Definitions & Key Terms
Body Image: Body image refers to the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that a person has in relation to their own body. Its primary use is in relation to the perceived esthetics of the body, rather than its functionality. Although body image includes non‐evaluative beliefs about one's body, it is most commonly used to indicate satisfaction with the body, differentiating between people with “good” and “poor” body image. Extremely poor body image is the major criterion for the clinical diagnosis of body dysmorphic disorder. The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality
Body Positivity: Body positivity is a movement to accept bodies of all sizes and types, rather than those that conform to societal ideals of beauty. It emphasizes self-acceptance, inner worth, and appreciation for a body’s abilities. Psychology Today
Fatphobia: Also known as anti-fat, is the implicit and explicit bias of overweight individuals that is rooted in a sense of blame and presumed moral failing. Being overweight and/or fat is highly stigmatized in Western Culture. Anti-fatness is intrinsically linked to anti-blackness, racism, classism, misogyny, and many other systems of oppression. Boston Medical Center Glossary for Culture Transformation
Fat Acceptance: The fat acceptance movement promotes the equality of fat people in society. The movement embraces fat people, draws awareness to size discrimination, and fights to eliminate it. Psychology Today
Sizism: Discrimination on the basis of a person's size, esp against people considered to be overweight Collins English Dictionary
Sizism & Fatphobia
#veryfat #verybrave by
The actress, comedian, and podcaster extraordinaire's guide to being a #brave, bikini-wearing badass. If you've ever seen a fat person post a bikini shot on social media, you already know that they are #verybrave, because apparently existing in a fat body in public is #brave. I, Nicole Byer, wrote this book to 1. share my impressive bikini collection and my hot body with the world and 2. help other people feel #brave by embracing their body as it is. In this book, I share my journey to becoming #brave, give you my hot tips and tricks--on how to find the perfect bikini, how to find your own #bravery, and how to handle haters--and serve you over 100 bikini looks.
ISBN: 9781524850746Publication Date: 2020-06-02
The Adonis Complex by
A HEALTH CRISIS THAT STRIKES MEN OF ALL AGES Trying everything from compulsive weight lifting to steroids, more and more boys and men are taking the quest for physical perfection beyond the bounds of normal behavior. "The Adonis Complex" -- the groundbreaking book that first gave a name to this phenomenon and sparked nationwide interest in the subject -- identifies for the first time the symptoms and warning signs of this dangerous problem, including: An obsession with exercise, sometimes to the exclusion of all other activities Binge eating, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia The abuse of steroids, muscle-building supplements, and diet aids But perhaps more important, it offers readers an explanation of the underlying causes of the Adonis complex, together with hands-on advice for those who have experienced body obsessions themselves, or who see these problems in a boy or man they love.
ISBN: 0684869101Publication Date: 2000-05-18
Beauty Sick by
"[Beauty Sick] will blow the top off the body image movement...provocative and necessary." -- Rebellious Magazine An award-winning psychology professor reveals how the cultural obsession with women's appearance is an epidemic that harms women's ability to get ahead and to live happy, meaningful lives, in this powerful, eye-opening work in the vein of Peggy Orenstein and Sheryl Sandberg. Today's young women face a bewildering set of contradictions when it comes to beauty. They don't want to be Barbie dolls but, like generations of women before them, are told they must look like them. They're angry about the media's treatment of women but hungrily consume the outlets that belittle them. They mock modern culture's absurd beauty ideal and make videos exposing Photoshopping tricks, but feel pressured to emulate the same images they criticize by posing with a "skinny arm." They understand that what they see isn't real but still download apps to airbrush their selfies. Yet these same young women are fierce fighters for the issues they care about. They are ready to fight back against their beauty-sick culture and create a different world for themselves, but they need a way forward. In Beauty Sick, Dr. Renee Engeln, whose TEDx talk on beauty sickness has received more than 250,000 views, reveals the shocking consequences of our obsession with girls' appearance on their emotional and physical health and their wallets and ambitions, including depression, eating disorders, disruptions in cognitive processing, and lost money and time. Combining scientific studies with the voices of real women of all ages, she makes clear that to truly fulfill their potential, we must break free from cultural forces that feed destructive desires, attitudes, and words--from fat-shaming to denigrating commentary about other women. She provides inspiration and workable solutions to help girls and women overcome negative attitudes and embrace their whole selves, to transform their lives, claim the futures they deserve, and, ultimately, change their world.
ISBN: 9780062469779Publication Date: 2017-04-18
Beyond Beautiful by
Between picture-perfect Instagram celebrities, ultra-lean fitness gurus, and effortlessly chic fashion influencers, it's getting harder and harder to feel good about the way we look. Despite the growing movement toward female empowerment and body positivity, the pressure for women to conform to beauty standards is higher than ever, and the culture of social media has raised the bar. But it's not too late to break the looks-obsessed cycle and live a happy, confident, authentic life. Beyond Beautiful is a no-fuss, psychology-backed guide to help women develop a healthy attitude toward their bodies, looks, clothing, health, and aging. Filled with proven strategies for proactive self-care, this stylish and essential guide provides sage answers to tricky questions like- * Why do I hate the way I look in pictures? * How can I stop comparing myself to all those beautiful people on social media? * Would I be happier if I lost weight? * Why is everyone else so stylish? Illustrated with full-color spot art, Beyond Beautiful is a much-needed breath of fresh air that will enhance your confidence and joy, and help you live your best life.
ISBN: 9780399582097Publication Date: 2019-05-14
Body Battlegrounds by
Body Battlegrounds explores the rich and complex lives of society''s body outlaws--individuals from myriad social locations who oppose hegemonic norms, customs, and conventions about the body. Original research chapters (based on textual analysis, qualitative interviews, and participant observation) along with personal narratives provide a window into the everyday lives of people rewriting the norms of embodiment in sites like schools, sporting events, and doctors'' offices. Table of Contents Introduction | Chris Bobel and Samantha Kwan Part I: Going "Natural" * Body Hair Battlegrounds: The Consequences, Reverberations, and Promises of Women Growing Their Leg, Pubic, and Underarm Hair | Breanne Fahs * Radical Doulas, Childbirth Activism, and the Politics of Embodiment | Monica Basile * Caring for the Corpse: Embodied Transgression and Transformation in Home Funeral Advocacy | Anne Esacove Living Resistance: * Deconstructing Reconstructing: Challenging Medical Advice Following Mastectomy | Joanna Rankin * My Ten-Year Dreadlock Journey: Why I Love the "Kink" in My Hair . . . Today | Cheryl Thompson * Living My Full Life: My Rejecting Weight Loss as an Imperative for Recovery from Binge Eating Disorder | Christina Fisanick * Pretty Brown: Encounters with My Skin Color | Praveena Lakshmanan Part II: Representing Resistance * Blood as Resistance: Photography as Contemporary Menstrual Activism | Shayda Kafai * Am I Pretty Enough for You Yet?: Resistance through Parody in the Pretty or Ugly YouTube Trend | Katherine Phelps * The Infidel in the Mirror: Mormon Women''s Oppositional Embodiment | Kelly Grove and Doug Schrock Living Resistance: * A Cystor''s Story: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and the Disruption of Normative Femininity | Ledah McKellar * Old Bags Take a Stand: A Face Off with Ageism in America | Faith Baum and Lori Petchers * Making Up with My Body: Applying Cosmetics to Resist Disembodiment | Haley Gentile * I Am a Person Now: Autism, Indistinguishability, and (Non)optimal Outcome | Alyssa Hillary Part III: Creating Community, Disrupting Assumptions * Yelling and Pushing on the Bus: The Complexity of Black Girls'' Resistance | Stephanie D. Sears and Maxine Leeds Craig * Big Gay Men''s Performative Protest Against Body Shaming: The Case of Girth and Mirth | Jason Whitesel * "What''s Love Got to Do with It?": The Embodied Activism of Domestic Violence Survivors on Welfare | Sheila M. Katz Living Resistance: * "Your Signing Is So Beautiful!": The Radical Invisibility of ASL Interpreters in Public | Rachel Kolb * Two Shakes | Rev. Adam Lawrence Dyer * "Showing Our Muslim": Embracing the Hijab in the Era of Paradox | Sara Rehman * "Doing Out": A Black Dandy Defies Gender Norms in the Bronx | Mark Broomfield * Everybody: Making Fat Radio for All of Us | Cat Pausé Part IV: Transforming Institutions and Ideologies * Embodying Nonexistence: Encountering Mono- and Cisnormativities in Everyday Life | J. E. Sumerau * Freeing the Nipple: Encoding the Heterosexual Male Gaze into Law | J. Shoshanna Ehrlich * Give Us a Twirl: Male Baton Twirlers'' Embodied Resistance in a Feminized Terrain | Trenton M. Haltom * "That Gentle Somebody": Rethinking Black Female Same-Sex Practices and Heteronormativity in Contemporary South Africa | Taylor Riley Living Resistance:
ISBN: 9780826522344Publication Date: 2019-05-28
The Body Is Not an Apology by
"To build a world that works for everyone, we must first make the radical decision to love every facet of ourselves...'The body is not an apology' is the mantra we should all embrace." --Kimberlé Crenshaw, legal scholar and founder and Executive Director, African American Policy Forum "Taylor invites us to break up with shame, to deepen our literacy, and to liberate our practice of celebrating every body and never apologizing for this body that is mine and takes care of me so well." --Alicia Garza, cocreator of the Black Lives Matter Global Network and Strategy + Partnerships Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance "Her manifesto on radical self-love is life altering--required reading for anyone who struggles with body image." --Claire Foster, Foreword Review Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. Systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies. The Body Is Not an Apology offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted by these violent systems. World-renowned activist and poet Sonya Renee Taylor invites us to reconnect with the radical origins of our minds and bodies and celebrate our collective, enduring strength. As we awaken to our own indoctrinated body shame, we feel inspired to awaken others and to interrupt the systems that perpetuate body shame and oppression against all bodies. When we act from this truth on a global scale, we usher in the transformative opportunity of radical self-love, which is the opportunity for a more just, equitable, and compassionate world--for us all.
ISBN: 9781626569782Publication Date: 2018-02-13
The Body Liberation Project by
From author and wellness personality Chrissy King, an exciting, genre-redefining narrative mix of memoir, inspiration, and activities and prompts, with timely messages about social and racial justice and how the world needs to move beyond body positivity to something even more exciting and revolutionary- body liberation. When Chrissy King first joined a gym, she had one goal in mind- to "get skinny." In pursuit of this goal, she fell into the all-too-common cycle of "not enough-ness"; no matter what she achieved, there was always something she felt she needed to change about her body, her appearance, herself. This made her realize the most liberating truth of all- She was not the problem. Diet and fitness industries rooted in white supremacy were the problem; Eurocentric and carefully manufactured beauty standards were the problem; discourses telling her that her happiness was directly tied to her physical appearance were the problem. So she created an actionable method to redefine the relationship we have with our bodies, thereby achieving a sense of self-worth that is completely separate from how we look. The Body Liberation Project is about finding actualfreedom in our bodies by discovering strength and aspects of fitness, movement, and eating that work for YOU. It's about realizing that the goal is not to look at our bodies and love everything we see; it's to understand that at our essence we are so much more than our bodies. But it's also about recognizing the harsh realities that prohibit people in marginalized bodies from being able to do so. Society constantly bombards those who fall outside Eurocentric standards of beauty (think Black, fat, trans, etc.) with the message that they are less attractive, and part of the journey toward body liberation is examining your own privilege, acknowledging the harm you may be causing others, and mourning your old ideas about what a body "should" look like. Recognizing that none of us are free until all of us are, Chrissy King shares the wisdom, the tools, and the inspiration to motivate readers to find body liberation and, even more important, to pass it on.
ISBN: 9780593187043Publication Date: 2023-03-14
Body of Truth by
Over the past twenty-five years, our quest for thinness has morphed into a relentless obsession with weight and body image. In our culture, "fat" has become a four-letter word. Or, as Lance Armstrong said to the wife of a former teammate, "I called you crazy. I called you a bitch. But I never called you fat." How did we get to this place where the worst insult you can hurl at someone is "fat"? Where women and girls (and increasingly men and boys) will diet, purge, overeat, undereat, and berate themselves and others, all in the name of being thin? As a science journalist, Harriet Brown has explored this collective longing and fixation from an objective perspective; as a mother, wife, and woman with "weight issues," she has struggled to understand it on a personal level. Now, in Body of Truth, Brown systematically unpacks what's been offered as "truth" about weight and health. Starting with the four biggest lies, Brown shows how research has been manipulated; how the medical profession is complicit in keeping us in the dark; how big pharma and big, empty promises equal big, big dollars; how much of what we know (or think we know) about health and weight is wrong. And how all of those affect all of us every day, whether we know it or not. The quest for health and wellness has never been more urgent, yet most of us continue to buy into fad diets and unattainable body ideals, unaware of the damage we're doing to ourselves. Through interviews, research, and her own experience, Brown not only gives us the real story on weight, health, and beauty, but also offers concrete suggestions for how each of us can sort through the lies and misconceptions and make peace with and for ourselves.
ISBN: 9780738217697Publication Date: 2015-03-24
Body Stories: in and Out and with and Through Fat by
Body stories capture a nuanced, interconnected, interactive, and complex telling of our understanding, perception, and experience of and through our bodies. Plenty has been published on body image but image suggests a static fixed body, unmitigated through our social interactions and varying times and spaces. This book is not a "how-to" guide for fat confidence. It's not a compendium of fat suffering. It's simply a collection of narratives about what it's like to survive in a weight-hating world. It resists the ways that marginalized bodies are being written and researched and put into other people's ideas about our existence. The stories in this book are celebratory and are painful. They look at intersections of race and queerness; they destabilize womanhood by presenting a range of possible female embodiments. They explore issues of disability and madness. The full range of possibilities that are collected here give a picture of what it means to live in a society with strong and powerful messages about size, about normalcy, about what a moral and healthy life and body look like. This book is a snapshot of its place and time, but these stories remind us that we're here to stay. The body stories will change but we will keep owning our own narratives. While story, especially written by women, is often seen as outside the academic canon, these stories, these creative offerings, are theory, are research, and are activism. They are nothing less than the blueprint for liberation. Writing about fat and about bodies outside of medicalized narratives, without ignoring the impact of race, sexuality, class, ability, gender, fashion, appearance, and beyond, is radical and rigorous. It is impossible to think about the future without wishing for liberation. Liberation can come in many forms. It can mean an awareness, the ability to confront. The stories in this book display the ways that liberation isn't a finish line or a thing we can complete--rather it is a million small actions and understandings in aid of a renewed and hopeful world.
ISBN: 9781772582543Publication Date: 2020-12-25
Body Talk by
Learn to love yourself and your body with this interactive guide from the "shame-free, fun, cheerful, and no-nonsense" (Bustle) body acceptance advocate and influencer who founded Megababe beauty. "Brilliant, hilarious, adorably illustrated."-Goop Can you imagine how much free time you'd have if you didn't spend so much of it body shaming yourself? Katie Sturino knows all too well what it's like to shit talk yourself. She spent thirty years of her life feeling ashamed of her body and its self-determined wrongness. Now she doesn't care what anyone thinks of her; she only cares that she's happy and comfortable with herself. Body positivity and size inclusivity is still a relatively new phenomenon, but Sturino has dedicated her life to unlearning all that beauty standard BS and uses her blog, Instagram, podcast, and non-toxic, solution-oriented beauty products to share the message that changed her life- YOUR BODY IS NOT THE PROBLEM. With Body Talk, an illustrated guide-meets-workbook, Sturino is here to help you stop obsessing about your body issues, focus on self-love, and free up space in your brain for creative and productive energy.Complete with empowering affirmations, relatable anecdotes, and actionable takeaways, as well as space to answer prompts and jot down feelings and inspirations, Body Talk encourages you to spend less time thinking about how you look and what you eat and more time discovering your inner fierceness.
ISBN: 9780593232125Publication Date: 2021-05-25
Embodied Resistance by
Embodied Resistance engages the rich and complex range of society's contemporary "body outlaws"--people from many social locations who violate norms about the private, the repellent, or the forbidden. This collection ventures beyond the conventional focus on the "disciplined body" and instead, examines conformity from the perspective of resisters. By balancing accessibly written original ethnographic research with personal narratives, Embodied Resistance provides a window into the everyday lives of those who defy or violate socially constructed body rules and conventions.
ISBN: 9780826517869Publication Date: 2011-09-16
Fat Activism (Second Edition) by
What is fat activism and why is it important? To answer this question, Charlotte Cooper presents an expansive grassroots study that traces the forty-year history of international fat activism and grounds its actions in their proper historical and geographical contexts. She details fat activist methods, analyzes existing literature in the field, challenges long-held assumptions that uphold systemic fatphobia, and makes clear how crucial feminism and queer theory are to the lifeblood of the movement. She also considers fat activism's proxy concerns, including body image, body positivity, the obesity epidemic, and fat stigma. Combining rigorous scholarship with personal, accessible writing, Fat Activism: A Radical Social Movement is not only an invaluable contribution to the burgeoning field of fat studies, but also a vehicle for much-needed social change.
ISBN: 9781910849309Publication Date: 2021-07-28
Fat Boys by
The fat man--a cultural icon, a social enigma, a pressing medical issue--is the subject of this remarkably rich book. The figures that Sander L. Gilman considers, from the ugly fat man with the beautiful sylph trapped inside to the smart fat boy to the aging body desirous of rejuvenation, appear and reappear in different guises throughout Western culture. And as is often true, such marginal cases help define the shifting center of our dreams and beliefs. An exploration into the world of male body fantasies, Gilman's book examines how the representation of the fat man alters with time and alters how men relate to their own bodies and the bodies of others, both male and female. His examples--ranging from Santa Claus to Sancho Panza, from Falstaff to Babe Ruth, from Nero Wolfe to Al Roker--illustrate the complexity perennially associated with fat men. From discourses about normality to the playing fields of baseball, from Greek male beauty to the fat detective, Gilman's book examines and illuminates how cultures have imagined and portrayed the fat boy.
ISBN: 0803221835Publication Date: 2004-03-01
Fat Gay Men by
To be fat in a thin-obsessed gay culture can be difficult. Despite affectionate in-group monikers for big gay men-chubs, bears, cubs-the anti-fat stigma that persists in American culture at large still haunts these individuals who often exist at the margins of gay communities. In Fat Gay Men, Jason Whitesel delves into the world of Girth & Mirth, a nationally known social club dedicated to big gay men, illuminating the ways in which these men form identities and community in the face of adversity. In existence for over forty years, the club has long been a refuge and 'safe space' for such men. Both a partial insider as a gay man and an outsider to Girth & Mirth, Whitesel offers an insider's critique of the gay movement, questioning whether the social consequences of the failure to be height-weight proportionate should be so extreme in the gay community. This book documents performances at club events and examines how participants use allusion and campy-queer behavior to reconfigure and reclaim their sullied body images, focusing on the numerous tensions of marginalization and dignity that big gay men experience and how they negotiate these tensions via their membership to a size-positive group. Based on ethnographic interviews and in-depth field notes from more than 100 events at bar nights, café klatches, restaurants, potlucks, holiday bashes, pool parties, movie nights, and weekend retreats, the book explores the woundedness that comes from being relegated to an inferior position in gay hierarchies, and yet celebrates how some gay men can reposition the shame of fat stigma through carnival, camp, and play. A compelling and rich narrative, Fat Gay Men provides a rare glimpse into an unexplored dimension of weight and body image in American culture.
ISBN: 9780814708385Publication Date: 2014-07-25
Fat Girls in Black Bodies by
Even if Black bodies were thin bodies, we'd still be considered ugly and unacceptable. Even if we were slender, we'd be criticized about our wide hips, noses, and lips. Our fatness exacerbates America's already anxious views against race and further demonizes our existence by relegating our roles in society. We're good enough to be mammies, but never to have a family of our own. We can work in the office, but never as the receptionist. We can be the girlfriend...in the dark...that no one sees. Ever. To live in a body at the intersection of fat, Black, and female is to be on the margins. From concern-trolling--"I just want you to be healthy"--to outright attacks, fat Black bodies that fall outside dominant constructs of beauty and wellness are subjected to healthism, racism, and misogynoir. The spaces carved out by third-wave feminism and the fat liberation movement fail at true inclusivity and intersectionality; fat Black women need to create their own safe spaces and community, instead of tirelessly giving labor to educate, chastise, and strive against dominant groups. Structured into three sections--"belonging," "resistance," and "acceptance"--and informed by personal history, community stories, and deep research, Fat Girls in Black Bodies breaks down the myths, stereotypes, tropes, and outright lies we've been sold about race, body size, belonging, and health. Cox's razor-sharp cultural commentary exposes the racist roots of diet culture, healthism, and the ways we erroneously conflate body size with personal responsibility. She explores how to reclaim space and create belonging in a hostile world, pushing back against tired pressures of "going along just to get along," and dismantles the institutionally ingrained myths about race, size, gender, and worth that deny fat Black women their selfhood.
ISBN: 1623174996Publication Date: 2020-09-29
Fat Shame by
One of Choice's Significant University Press Titles for Undergraduates, 2010-2011 A necessary cultural and historical discussion on the stigma of fatness To be fat hasn't always occasioned the level of hysteria that this condition receives today and indeed was once considered an admirable trait. Fat Shame: Stigma and the Fat Body in American Culture explores this arc, from veneration to shame, examining the historic roots of our contemporary anxiety about fatness. Tracing the cultural denigration of fatness to the mid 19th century, Amy Farrell argues that the stigma associated with a fat body preceded any health concerns about a large body size. Firmly in place by the time the diet industry began to flourish in the 1920s, the development of fat stigma was related not only to cultural anxieties that emerged during the modern period related to consumer excess, but, even more profoundly, to prevailing ideas about race, civilization and evolution. For 19th and early 20th century thinkers, fatness was a key marker of inferiority, of an uncivilized, barbaric, and primitive body. This idea--that fatness is a sign of a primitive person--endures today, fueling both our $60 billion "war on fat" and our cultural distress over the "obesity epidemic." Farrell draws on a wide array of sources, including political cartoons, popular literature, postcards, advertisements, and physicians' manuals, to explore the link between our historic denigration of fatness and our contemporary concern over obesity. Her work sheds particular light on feminisms' fraught relationship to fatness. From the white suffragists of the early 20th century to contemporary public figures like Oprah Winfrey, Monica Lewinsky, and even the Obama family, Farrell explores the ways that those who seek to shed stigmatized identities--whether of gender, race, ethnicity or class--often take part in weight reduction schemes and fat mockery in order to validate themselves as "civilized." In sharp contrast to these narratives of fat shame are the ideas of contemporary fat activists, whose articulation of a new vision of the body Farrell explores in depth. This book is significant for anyone concerned about the contemporary "war on fat" and the ways that notions of the "civilized body" continue to legitimate discrimination and cultural oppression.
ISBN: 9780814727683Publication Date: 2011-05-02
The Fat Studies Reader by
Winner of the 2010 Distinguished Publication Award from the Association for Women in Psychology Winner of the 2010 Susan Koppelman Award for the Best Edited Volume in Women's Studies from the Popular Culture Association A milestone anthology of fifty-three voices on the burgeoning scholarly movement--fat studies We have all seen the segments on television news shows: A fat person walking on the sidewalk, her face out of frame so she can't be identified, as some disconcerting findings about the "obesity epidemic" stalking the nation are read by a disembodied voice. And we have seen the movies--their obvious lack of large leading actors silently speaking volumes. From the government, health industry, diet industry, news media, and popular culture we hear that we should all be focused on our weight. But is this national obsession with weight and thinness good for us? Or is it just another form of prejudice--one with especially dire consequences for many already disenfranchised groups? For decades a growing cadre of scholars has been examining the role of body weight in society, critiquing the underlying assumptions, prejudices, and effects of how people perceive and relate to fatness. This burgeoning movement, known as fat studies, includes scholars from every field, as well as activists, artists, and intellectuals. The Fat Studies Reader is a milestone achievement, bringing together fifty-three diverse voices to explore a wide range of topics related to body weight. From the historical construction of fatness to public health policy, from job discrimination to social class disparities, from chick-lit to airline seats, this collection covers it all. Edited by two leaders in the field, The Fat Studies Reader is an invaluable resource that provides a historical overview of fat studies, an in-depth examination of the movement's fundamental concerns, and an up-to-date look at its innovative research.
ISBN: 9780814776308Publication Date: 2009-11-04
Fearing the Black Body by
Winner, 2020 Body and Embodiment Best Publication Award, given by the American Sociological Association Honorable Mention, 2020 Sociology of Sex and Gender Distinguished Book Award, given by the American Sociological Association How the female body has been racialized for over two hundred years There is an obesity epidemic in this country and poor black women are particularly stigmatized as ?diseased? and a burden on the public health care system. This is only the most recent incarnation of the fear of fat black women, which Sabrina Strings shows took root more than two hundred years ago. Strings weaves together an eye-opening historical narrative ranging from the Renaissance to the current moment, analyzing important works of art, newspaper and magazine articles, and scientific literature and medical journals?where fat bodies were once praised?showing that fat phobia, as it relates to black women, did not originate with medical findings, but with the Enlightenment era belief that fatness was evidence of ?savagery? and racial inferiority. The author argues that the contemporary ideal of slenderness is, at its very core, racialized and racist. Indeed, it was not until the early twentieth century, when racialized attitudes against fatness were already entrenched in the culture, that the medical establishment began its crusade against obesity. An important and original work, Fearing the Black Body argues convincingly that fat phobia isn?t about health at all, but rather a means of using the body to validate race, class, and gender prejudice.
ISBN: 9781479886753Publication Date: 2019-05-07
Hunger by
The New York Times Bestseller National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist Lambda Literary Award winner From Roxane Gay, the New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist, a memoir in weight about eating healthier, finding a tolerable form of exercise, and exploring what it means to learn, in the middle of your life, how to take care of yourself and how to feed your hunger. New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and bodies, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health. As a woman who describes her own body as "wildly undisciplined," Roxane understands the tension between desire and denial, between self-comfort and self-care. In Hunger, she casts an insightful and critical eye on her childhood, teens, and twenties--including the devastating act of violence that acted as a turning point in her young life--and brings readers into the present and the realities, pains, and joys of her daily life. With the bracing candor, vulnerability, and authority that have made her one of the most admired voices of her generation, Roxane explores what it means to be overweight in a time when the bigger you are, the less you are seen. Hunger is a deeply personal memoir from one of our finest writers, and tells a story that hasn't yet been told but needs to be.
ISBN: 9780062362599Publication Date: 2017-06-13
Looking Good by
"Not so long ago, what the average man did mattered more than how he looked. Since the 1970s, however, projecting the right look has become more and more essential. Men once dreaded being accused of vanity; today they are spending millions of dollars on fitness training, bodybuilding, hair replacement, and cosmetic surgery in the relentless pursuit of physical perfection." "What has caused American men to fall into the beauty trap so long assumed to be a special danger for women? Have they been so addled by the women's movement that they are responding by becoming more like women? This book goes beyond facile explanations to look at a confluence of social, economic, and cultural changes that have shaped the new cult of male body image in postwar America. In this journey through the brave new world of male vanity, Lynne Luciano explores what men are doing to themselves, asks why they are doing it, and discovers what this new world tells us about American society today."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
ISBN: 0809066378Publication Date: 2000-11-01
Manhood Impossible by
In Manhood Impossible, Scott Melzer argues that boys' and men's bodies and breadwinner status are the two primary sites for their expression of control. Controlling selves and others, and resisting being dominated and controlled is most connected to men's bodies and work. However, no man can live up to these culturally ascendant ideals of manhood. The strategies men use to manage unmet expectations often prove toxic, not only for men themselves, but also for other men, women, and society. Melzer strategically explores the lives of four groups of adult men struggling with contemporary body and breadwinner ideals. These case studies uncover men's struggles to achieve and maintain manhood, and redefine what it means to be a man.
ISBN: 9780813584904Publication Date: 2018-08-31
More Than a Body by
"An indispensable resource for women of all ages, this is a guide to help us better connect to ourselves, to value ourselves, to love ourselves, and ultimately, to be ourselves." --Chelsea Clinton Positive body image isn't believing your body looks good; it is knowing your body is good, regardless of how it looks. How do you feel about your body Have you ever stayed home from a social activity or other opportunity because of concern about how you looked Have you ever passed judgment on someone because of how they looked or dressed Have you ever had difficulty concentrating on a task because you were self-conscious about your appearance Our beauty-obsessed world perpetuates the idea that happiness, health, and ability to be loved are dependent on how we look, but authors Lindsay and Lexie Kite offer an alternative vision. With insights drawn from their extensive body image research, Lindsay and Lexie--PhDs and founders of the nonprofit Beauty Redefined (and also twin sisters!)--lay out an action plan that arms you with the skills you need to reconnect with your whole self and free yourself from the constraints of self-objectification. From media consumption to health and fitness to self-reflection and self-compassion, Lindsay and Lexie share powerful and practical advice that goes beyond "body positivity" to help readers develop body image resilience--all while cutting through the empty promises sold by media, advertisers, and the beauty and weight-loss industries. In the process, they show how facing your feelings of body shame or embarrassment can become a catalyst for personal growth.
ISBN: 9780358229247Publication Date: 2020-12-29
Size Matters by
An award-winning journalist tackles the hot topic of male body image and shows how physical size during childhood affects our psychology, social status, relationships, and income as adults. With a mix of fresh research, incisive reportage, and bracing candor, Size Matters traces the surprising history of society's bias against shortness and reveals how short people can and do thrive in spite of this insidious bigotry. Drawing on his own childhood experiences (he was shorter than 99 percent of boys his age), Stephen Hall explains the evolution of the growth chart, the biology of childhood aggression, and the wrenching phenomenon of bullying. He explores the factors that determine why one child's small stature may lead to anguish while another short child develops an emotional resilience that will enrich his later life. Weaving together recent findings from the fields of animal behavior, psychology, and evolutionary biology, Hall assesses the role of physical size in mating success and argues that the alpha male may not be king of the mountain after all. Hall also pinpoints the social forces that create and cash in on our anxieties about size, from bulked-up superhero action figures to pharmaceutical companies selling growth hormone to increase a child's height -- at a cost of up to $40,000 a year. He introduces us to families who have agonized over whether to make that huge investment. He explains new research showing that a person's height as a teenager has lifelong psychological consequences. He even tracks down kids he bullied in elementary school and kids who bullied him in high school to show that these childhood encounters have lasting effects on our adult lives. Along the way, Hall builds a persuasive case against societal attitudes that make size (or any difference) matter and argues forcefully that being short has psychological, social, and biological advantages. Size Matters will raise the consciousness -- and the spirits -- of any short male and anyone who cares about him.
ISBN: 9780618470402Publication Date: 2006-09-12
What We Don't Talk about When We Talk about Fat by
From the creator of Your Fat Friend and co-host of the Maintenance Phase podcast, an explosive indictment of the systemic and cultural bias facing plus-size people. Anti-fatness is everywhere. In What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat, Aubrey Gordon unearths the cultural attitudes and social systems that have led to people being denied basic needs because they are fat and calls for social justice movements to be inclusive of plus-sized people's experiences. Unlike the recent wave of memoirs and quasi self-help books that encourage readers to love and accept themselves, Gordon pushes the discussion further towards authentic fat activism, which includes ending legal weight discrimination, giving equal access to health care for large people, increased access to public spaces, and ending anti-fat violence. As she argues, "I did not come to body positivity for self-esteem. I came to it for social justice." By sharing her experiences as well as those of others-from smaller fat to very fat people-she concludes that to be fat in our society is to be seen as an undeniable failure, unlovable, unforgivable, and morally condemnable. Fatness is an open invitation for others to express disgust, fear, and insidious concern. To be fat is to be denied humanity and empathy. Studies show that fat survivors of sexual assault are less likely to be believed and less likely than their thin counterparts to report various crimes; 27% of very fat women and 13% of very fat men attempt suicide; over 50% of doctors describe their fat patients as "awkward, unattractive, ugly and noncompliant"; and in 48 states, it's legal-even routine-to deny employment because of an applicant's size. Advancing fat justice and changing prejudicial structures and attitudes will require work from all people. What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat is a crucial tool to create a tectonic shift in the way we see, talk about, and treat our bodies, fat and thin alike.
ISBN: 9780807041307Publication Date: 2020-11-17
You Just Need to Lose Weight by
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "One of the great thinkers of our generation . . . I feel fresher and smarter and happier for sitting down with her."-Jameela Jamil, iWeigh Podcast The co-host of the Maintenance Phase podcast and creator of Your Fat Friend equips you with the facts to debunk common anti-fat myths and with tools to take action for fat justice The pushback that shows up in conversations about fat justice takes exceedingly predicable form. Losing weight is easy-calories in, calories out. Fat people are unhealthy. We're in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Fat acceptance "glorifies obesity." The BMI is an objective measure of size and health. Yet, these myths are as readily debunked as they are pervasive. In "You Just Need to Lose Weight," Aubrey Gordon equips readers with the facts and figures to reframe myths about fatness in order to dismantle the anti-fat bias ingrained in how we think about and treat fat people. Bringing her dozen years of community organizing and training to bear, Gordon shares the rhetorical approaches she and other organizers employ to not only counter these pernicious myths, but to dismantle the anti-fat bias that so often underpin them. As conversations about fat acceptance and fat justice continue to grow, "You Just Need to Lose Weight" will be essential to ensure that those conversations are informed, effective, and grounded in both research and history.
ISBN: 9780807006474Publication Date: 2023-01-10
Background Articles
Popular Articles
Scholarly Articles
- Fat Liberation Self-Study GuideTopics include anti-fat bias, weight stigma, F/fat liberation, and healthism.
- Fat Liberation ArchiveThis archive is an offering. A collection of the fat liberation cultural and organizing history we have access to: zines, flyers, articles, audio recordings, and other evidence of the lives of fat liberation-oriented queers, anarchists, feminists, lesbians, and revolutionaries from the 1970s to today, mostly from the US and the UK. This is a people’s archive, a labor of community love meant to ensure the fat activists of today and tomorrow know some of the radical Fat Liberation history that made our lives possible: the dreams and joys and community and epiphanies and love, the struggles and pains and ignorance and mistakes.
- Body Liberation Resource GuideIn this guide, you will find information on various forms of media that can help you on your body liberation journey. Use the Table of Content to navigate through non-fiction and fiction books; podcasts; articles; workbooks; videos; social media accounts; influencers; and other curated compendiums; archives; and lists.
- Free Plus-Size Stock PhotosAs a technology company focused on serving plus-size people, we created this collection to meet our own needs for our company Instagram account. We needed photos of plus-size people doing normal things and existing stock photo sites either didn’t have images we liked or the costs were prohibitively high. But before we took the first photo for this project, we knew we were going to publish the images for free. At AllGo, we’re committed to doing everything we can to increase the representation of plus-size people.
- BODIES AS RESISTANCE: Claiming the political act of being oneself | Sonya Renee Taylor | TEDxMarinhe power of accepting ourselves begins by accepting our bodies. Sonya Renee Taylor is an author, poet, spoken word artist, speaker, humanitarian and social justice activist, educator, and founder of The Body is Not An Apology movement, an international movement and organization committed to radical self-love and body empowerment as the foundational tool for social justice and global transformation.
- How Weight Discrimination Happens in the Workplaces, and what's being done about itWatch the video above to learn how weight discrimination in employment affects high-weight workers and why there’s no legislation to prevent it.
- Let's talk about fat bias and thin privilege | Madison A. Krall | TEDxMileHighWhen we talk about discrimination, we usually consider race, gender, and age. But what about size? Have you ever considered whether your weight impacts your ability to get a job or get proper treatment in the doctor’s office? Join Madison A. Krall for an in-depth look at the last accepted prejudice: fat. Madison A. Krall is a twentysomething health and medicine student based in Denver.
- The Very Real Consequences of Weight DiscriminationWhy we must talk about the Asian-American story, too
- Virgie Tovar Tells Us The Difference Between Body Positivity And Fat ActivismVirgie Tovar is an advocate for fat activism, which is not to be confused with the body positivity movement. Watch her explain what needs to change in the body positivity movement.
- Association for Size Diversity & Health (ASDAH)As a non-profit organization with an international membership committed to the practice of the Health At Every Size® (HAES) Principles, ASDAH envisions a world that celebrates bodies of all shapes and sizes, in which body weight is no longer a source of discrimination and where oppressed communities have equal access to the resources and practices that support health and well being.
We provide ongoing opportunities for development, including educational resources, vetted referral opportunities, and an extensive network of like-minded advocates and professionals. - The National Association to Advance Fat AcceptanceOne-third of the world’s population is fat, yet fat people are discriminated against in all aspects of daily life. For over 50 years, NAAFA has worked to make the world a better place for fat people through education, advocacy, and support. We are a multigenerational, intersectional social justice organization creating opportunity for big bodied people and building community for fat people and our loved ones.
- The Body PositiveOur mission is to end the harmful consequences of negative body image that can result in eating disorders, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and other mental health issues. Our courses train people to use the 5 evidence-based Competencies of our Be Body Positive Model in their own lives and as licensed facilitators to bring this transformative work to their schools and communities.
- Do No Harm PodcastThis is a podcast for medical professionals and laypeople who want to understand how taking the focus off of weight in health care will ultimately lead to higher quality care and better health outcomes for people of all sizes.
- EP122: The Evolution of Body Positivity, Fat Liberation, and Fat AcceptanceWe talk about what fat liberation/acceptance really are, the origin of the body positivity movement, and the different levels of fatphobia.
- Fat Girls ClubWelcome to the Fat Girls Club Podcast! Liesl & Jessica talk about their everyday experiences as fat women. Funny anecdotes to embarrassing moments we all want to forget. They are just two fat best friends who love to talk about fashion, life, love and everything in between.
- Fat Phobia And Its Racist Past And Present - Short Wave NPRWhere does our preference for thinness really come from? As Sabrina Strings explains in her book, Fearing the Black Body, the answer is much more complicated than health or aesthetics. She argues that the origins of modern-day fat phobia can be traced all the way back to slavery and that Black people are still dealing with the consequences.
- SHESALLFATPODThe podcast for fat positivity, radical self-love, and chill vibes ONLY. Join Sophie and your fat faves talk about current events, popular culture, and the intersections between fatness and feminism.