folks from the door if they are under-funded. This needn’t be advertised, but must be offered in practice.

6) Positive language in promotion. Recognizing that each city is different and different language will be more appealing to different folks, we do not have a standardized event description. We do ask, however, that your announcements not use negative or exclusionary language (e.g. “no skinny bitches” would be a good example of what not to say.)

7) No Press at the actual event Your local media may be very interested in what you’re doing. Fat and body-positive events are not yet commonplace, so they might deem you newsworthy. This is a risky venture before the event, and even more so during. To protect the privacy and safety of your attendees, inviting press to the actual event itself is a definite no. No filming or photography is allowed at the ChunkyDunks unless it is done by the organizer and only then with the permission of each person that is being filmed or photographed. (Note: BE VIGILANT about this. Press have come undercover into our events in the past and filmed without consent.)

8) Make Everyone Welcome! If you see someone looking isolated or uncomfortable, do what you can to reach out and include them. Chunky Dunks are basically like aquatic club nights and the same social dynamics of cliquishness can apply — but it’s way more awkward when you’re half-naked and have to swim away when the conversation stops. As organizers, it’s important to provide opportunities for everyone to be involved in some fashion. Set up pool games like water volleyball or other silly toys! Have cannonball competitions! Look out for each other!

9) Organisers do not profit from events! In the case that funds above and beyond the cost of the pool rental are raised, we ask that all organisers roll those additional funds into making future dunks more affordable for attendees. Any organiser seeking to profit from a Chunky Dunk event will be asked to cease using the Chunky Dunk name and be excluded from the website.

Made it through all that and still interested? Drop us a line!