Deborah Lupton, Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney

WHY ARE FAT BODIES SO STIGMATISED?

MY BOOK ‘FAT’ (2012, ROUTLEDGE, LONDON)

MY BOOK ‘FOOD, THE BODY AND THE SELF’ (1996, SAGE, LONDON)

more likely to live in povertyearn less incomebe unemployedhave lower education levelsbe employed in lower status occupationsexperience lower living standards

FAT PEOPLE: SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS

Fat children are more likely to experience bullying, ostracism and teasing at school

Fat people often avoid visiting their doctor because of concern about negative judgements

Fat people receive less respect from shop assistants and health care providers

Fat people are subject to humiliating comments from friends, family members and strangers

DISCRIMINATION IN SOCIAL SETTINGS

In contemporary western societies, fatness is associated with:

lazinessgreed lack of self-discipline and self-control ‘letting yourself go’not caring about physical appearance or healthshame Inevitable disease and early death

FAT STIGMA

The news media (the ‘obesity epidemic’)Public health campaignsReality televisionTelevision drama and comedyAds for weight-loss products or unrelated productsWeight-loss blogs and websitesSchool-based health education programs

NEGATIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF FAT PEOPLE ARE EVERYWHERE

EXTREMES OF EMBODIMENT

THE ARCHETYPAL FAT BODY WITH HEAD CROPPED OFF

THE FAT BODY AS GROTESQUE

FEELING LIKE AN OUTSIDER BECAUSE OF ONE’S FAT BODY

THE FAT BODY AS TOXIC

THE PUBLIC HUMILIATION OF FAT PEOPLE

FAT FLESH AS EXCESSIVE

FAT PEOPLE AS EMOTIONAL, EATING FOR GREED OR COMFORT

THE BIGGEST LOSER: FAT PEOPLE AS ‘LOSERS’, FREAKS ON DISPLAY

FAT MAN AS FREAK IN SIDE-SHOW

Judeo-Christian ideals: body size as demonstrating spirituality and piousness

The flesh as weak: the need to overcome temptation and master the body

Valorising self-control over one’s body and one’s physical urges

The conflation of health with beauty and with goodness: the food/health/beauty triplex

CULTURAL CONCEPTS GIVING MEANING TO FATNESS

The label of ‘obesity’ represents fatness as equivalent to disease and pathology

Negative moral meanings of disease and illnessDisease is stigmatised: lack of control over the body,

link with death, imperfection

THE CONFLATION OF FATNESS WITH DISEASE

Fatness is linked to emotionality, lack of self-control, fleshiness, irrationality

All of which are often represented as more typically ‘feminine’ than ‘masculine’ qualities

Fat activism a predominantly female-dominated movement

Fat men as experiencing ‘spoilt masculinity’

FATNESS AND FEMININITY

FAT ACTIVISM: FIGHTING AGAINST NEGATIVE REPRESENTATIONS

THE ADIPOSITIVITY PROJECT

FAT PEOPLE AS ACTIVE AND FIT

THE EROTIC FAT BODY

BETH DITTO

HEALTH AT EVERY SIZE

Email: deborah.lupton@gmail.comTwitter: @DALupton Blog: http://simplysociology.wordpress.com

Pinterest board ‘Fat Culture’: http://pinterest.com/dalupton/fat-culture

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