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[Taking Up Space] (By: Pattie Thomas) [published: September, 2005]
Taking Up Space is a sociological memoir about being fat and the physical, emotional and economic costs of trying to pass for thin in a culture that stigmatizes fat people. Making her own life a case study, medical sociologist Pattie Thomas, Ph.D., with the help of her co-author and husband Carl Wilkerson, M.B.A., outlines how stigma limit and shape the life chances of all people and are supported within culture. Through narrative text, poetry, essays, photos and drawings, Dr. Thomas shares her own process and demonstrates how a sociologically examined life can be a source for personal growth. An extensive resource section challenges both the popular reader and the academic to further exploration. Kathleen LeBesco, author of Revolting The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity, has called Taking Up Space "a road map through the minefield of the 'war on obesity.'" Foreword by Paul Campos, author of The Obesity Myth (published in paperback as The Diet Myth).
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First published September 15, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 31, 2008
Pattie Thomas shares her personal journey recovering from treating fat as the enemy, and applies her understanding as a sociologist to her experience, and the messages we all receive.
She says, "Learning about sociological theory has afforded me a view of the social structures that shape my life and other people's lives in a way that is usually not noticed in everyday life. We do and say things with little thought to how we know what we know or where we learned what we think. Social interactions are often reactions and replications. We often follow certain preset scripts as to what is normal and acceptable in these interactions."
It becomes especially clear that those in the health care industry do this regarding fat. In some ways my recovery from fat phobia paralleled Patti's, though I was fortunate to turn away from dieting at a much younger age. She says, "I came to believe that I was engaged in a cultural struggle, not a medical one." Over and over she points to instances where health is cited as the reason for dieting, but the true motive uncovered is the unreal beauty standard.
As a sociologist, she traced the origins of the so-called medical condition of "obesity" to the 20s. Women wanted the waifish look of the flapper, and turned to their doctors for help. In turn, the doctors made 'excess' weight a medical condition.
Like other books debunking the obesity myth, she traces the link between fat and other diseases to faulty conclusions or inconclusive links. With a sociologist's eye, she roots out the faulty premises that affect studies and conclusions. This allows a culture that recommends dangerous procedures as a precaution and as a solution, but when they fail, it is the fat that is blamed, not the procedure. Again, when diets fail and poor health follows, it is fat that is blamed rather than the diets. Indeed, she traces how the average fat American has been blamed for our high health costs.
She uses the image of the sumo wrestler, and a theme throughout the book is her own quest to carry her own weight gracefully.
I appreciated this view of a sociologist. It helps not only with finding our own way in this war on obesity, but with politics, and with choosing any kind of life swimming against the tide. She says, "Culture is built largely upon repetition of words, images, and thoughts. The battleground of the war on fat is wherever the idea that "fat is bad" (or its equivalents, such as "fat is ugly," "fat is dirty," "fat is ignorant," "fat is unwanted," "fat is unsightly," fat is lazy," "fat is unhealthy," and so forth) is repeated. A reasonable argument will not make the idea go away. ..."Fat is bad" is an extremely embedded given in this society. If we are to eradicate this idea, we will have to repeat other messages, loudly and often. Stereotypes are most often replaced rather than erased."
Also included are poems, diary entries, and drawings. While these give a broader picture of Pattie's journey, I think the book could have used better editing. Some of these were included in a sidebar format that went on more than 2 pages. This made it difficult to read at times. I think the book would be more powerful if these personal bits were more judiciously used.
She says, "Learning about sociological theory has afforded me a view of the social structures that shape my life and other people's lives in a way that is usually not noticed in everyday life. We do and say things with little thought to how we know what we know or where we learned what we think. Social interactions are often reactions and replications. We often follow certain preset scripts as to what is normal and acceptable in these interactions."
It becomes especially clear that those in the health care industry do this regarding fat. In some ways my recovery from fat phobia paralleled Patti's, though I was fortunate to turn away from dieting at a much younger age. She says, "I came to believe that I was engaged in a cultural struggle, not a medical one." Over and over she points to instances where health is cited as the reason for dieting, but the true motive uncovered is the unreal beauty standard.
As a sociologist, she traced the origins of the so-called medical condition of "obesity" to the 20s. Women wanted the waifish look of the flapper, and turned to their doctors for help. In turn, the doctors made 'excess' weight a medical condition.
Like other books debunking the obesity myth, she traces the link between fat and other diseases to faulty conclusions or inconclusive links. With a sociologist's eye, she roots out the faulty premises that affect studies and conclusions. This allows a culture that recommends dangerous procedures as a precaution and as a solution, but when they fail, it is the fat that is blamed, not the procedure. Again, when diets fail and poor health follows, it is fat that is blamed rather than the diets. Indeed, she traces how the average fat American has been blamed for our high health costs.
She uses the image of the sumo wrestler, and a theme throughout the book is her own quest to carry her own weight gracefully.
I appreciated this view of a sociologist. It helps not only with finding our own way in this war on obesity, but with politics, and with choosing any kind of life swimming against the tide. She says, "Culture is built largely upon repetition of words, images, and thoughts. The battleground of the war on fat is wherever the idea that "fat is bad" (or its equivalents, such as "fat is ugly," "fat is dirty," "fat is ignorant," "fat is unwanted," "fat is unsightly," fat is lazy," "fat is unhealthy," and so forth) is repeated. A reasonable argument will not make the idea go away. ..."Fat is bad" is an extremely embedded given in this society. If we are to eradicate this idea, we will have to repeat other messages, loudly and often. Stereotypes are most often replaced rather than erased."
Also included are poems, diary entries, and drawings. While these give a broader picture of Pattie's journey, I think the book could have used better editing. Some of these were included in a sidebar format that went on more than 2 pages. This made it difficult to read at times. I think the book would be more powerful if these personal bits were more judiciously used.
April 14, 2012
I am just re-reading this book to review for a journal and I am reminded of how wonderfully-written, multifaceted, and important it is. To be honest, as a sociologist, I am not a fan of auto-ethnography or sociological autobiographies as I often find them to be navel-gazing insufficiently sociological. This book is a very notable exception to this critique. Thomas and Wilkerson succeed where others fail, in truly balancing context and personal narrative in a way that can be an example for all of us in how to really apply C. Wright Mills' concept of the "Sociological Imagination." So glad to have the opportunity to read this book again, it is more relevant now that it was when the first edition came out in 2005 and it is great to have it on my Kindle!
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March 26, 2013Unfinished at 15% read. The writing was distractingly amateur.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews