Health(ism) at every size: The duties of the “good fatty”

Gemma Gibson

doi:10.1080/21604851.2021.1906526

Abstract

ABSTRACT Discussing health in many “body positive” spaces will provoke a variety of familiar responses, for example, “but it is possible to be both fat and healthy,” “thin people can be just as unhealthy as fat people,” and “what about health at every size?” While there are many different ways to interpret the Health at Every Size (HAES) movement , this article seeks to examine the links between Lindo Bacon’s Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about Your Weight and the popularized body positivity movement as it is today. While Bacon and other health professionals subscribed to HAES undoubtedly have good intentions, those intentions do not absolve the negative impact that the popularization of HAES-related body positivity has had on those of us who are both fat and, by the definition of HAES “unhealthy.” The rise of body positivity into mainstream consciousness has popularized an “acceptable” way to be fat and perpetuates the stereotype of the “good fatty.” Using autobiographical writing of fat women who have been associated with fat activism and body positivity, I draw lines between Bacon’s influential text and some of the healthism that exists in the body positivity movement. Inspired by my discomfort with the celebration of HAES in fat body positive spaces, I ask how does HAES promote healthism in the contemporary body positivity movement?

Highlights

The moral panic associated with the “obesity epidemic” is in full swing and there are constant warnings from the mainstream media about the medical dangers of being “overweight.” Fat activists and scholars will likely have their own way of retorting to these instigations but over the last decade, a newer “movement” has emerged to counteract some of the discriminatory themes associated with the “epidemic.” Popular body positivity is recognizable in a multitude of different media contexts and the counterargument to the “obesity” epidemic is the Health at Every Size Movement (HAES)
HAES has become a useful tool that can be used by many mainstream body positive advocates to help them fight against healthist narratives that use “good health” as a reason not to improve the rights of fat people
HAES has a similar impact on body positivity; when a fat person is not healthy, this is often regarded as a choice, while it is unlikely that many people are making the active “choice” to remain unhealthy when they do not constantly participate in the duties of the good fatty they can effectively be excluded from a mainstream body positivity that prioritizes moral duties

Summary

Introduction

I have recognized three main duties of the good fatty which are “good health,” “healthy” eating and the will (and ability) to exercise If these duties are carried out fat people may be absolved of healthist narratives and made “innocent” of their fat bodies; if they are not I argue, a person becomes a “bad fatty” who is deemed morally inferior. HAES has a similar impact on body positivity; when a fat person is not healthy, this is often regarded as a choice, while it is unlikely that many people are making the active “choice” to remain unhealthy when they do not constantly participate in the duties of the good fatty they can effectively be excluded from a mainstream body positivity that prioritizes moral duties

Conclusion

Findings

Notes on contributor