The Contemporary Reader of Gender and Fat Studies

Description

The Contemporary Reader of Gender and Fat Studies is a key reference work in contemporary scholarship situated at the intersection between Gender and Fat Studies, charting the connections and tensions between these two fields. Comprising over 20 chapters from a range of diverse and international contributors, the Reader is structured around the following key themes: theorizing gender and fat; narrating gender and fat; historicizing gender and fat; institutions and public policy; health and medicine; popular culture and media; and resistance. It is an intersectional collection, highlighting the ways that "gender" and "fat" always exist in connection with multiple other structures, forms of oppression, and identities, including race, ethnicity, sexualities, age, nationalities, disabilities, religion, and class. The Contemporary Reader of Gender and Fat Studies is essential reading for scholars and advanced students in Gender Studies, Sexuality Studies, Sociology, Body Studies, Cultural Studies, Psychology, and Health. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of Figures List of Contributors Acknowledgments Part I Introduction 1 Connecting Gender and Fat: Feminism, Intersectionality, and Stigma The Essays Using This Volume Bibliography Part II Discourses of Gender and Fat 2 Undesirably Different: Hyper(in)visibility and the Gendered Fat Body The Spectrum of Visibility and the Phenomenon of Hyper(in)visibility Fat, Gender, and Hyper(in)visibility Cisgender Women Cisgender Men Queer People Conclusion References 3 Gendered Fat Bodies as Neoliberal Bodies The Obesity Epidemic Discourse as a Neoliberal Discourse Gender and Neoliberal Care for the Self Neoliberal Health, Gender, and Fatness Consequences of Neoliberal Body Norms Note References 4 To Have and Not to Hold: Queering Fatness Fatness and Gender Queering Fat Scholarship: The Beginning Branches Here, Queer, and FAT: Origins Fatshion Limitations and The Future Notes Bibliography 5 Antiblackness, Gender, and Fat The (Il)logics and Incoherence of Gender Gender and the Black Fat Conclusion Notes Bibliography Part III Narrating Gender and Fat 6 Embodied Narration Fat, Gender, and Their Myriad Intersections Trans and Non-Binary Fat Appearances Fashions and Expectations Claiming Spacious and Compassionate Narratives Based On Already Traveled Terrain References 7 Fat Stories Bibliography Part IV Historicizing Fatness 8 The Politics of Fat and Gender in the Ancient World Must Ancient Female Figurines Always Be About Fertility? Can a Fat Man Be a Good Leader? Conclusion Notes Bibliography 9 Historicizing Black Women’s Anti-Fatness Black Women, History, and Fat Studies “Warning! Fat Is Dangerous!”: Black Women’s Citizenship, Racial Pride, and Self-Discipline Ambivalent Approaches to Black Women’s Anti-Fatness Bibliography Part V Gender and Fat in Institutions and Public Policy 10 Public Policy and the Repercussions of Fat Stigma On Women and Children Embodying the Future: The “War On Obesity” and Pregnant Bodies Weighting to Conceive: BMI, IVF, and Complications Mother Blame: Your Child Is Your Problem (And Everyone Else’s) Ruling On Appropriate Parenting: Courts and Fat Children Cut It Out!: Fat Children, Bullying, and Bariatric Surgeries All Women Are Being Drafted Into the “War Against Obesity” Reflecting Back On Moving Forward Notes Bibliography 11 Histories of Excess: Overlaps Between Anti-Fat and Anti-Latina Public Discourse Excessive M(other)hood and Saviorhood Mother Monster and Endangering the Nation-State Deviant Femininity, Undesirability, and Immigration Law and Policy References 12 Fatness, Gender, and Academic Achievement in Secondary and Postsecondary Education An Overview of the Literature Discussion The Hidden Curriculum Limitations of Existing Research Conclusion Note References Part VI Gender and Fat in Health and Medicine 13 Eating Disorders, Gender, and Fat: Theorizing the Fat Body in Feminist Theories of Eating Disorders Feminist Discourse in Eating Disorders The Current Chapter Tension 1 Fat Acceptance as Integral to Vs. Adjunctive to Feminist Approaches to Eating Disorders Tension 2 Anti-Fat Messaging as Health Promotion Or as a Trigger for Eating Disorders Tension 3 The Need for Vs. Harm in Categorizing, Diagnosing, and Pathologizing Eating Problems Tension 4 Eating Disorders in Non-Western Cultures Vs. Centering White Western Experiences Tension 5 Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia Sites as Spaces of Resistance Vs. Subjugation Tension 6 Body Dysmorphia Vs. Gender Dysphoria and Other Challenges Facing Trans Eating Disorder Patients Conclusion: Fattening Feminist Discourses On Eating Disorders Notes References 14 Immovable Subjects, Unstoppable Forces: Bariatric Surgery, Gender, and the Body What Is Bariatric Surgery? How Did We Get Here? Social Attitudes Regarding Bariatric Surgery “The Apotheosis of Fat Hatred:” Bariatric Surgery as Fat Antagonism Self/Control: Embodiment, Agency, and Bariatric Surgery Conclusion Notes Bibliography 15 Gender, Fat, and “Reproductive” Health Care: Negotiating Fat Pregnancy in the Context of Eugenics A Word On Language Understanding Stigma in Reproductive Health Care The Role of Risk in Antifat Stigma Soft Eugenics Patient Experiences Discouragement Through Risk Talk Discouragement Through “Care” Begrudging Care Conclusion: Recommendations for Change References Part VII Gender and Fat in Popular Culture and Media 16 Sexy, Docile Bodies: The Objectification and Paternalistic Management of Plus-Size Models Maybe She’s Born With It. Maybe It’s … Just Do It (With Your Agent’s Permission) Got Sexiness? Notes References 17 Big-Gay Men Entering the Twenty-First Century: Global Perspectives On Fat-Affirming Subcultures and Imagery The Girth-&-Mirth Subculture The Bear Subculture The Gaining Subculture Big-Gay Men’s Visual Culture: Art, Performance, Digital Media, Fashion, and Pornography Art Performance Digital Media Fashion Pornography Future Research Directions Outside U.S. Borders Same-Gender-Loving Big Men of Color Fat/Femme/Brown and Feeling Down Conclusion: Encouraging Fatness as a Form of Protest References 18 From Hattie McDaniel to Queen Latifah: Examining a New Mammy and Other Fat Black Women Representations in Contemporary Media Why Fat Black Women? Depictions of Black Women in Popular Culture Mammy Archetype—The Self-Sacrificer Sapphire Archetype—The Hypercritical One Jezebel Archetype—The Seductive Succubus Ask Black Women On Instagram At the Intersection of Fatness, Blackness, and Womanhood Meet Dana Owens Living Single Khadijah James: A Recreation of the Mammy Trope Meet Mo’Nique Hicks Precious: Based On the Novel “Push” By Sapphire Mary Jones: A Recreation of the Sapphire Trope Meet Natasha Rothwell On HBO’s Insecure Kelli Prenny: A Recreation of the Jezebel Trope Art Created By Black Women for Black Audiences Conclusion: Fat Black Women Matter On Television and in Real Life Bibliography Part VIII Gender, Fat, and Resistance 19 Coming Out as Fat Fat Stigma Is There a Closet for Fat People? Collective Fat Identity Conclusion Bibliography 20 Fat Air Notes 21 Belle Di Faccia: Fat Activism in Italy The So-Called “Curvy Revolution” Fat Acceptance: How the Movement Has Been Communicated in Italy Our Experience as Activists: Belle Di Faccia Conclusion Bibliography 22 “Your Belly Is a Heap of Wheat”: A Torah of Fat Liberation Notes References 23 Don’t Forget to Be Yourself Part IX In Memoriam 24 Friend of Cat Epilogue Index