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‘You Can’t Be Supersized?’ Exploring Femininities, Body Size and Control within the Obesity Terrain

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Debating Obesity

Abstract

In an atmosphere of neo-liberalism and healthism (Crawford, 1980), the war on obesity targets both genders (Monaghan, 2008). Such is the pervasiveness of obesity discourse that very few escape its evaluative gaze. All adults are to a large extent held responsible for their own health and well-being, and health is equated with body size by health professionals, the media and the general public alike (e.g. Department of Health, 2008; also see LeBesco and Braziel, 2001). As outlined in Chapter 1, dominant obesity discourse, and ‘epidemic psychology’ (Strong, 1990) with which it is associated, construct ‘fat’ as unhealthy and slimness and weight-loss as inherently good. Whilst such ideas are contested in critical weight studies (see Campos, Chapter 2 in this volume), the conflation of ‘being healthy’ with ‘losing weight or maintaining a low bodyweight’, recycled as discursive ‘truth’, is omnipresent and goes largely unquestioned within Western cultures. Both men and women who are seen as fat in everyday life risk being discredited by obesity discourse and its associated ‘concerns’. It is imperative then to recognise that these discursive effects can cause serious harms. These not only include probable stigma, discrimination and spoilt identities for ‘large’ individuals (e.g. Murray, 2005; Throsby, 2007) but also potential detrimental effects on the physical and mental health of individuals of any size.

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Authors
  1. Irmgard Tischner
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  2. Helen Malson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bath, UK

    Emma Rich

  2. University of Limerick, Ireland

    Lee F. Monaghan

  3. Coventry University, UK

    Lucy Aphramor

Copyright information

© 2011 Irmgard Tischner and Helen Malson

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Tischner, I., Malson, H. (2011). ‘You Can’t Be Supersized?’ Exploring Femininities, Body Size and Control within the Obesity Terrain. In: Rich, E., Monaghan, L.F., Aphramor, L. (eds) Debating Obesity. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230304239_4

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