why are fat bodies so stigmatised?
DESCRIPTION
PowePoint slides from a webinar delivered to the Australia New Zealand Academy of Eating Disorders, Sydney, 5 December 2012 by Deborah Lupton.TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Deborah Lupton, Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney
WHY ARE FAT BODIES SO STIGMATISED?
![Page 2: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
MY BOOK ‘FAT’ (2012, ROUTLEDGE, LONDON)
![Page 3: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
MY BOOK ‘FOOD, THE BODY AND THE SELF’ (1996, SAGE, LONDON)
![Page 4: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
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
![Page 5: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
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
![Page 6: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
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
![Page 7: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
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
![Page 8: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
EXTREMES OF EMBODIMENT
![Page 9: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
THE ARCHETYPAL FAT BODY WITH HEAD CROPPED OFF
![Page 10: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
THE FAT BODY AS GROTESQUE
![Page 11: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
FEELING LIKE AN OUTSIDER BECAUSE OF ONE’S FAT BODY
![Page 12: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
THE FAT BODY AS TOXIC
![Page 13: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
THE PUBLIC HUMILIATION OF FAT PEOPLE
![Page 14: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
FAT FLESH AS EXCESSIVE
![Page 15: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
FAT PEOPLE AS EMOTIONAL, EATING FOR GREED OR COMFORT
![Page 16: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
THE BIGGEST LOSER: FAT PEOPLE AS ‘LOSERS’, FREAKS ON DISPLAY
![Page 17: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
FAT MAN AS FREAK IN SIDE-SHOW
![Page 18: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
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
![Page 19: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
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
![Page 20: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
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
![Page 21: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
FAT ACTIVISM: FIGHTING AGAINST NEGATIVE REPRESENTATIONS
![Page 22: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
THE ADIPOSITIVITY PROJECT
![Page 23: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
FAT PEOPLE AS ACTIVE AND FIT
![Page 24: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
THE EROTIC FAT BODY
![Page 25: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
BETH DITTO
![Page 26: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
HEALTH AT EVERY SIZE
![Page 27: Why are fat bodies so stigmatised?](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022070313/554b271fb4c905ce088b47c1/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
Email: [email protected]: @DALupton Blog: http://simplysociology.wordpress.com
Pinterest board ‘Fat Culture’: http://pinterest.com/dalupton/fat-culture
CONTACT DETAILS