The Fat Studies Reader

by Esther D. Rothblum (Editor), Sondra Solovay, Marilyn Wann (Foreword)

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 movements fundamental concerns, and an up-to-date look at its innovative research.

Genres: Nonfiction, Fat Studies, Feminism, Fat, Health, Social Justice, Bodies

396 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 28, 2009

About the author

Esther D. Rothblum is professor of women's studies at San Diego State University. She is the editor or co-editor of over twenty books, including Overcoming Fear of Fat.

[from B&N]

Reviews

[Marcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a text book made up of chapters which appear to be a bunch of senior thesis projects. The "chapters" really are truly research papers that the writers were hoping to publish in some sort of journal, probably one related to sociology. The "chapters" even have sections such as "methodology", "results" etc. I'm telling you, the editors grabbed a bunch of senior research papers and stuck them together calling them a "book". So, this is excruciating to read, really very very horrible to read for a person who enjoys fiction writing. I have a BA in sociology and an MA in clinical psychology. So, I do actually understand the writing and I know why it's written as it is. However, I cannot over-emphasize how painfully dull, academic, and un-enjoyable this is to read. The topic is interesting and I learned quite a bit about the movement for the civil rights of fat people (including that they prefer to be called "fat") and about the "health at any size" argument. I'm glad to know more about this subject and what I've read will definitely stay with me and inform my thinking about fat people. However, I STRONGLY encourage the authors to consider writing a book that people might actually enjoy reading. It's difficult to persuade people to your point of view by by expecting them to slog through painfully dull academic writing. This subject could be really full of emotion and humor. It could be a captivating topic but they just fail miserably at making it readable. One bright spot, however was the chapter written by S. Bear Bergman called "Sometimes I'm Fat, and Sometimes I'm Not". It's written in a narrative style instead of a research paper style. It's easily the best and most readable chapter in the book.

[Tara Brabazon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding edited collection. Part manifesto, part future research agenda, this book offers the starting point for an understanding of health, fitness and the 'weight loss industry.' There is attention to size diversity in education, sexuality, popular culture and politics.

Edited collections are often uneven in terms of research and writing. But this is beautifully written, evocative research. It is also incredible value for a library collection. For students and staff, this single book provides a gateway to a diversity of inter-disciplinary fields, such as work studies, leisure studies, education and women's and men's studies.

[Ms. Online]

WEIGHING IN
Jessica Holden Sherwood

Review of The Fat Studies Reader
Edited by Esther Rothblum and Sondra Solovay
NYU Press

With a winning audacity, The Fat Studies Reader announces its intention to serve as the foundation of a new academic field. Its editors present convincing voices from law, medicine, social sciences and the humanities, making it difficult to dismiss their case that the time has come for fat studies. As the student authors of one essay note, the subject overflows disciplinary boundaries the same way their bodies overflow the desks in their college classrooms.

Most Americans have accepted the health-focused conventional wisdom that obesity is a medical condition demanding prevention or intervention because of its risk of causing various other conditions, including diabetes or even premature death. Whether or not one questions the concept that “normal” weight is better and healthier, The Fat Studies Reader demonstrates that this powerful assumption does deserve analysis. Yes, research has found some connections between weight and health, but these correlations do not, the book argues, justify the stigmatization of an entire group of people. It’s certainly possible to be heavy and healthy, just as it’s possible to be thin and unhealthy.

The United States has a unique history of anti-fat bias, generated in the early 20th century by a confluence of factors: industrialization, which increased the availability of food; a puritanical ethic of denying desires; and scientific and pseudoscientific study of human improvement, as in eugenics. These factors coincided with perceived social threats from suffragists and from non-European immigrants. Thanks to certain scientific and medical professionals of the time, fatness became associated with “other” ethnic groups, the lower classes and those women who couldn’t control their carnality.

Things look surprisingly unchanged today: classism and racism live on in antifat discourse. Helping “them” make better choices remains a common mode of intervention in fat people’s lives, and just as it was a century ago, whole economic sectors thrive on selling services and products specifically to fight fat. Too many health professionals and community health programs focus not directly on well-being, but on weight loss and “obesity prevention.”

In The Fat Studies Reader, there is inevitably some disjuncture among the chapters, and the jargon of an academic niche occasionally appears. The takedown of “traitorous” formerly fat celebrities like Ricki Lake and Carnie Wilson feels more selfindulgent than feminist. But usually, the analysis is undeniably feminist, with fatness placed into larger social contexts. The chapter that follows the money from pharmaceutical companies to researchers to the National Institutes of Health is particularly cogent.

These 40 essays provoke questions aplenty: Does poverty make people fat, or does fatness impoverish? Would public health benefit more by altering the high-fat and sugar-heavy foodscape that consumers confront, or by fighting the stigmatization of obesity? Does cultural attention to fat women’s struggles, and to their sexual attractiveness (see mentions of J.Lo’s butt and fat burlesque), do harm or good or both? Whether you’re interested in women’s physical representation in the media, the debate about fitting into airline seats, the intersections of inequalities, or simply the prospect of accepting your body as it is, The Fat Studies Reader
has an abundance to offer.

---
JESSICA HOLDEN SHERWOOD, PH.D., is executive officer of Sociologists for Women in Society.

[Badger Diva · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was good for the first out of the gay...but one could have dealt with more intersectionalities

[Ni'Shele · Rating 5 out of 5]

A much needed anthology, this was my bible when writing an academic research paper about fatness and fat liberation. However, as many have noted, this book is incredibly dense and academic. I struggled with reading this anthology and was not able to finish. What I did read and was able to comprehend, though, was so extremely transformative. These topics are so rarely explored in larger academia, I would highly recommend this book.

For me, a stressed out undergrad rushing to finish a paper, the foreword was the most accessible part of this book. I admittedly tend to skip forewords, but Marilyn Wann's foreword has single handedly showed me why that is bad practice. Wann's foreword really succeeds in highlighting the importance of fat studies, fat people, and fat liberation. The context and analysis she gives to thse issues are written as a manifesto: what it means to be a fat studies scholar, the praxis of the field, the importance of fat liberation. She also prepares the reader for some of the language used in the upcoming essays. Just really well written and completely enchanting. The introduction does this as well, and more in depth, but I have never been so captured by a foreword before.

I hope to update this review as I progress through this anthology, to which I will undoubtedly return.

[Sarah]

I'm sure that academics (particularly those in the Women's Studies field) will love this anthology but for the average reader it is a bit dense. There is a lot of good things going on in here, but the academic nature of the tome will put lots of people off. Bottom line is that the average person interested in issues of fat in society will find Shapely Prose or Kate Harding's book "Lessons from the Fatosphere" far more accessible.

[Carlota&Werther · Rating 1 out of 5]

Panfleto del HAES

[Sadifura]

FINALLY finished this book! If there is a book that is sorely needed in the age of Ozempic, it is The Fat Studies Reader. Informative, intelligent, and well written, with some flaws here and there (the end passage by Elana Dykewomon was very spirited, but had a transphobic moment that was highly against the spirit of people arguing for transgender protections). I learned a lot from this book; a particular section of interest was the section on lesbian fat feminist literature, where I was struck by how startlingly progressive the authors were about fatness and fat bodies as opposed to modern day authors of fat characters, and the section on postcards and how the admiration of fat women was often used as a racial, ethnic, or class signifier in the early 1900s.

[Maxine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much-needed anthology, though I already was aware of much of the information in it (as will be most people with any background in feminism). The chapters are usually at least marginally interesting, and are thankfully free of psychobabble or impractical recommendations to "love yourself" out of fat stigma. Honestly, the first chapters (focusing on that stigma and the horrific effects it can have) depressed me. Fat shame is the last acceptable prejudice, but it's so entrenched that it will take generations to eradicate. However, the pieces by fat folks (particularly those pointing out ways toward joyous fat embodiment) offered some light.

[Vanna]

NO RATING

Mhmm... As a fat woman, some of these articles/research interested me, such as Hogging (Easy Target), Bullying, the blame on moms, and more. Though, by the end, the articles were losing my interest due to their aspect in Fat Studies, which is not their fault. I'd recommend this for people who want to further their understanding and view on fat studies, because it talks about how thin became the new ideal and how airplanes do not support fatter flyers.

[Corni 🌻 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otro librito de investigacion final de master. Muymuy chuli, todos los caps me parecen interesantes y además hablan de cosas muy pertinentes dentro de la investigación gorde. Es una pena que no haya traducción al castellano :(

[Meg Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

What makes this book interesting is that the pieces were written between 1998 and 2006. Specifically loved the pop culture section and seeing the deranged shifts - and pendulum swings backwards - of the last ~25 years

[Genesee Rickel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading this for grad school. I imagine I will keep coming back to it over and over again. So surprised and grateful my public library has a copy!

[Max]

Some amazing, some ok, some stinkers. am specifically looking for a solid intro book and this wasn’t it, but lots of neat stuff regardless

[Daria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant primer for the field of Fat Studies: short chapters, not-too-dense academic language, and a comprehensive rundown of the various issues related to this discipline.

[Poocy Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting fat studies guide looking at everything from the history of fat to the revelation. A great starter book of Fat Studies

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would love to read some more recent articles by these same writers. I enjoyed the variety of essays and I learned a lot.

[Melinda Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly informative. I took away a star because of how female oriented the book was. I was expecting/hoping for more diversity.

[Bookshark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent point of entry if you are not familiar with research in the area of fat studies. The essays cover a great breadth of topics relevant to many traditional academic disciplines (medicine, public health, history, rhetoric, political science/sociology/anthropology, literature, etc). Although the chapters are brief, they provide citations to previous work that you can easily track down if you want to explore any particular topic in greater depth. Some of the essays serve primarily as literature reviews, while others seek to make research contributions of their own. Methodologically, the essays either used or cited research involving a wide range of methods from medical/health science, social science (qualitative, quantitative, and experimental), and the humanities (Foucaultian analysis, queer theory, feminist theory, critical race theory, critiques of neoliberalism, etc.). I am particularly interested in the topics of bodies and imagination, both of which were themes of several of the essays (although I was not terribly impressed with the section on fat embodiment). Overall, this volume falls squarely into the tradition of socially conscious academic research that performs both a scholarly and activist function.

As some have mentioned, this is a primarily an academic volume, although there are also several chapters written by activists and other practitioners (e.g. people in the fat burlesque and fat exercise movements). While it is clear to me that most of the authors have a serious attempt to write in a relatively accessible fashion, the primary audience is academic researchers. If this is not what you're looking for, you may want to look at some of the popular books on this topic (based on the introduction, I think Marilyn Wann's *Fat!So* book might be a good choice, and based on her blog, Kate Harding's book Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere* might also be a good choice). I would say that Deb Burgard's essay on Heath At Any Size is very important reading for everyone, especially for healthcare providers and fat people who wish to advocate for themselves in medical contexts, even though it is written in social scientific language (although I don't think it's too difficult to follow).

As in all volumes like this, the essays vary in quality. Overall, I thought the essays were strong, but the last two sections were notably weaker. If the dearth of quality academic work on embodiment and fat politics in this volue is representative of the field of fat studies as a whole, this suggests to me that this is an area that political theorists and even political scientists, as well as people who study bodies in the humanities, need to contribute to.

[Ulrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good starting place. Skim through it to get the info that is interesting to you and then check the handy bibliography that every single chapter has for more info.

This is a very broad treatment and I only found about 50% of it interesting and only slightly more of it was coherent. Multiple chapters are of interest only to those who are forever seeking to increase their fluency in the language of pretension.

Over all, I would much more highly recommend editor Marilyn Wann's Fat!So? for a layperson. Campos's Obesity Myth would be better for the scientifically minded. Linda Bacon's Health at Every Size for the chronic dieter. This book is pretty much only good if you have no idea what you want to learn about Fat Studies and want a sample of several different approaches to get you started.

I also found the prevalence of Queer studies a bit odd even as someone who is normally far more interested in Queer studies. I did like it though and I think those chapters would make this book a lot more interesting to the most likely allies. I do mean queer though and there is now, most unfortunately, a difference between gay and queer.

[Kimberly]

So far, this is an excellent Reader. The Forward by Marilyn Wann (author of FAT!SO) gave an excellent overview of fat oppression. Its a good start for anyone interested in this subject. It was also a sort of "call to arms" about this discipline of study. Although the very first essay did did start off with a White essentialist point of view, i can tell from the table of contents that this Reader is set to dicuss the intersections of various oppression with fat oppression....so I am hopeful....however, there is still this pull, I am finding, that if an article isn't directly discussing race, then the point of view is still majority white.....

Finished this Reader, and I must say it was excellent. The stories are varied, the topics completely relevant (i think the materials stopped at 2005). I think this is a must read for anyone interested in fat studies. I still think most of the articles were written by non-people of color.....but i think that is can be excused (for now) at least due to the wonderful scholarship of the other essays.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't read every chapter in this, I focused on the ones relevant to the anthropology/sociology course I am planning. These changed the way I look at "obesity" and the so-called "obesity epidemic." In short, this book has introduced a whole new set of necessary scare quotes to my life, and I am grateful.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me awhile to get through this one, but it was worth it. The essays sort of reminded me of things my ex-gf would write when she was in a gender studies class in grad school. I mean that in a positive way, as she was a good writer.

[Ariane Prohaska · Rating 4 out of 5]

I, of course, am leaving my co-authored contribution out of this review.

Great contributions to the emerging field of fat studies, especially the work on social constructions of fat/beauty and fat activism. Personally loved Asbill's contribution.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a decent introduction to the field and its major concerns, but if you're already well-versed in HAES and related concepts, a lot of this info is probably old hat. The personal essays and participant/observation research pieces are definitely the strongest in the collection.

[lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

i want to come back to this book at some point in the future. i got a lot out of the essays on health and queer stuff.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slowly making my way through this amazing anthology, savoring every page.

[Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic. Informative. A new perspective gained.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has changed my life.