The show made me feel empowered (Picture: John Nacion/WireImage)

When Mavis Beaumont, the plus-sized main character of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest, sat on top of her lover as the pair had sex for the first time, I almost cheered out loud.

In one fell swoop, actor Michelle Buteau, who is also the co-creator of the TV show, based on her autobiographical collection of essays with the same name, proves that fat people having sex on screen is not just something we need to see more of – but they’re seriously hot.

As a woman who has struggled with her own weight and body image for years, this show hit me right in the gut, but we’ll get to that.

Firstly, if you haven’t watched the series yet, here’s a quick recap (yes, this is your spoiler alert).

In the first instalment, Mavis, a stylist assistant – who often works with her ‘hot photographer’ boyfriend – catches him having sex in their bed with a ‘skinny model version’ of herself.

The next seven episodes are a whirlwind of hilarious and heartwarming scenes as she finds her way in life as a single Black woman at 38.

While Survival of the Thickest might be disguised as a classic rom-com, this is actually a powerful love letter to curvy, fat, thick (gorgeous) people everywhere.

This theme begins with a pivotal moment just seven minutes in, as a heartbroken Mavis prepares to move out of the flat she shares with her now-ex.

Talking about being cheated on as a bigger woman, she tells her best friend Khalil (played by the brilliant Tone Bell), ‘you know what people say… if someone cheats on someone like me – a thick girl with problem areas – they’re like “oh yeah, I get it”.’

I’m slowly coming to accept that my body is fantastic, but that it’s also okay if I don’t feel that way every day (Picture: Almara Abgarian)

Khalil immediately sets her straight, telling her not to ‘breathe life into that silly-ass narrative’. 

We should all have a friend like this. This is just one of many great scenes that tackle how plus-sized people are treated and viewed differently in society. 

I grew up in a small town at a time when the body positivity movement didn’t exist. Cooking and eating was (and still is) a huge part of my Armenian culture, and I was definitely on the rounder side as a kid.

This didn’t really faze me until I started school and became the ‘chubby’ girl, a label that had a dire effect on my confidence and took me decades to let go of. Meanwhile, everyone on TV, in movies and in magazines looked more like my slender, blonde classmates. 

This is a great step towards what the future of film and TV should look like – and it could make a huge difference to how women view themselves

As an adult, I felt more settled in my body and ignored negative comments from other people. But when I gained a bit of weight in my early 20s, it began to affect how I felt about myself – particularly when naked or during sex. I became too busy worrying about my curves to enjoy myself.

As a size 14 at the time – below the average dress size in the UK of 16 – I thought I was fat. So I signed up to a weight loss programme and within four months, I had lost four stone. I didn’t do an ounce of exercise but everyone praised my ‘new look’. 

There is nothing wrong with wanting to change your body but it is only now, aged 34, that I can see (and know) just how unhealthy it is to lose weight this way. How I wish someone had told me that you can be sexy at any size, including in the bedroom. 

That’s why Survival of the Thickest feels so monumental.

Later, when Mavis meets her main love interest, Luca (Marouane Zotti) – who is undeniably hot and has a fit, toned body – we are presented with another potentially fatphobic scenario: a larger woman dating a man considered more attractive than her by traditional beauty standards.

So-called ‘mixed weight’ couples can get a lot of flack in real life and online. But Survival of the Thickest gives a subtle middle finger to the ‘plus-sized people should only date plus-sized people’ trope, and presents us with the truth: that a body is just a body. 

Then we see Mavis in the aforementioned sex scene with Luca, tangled up in the sheets together as he lovingly squeezes her curvy body, showing the world that being sexy has nothing to do with the number on a scale. 

As someone who has struggled in the past with men touching my ‘softer’ bits in bed – like when we’re cuddling and my stomach gets a little jiggly – this was beautiful to see. 

Survival of the Thickest is not just empowering because it proudly presents plus-sized women as sexual and sexy. Beauty also lies in the fact that the show accepts and promotes all bodies, ages and sexualities. 

It is important to acknowledge that the series also centres heavily on what it means to live in society – including tackling beauty standards – as a Black person, which is a consistent message throughout.

It will take a long time to reverse the body image ideals of the past. It’s still rare to see a plus-sized woman in a lead role, even more so without a ‘makeover’ storyline. But this is a great step towards what the future of film and TV should look like – and it could make a huge difference to how women view themselves.

Speaking just for myself, the show made me feel empowered. 

Now I’m in my 30s, I’m slowly coming to accept that my body is fantastic, but that it’s also okay if I don’t feel that way every day. If negative thoughts creep in and I feel like that young, ‘chubby’ girl again, I’ll do like Khalil suggested and shut down that narrative.

I’ll remind myself of Buteau and her feminist, body-positive masterpiece. I only have one teeny, tiny suggestion for her: give me more of it.

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It proudly presents plus-sized women as sexual and sexy.