Queering Fat Embodiment

by Cat Pausé (Editor), Jackie Wykes (Editor), Samantha Murray (Editor)

Shedding light on the ways in which fat embodiment is lived, experienced, regulated and (re)produced across a range of cultural sites and contexts, Queering Fat Embodiment destabilises established ideas about fat bodies, making explicit the intersectionality of fat identities and thereby countering the assertion that fat studies has in recent years reproduced a white, ableist, heteronormative subjectivity in its analyses.

Genres: Fat Studies, Nonfiction, Queer, Fat, Bodies, Feminism, LGBT

170 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Arlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so good and necessary! I wish I could review every individual chapter of this, they all could be separate books. I think the mix of fat studies and exploration of all these relevant topics like disability, health, trans politics and sexuality worked really well together and didn’t have that tokenised “intersectional” box ticking feeling I kind of expect from books about "queering (x)". I’m not usually so into the idea of “queering” fat studies or just like, generally using “queer” as a verb, I find it really false and over simplifying.

There was so much interesting stuff about body modification, trans identity, the politics of calling yourself healthy or not, intentionally losing weight or not, etc. There’s a chapter in here about “performativity” of fatness where I was just like, you could have explained this in a way more accessible and sensible way without referencing Butler and Foucault, why. There was a lot of uncritical usage of terms like "societal expectations" and "visibility" that I always find kind of vague??

I was so so into Margitte Kristjansson's chapter on fashion and taste (the last chapter), there are so many thin women who complain about the plus size fashion industry and how fat women shouldn't try to look good because it is just a heteropatriarchal capitalist ploy so that was a good read in response to that. I also loved the critique of the "Health at every size" movement in Zoe Meleo-Erwin's essay about disability and health. I think Kathleen LeBesco's chapter was the best one for me. Plz everyone read this so we can discuss

[Sarah Cavar · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not you, it's me. I think the intended audience is significantly less informed around fat/queer politics (and living in 2014, when the book was published) than myself as a reader; there were some strong pieces in here but I'd recommend it only to beginners as a summary of contemporary conversations in size studies. If you're already familiar, this reads more like a 101!

[Christina Cathcart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love fucking with gender, and am happiest in a soft butch presentation. This read made me feel proud to be at the cross-section of so many deviations, even if the fat body I once loved feels more like a stranger to me now as I heal from injury.

The authors explore the idea that fat bodies and disabled bodies are also queer modes of embodiment because they disrupt norms about how bodies are supposed to look and function. There’s even a delightful chapter dedicated to bears.