Fat Activism and Body Positivity: Freedom from Dieting?

Abstract

This chapter speaks back to the question of “oppression” and “liberation” through the lens of the fat movement. This will be done through an analysis of the methods of fat activists and body positivity activists, both of whom share the following goals: they want fat women to feel good about themselves, reject dieting and to be free from stigmatization that exists for fat bodies throughout society. Whilst fat activism aims to resist overarching structures that oppress the fat body, body positivist activists view power as residing within the individual and possessing the potential for liberation. Firstly, the chapter looks to fat activism’s radical roots, noting how some members of the movement share their position with radical feminists, viewing power as an oppressive force governed by patriarchy (see Schoenfielder and Wieser in Shadow on a tightrope: Writings by women on fat oppression. Aunt Lute Book Co, New York, 1983; Brown and Rothblum in Overcoming fear of fat. Haworth Press, New York, 1989), whilst body positive activists suggest that women can resist fat-phobic rhetoric through practices of “self-love” and “empowerment” (see Wann in Fat!so. Because you don’t have to apologize for your size. Ten Speed Press, New York, 1998; Crabbe in Body positivity Power: How to stop dieting, make peace with your body and live. Penguin Random House UK, London, 2017). Here, I explore the complexities that surround members of the fat movement’s relationship to their bodies, noting that many activists are still compelled to lose weight, demonstrating the pervasive power of gendered structures. Next, I suggest an interrogation of the discourses that surround fatness is essential for resisting the stigmatization of female fatness. For some of my participants, fat activism is not enough to liberate them from oppressive structures, yet the process of “speaking fat” works to subvert discourses of fatness and provide some comfort to fat women. Indeed, drawing on fat activist scholarship, I suggest that “coming out” as fat enables women to carve out spaces of resistance and make connections within hostile environments (Murray 2008a).