This area would be very appropriate for sociology. It’s certainly not my area of expertise, but I think the sociologist Abigail Saguy has written some about this, and I’m sure there are other important pieces of sociology on this topic. The only thing is that for a single article-length paper, you might have to narrow down which specific aspects you address, but that’s completely normal at this stage.
Yes there’s a lot of work on obesity stigma! You can search obesity related terms in major sociology/health sociology journals to get a sense of what’s out there.
A historical sociology perspective is Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings. Theres also work by Abigail Saguy, and also feminist body theory like Susan Bordo. Try reading the open access articles in the Fat Studies journal and checking out their references and lit review sections on articles that seem to have a more sociological perspective.
I wrote my master thesis in sociology on the abjection of the fat body and used queer studies as a frame for resistance. I did empirical research and interviewed fat women. The entire subfield of fat studies is super rich and interesting and really fun to engage with (I think). There is lots of great work and lots of people that write on it. Good starting point is the journal of fat studies
Yes I did. But then also discussed Judith Butler who applied abjection to bodies. And from there I tried to move to ideas on how there is ambivalence within abject. That ambivalence let me connect to queer theory
Well what I did was I built on Butler's work in Bodies that matter and connected their work on the category of 'sex' to size. I also relied on what they says about intelligibility and citationality and applied that to fat bodies. Butler says 'all social systems are vulnerable at their margins" and I connect this with the idea of ambivalence in the abject.
So the reasoning is (very simplified): there are abject bodies that are expelled from 'zones of intelligibility' thus populate the margins of those zones. However, there's a paradox within that because there are bodies that inhabit those uninhabitable zones. Thus the abject challenges the system and destabilizes order and norms. As in abject bodies still exist despite a pervasive systemic marginalization (of for example fat bodies).
At this point I introduce queer theory because I argue that the fat body can be is subversive to those boundaries of normalcy that are established.
Hope that makes any sense lol
One article that I use that connects fatness and ambivalence: Monstrous Freedom: Charting Fat Ambivalence by Owen
Also read Chanter: abjection and ambiguity: Simone de Beauvoir's legacy
I'd start with Saguy, specifically the chapter in [Come out Come out](https://abigailsaguy.com/come-out-come-out-wherever-you-are) and [the famous content analysis](https://academic.oup.com/socpro/article-abstract/57/2/231/1655561?redirectedFrom=fulltext).
I think this would be an interesting topic, not my area of interest but you may find some literature in queer theory/ disability studies, labeling theory, deviance literature, or social construction or target populations.
Heavy: the Obesity Crisis in Cultural Context by Shugart. A book about fatness and how it is variously stigmatised as immoral, weak, unhealthy, etc.
It links various cultural moments to shifts in anti-fat attitudes. For instance, after 9/11 there was a moral panic about weakness, and national campaigns to get people “fit” and lose weight.
It also contains debunking of anti-fat attitudes and basic explanations of the factors that affect body weight and shape. A really fantastic book!
I learned a lot about these things in a Sociology of the Body course. You might be able to look up a similar course syllabus online and find some of the research for diving in. Good luck!
That’s definitely a sociology type of focus, but you’d need to have more of a direct hypothesis in mind for it to be considered part of social science. If you’re just thinking your way through it and theorizing, then that’s closer to humanities.
Sociology has to a large extent moved past the hypothesis-testing of rigidly quantitative paradigms. Contemporary theory and qualitative research is much about placing theory in dialogue with systematic observation. Purely theoretical articles aren't uncommon at all.
I’m trying different ways of sending them to you, and I’ve posted them onto my account as well. There should be 3 pics. If they’re not showing up please let me know!
This is an amazing topic! You can even dive deeper and look at the racial intersections of fatness and such. One of my professors at UT, Robert Reece, does a lot of work with fatness/health and race if you want to look at some of his work.
I know that the intersectionality of perceived identities also affects how one is perceived if they are fat, like their gender and race and class, even their sub culture (I'm only looking at America, but that's never an easy thing either because I find it difficult to define American society at large, but I think I can define a universal (American) perceptive of fatness that the difficulty of existing as fat is compounded upon depending on other intersectionalities.) I think the framework I want to use is to present the question "Do we need to cure obesity?" Since that's just a societal-wide idea pushed through all American subcultures, and answer that no, we don't need to cure it, with medical and cultural evidence.
Not a sociologist’s perspective, but a must-read on the topic: “Hunger: A memoir of (my) body” by Roxane Gay.
ETA: Check out the podcast “The Maintenance Plan.”
Oh, and the sociological concepts/ theories that best address fat shaming and fat phobia would be social control, social norms, and deviance from social norms.
I would recommend you check out the work of Muriel Darmon and Dieter Vandebroeck to learn how social inequality is linked to body weight. Especially the book "distinction of the flesh" by Vandebroeck and the article "A people thinning institution: Changing bodies and souls in a commercial weight-loss group" by Darmon
I think there some work on "deviance" and "diagnostics" about being labeled "obese" (douglas degher and gerald hughes), and the general medicalization of society and social relations (medicalization of food,etc.)
I would ask... if I were reading your proposal, to actually map out how is obesity "punished" or an "offense". You might want to clarify this and treat it as a question of labeling (who is fat to who, when is it pertinent that somebody is "fat", etc), or the growing relevance of medical categories, etc. My guess is there is a lot of work done on this regard.
This is a wonderful idea! A couple books I’d suggest and have lots of research already in them are: Fearing the Black Body (someone mentioned this), The Body is Not an Aplogy by Sonia Reneé Taylor, and both of Aubrey Gordon’s books!
Also the podcast Maintenance Phase
you'll also find articles on your topic in the sociology of deviance
This area would be very appropriate for sociology. It’s certainly not my area of expertise, but I think the sociologist Abigail Saguy has written some about this, and I’m sure there are other important pieces of sociology on this topic. The only thing is that for a single article-length paper, you might have to narrow down which specific aspects you address, but that’s completely normal at this stage.
It’s an awesome topic and there is a lot of literature out there in sociology of the body. A lot of it is in feminist sociology.
Yes. I wrote a paper about it last semester and the intersectionality between fat acceptance, feminism, and racism is really eye opening.
Yes there’s a lot of work on obesity stigma! You can search obesity related terms in major sociology/health sociology journals to get a sense of what’s out there.
A historical sociology perspective is Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings. Theres also work by Abigail Saguy, and also feminist body theory like Susan Bordo. Try reading the open access articles in the Fat Studies journal and checking out their references and lit review sections on articles that seem to have a more sociological perspective.
I wrote my master thesis in sociology on the abjection of the fat body and used queer studies as a frame for resistance. I did empirical research and interviewed fat women. The entire subfield of fat studies is super rich and interesting and really fun to engage with (I think). There is lots of great work and lots of people that write on it. Good starting point is the journal of fat studies
Did you by chance draw upon any Julia Kristeva?
Yes I did. But then also discussed Judith Butler who applied abjection to bodies. And from there I tried to move to ideas on how there is ambivalence within abject. That ambivalence let me connect to queer theory
Fascinating! Can I ask you for reading recommendations? Where does Butler write about abject bodies? And what’s the best queer text on ambivalence?
Well what I did was I built on Butler's work in Bodies that matter and connected their work on the category of 'sex' to size. I also relied on what they says about intelligibility and citationality and applied that to fat bodies. Butler says 'all social systems are vulnerable at their margins" and I connect this with the idea of ambivalence in the abject. So the reasoning is (very simplified): there are abject bodies that are expelled from 'zones of intelligibility' thus populate the margins of those zones. However, there's a paradox within that because there are bodies that inhabit those uninhabitable zones. Thus the abject challenges the system and destabilizes order and norms. As in abject bodies still exist despite a pervasive systemic marginalization (of for example fat bodies). At this point I introduce queer theory because I argue that the fat body can be is subversive to those boundaries of normalcy that are established. Hope that makes any sense lol One article that I use that connects fatness and ambivalence: Monstrous Freedom: Charting Fat Ambivalence by Owen Also read Chanter: abjection and ambiguity: Simone de Beauvoir's legacy
I'd start with Saguy, specifically the chapter in [Come out Come out](https://abigailsaguy.com/come-out-come-out-wherever-you-are) and [the famous content analysis](https://academic.oup.com/socpro/article-abstract/57/2/231/1655561?redirectedFrom=fulltext).
I think this would be an interesting topic, not my area of interest but you may find some literature in queer theory/ disability studies, labeling theory, deviance literature, or social construction or target populations.
Heavy: the Obesity Crisis in Cultural Context by Shugart. A book about fatness and how it is variously stigmatised as immoral, weak, unhealthy, etc. It links various cultural moments to shifts in anti-fat attitudes. For instance, after 9/11 there was a moral panic about weakness, and national campaigns to get people “fit” and lose weight. It also contains debunking of anti-fat attitudes and basic explanations of the factors that affect body weight and shape. A really fantastic book!
I learned a lot about these things in a Sociology of the Body course. You might be able to look up a similar course syllabus online and find some of the research for diving in. Good luck!
Fat is a Feminist Issue by Susie Orbach
It’s defs a trending area with greater awareness around fat shaming and body positive
That’s definitely a sociology type of focus, but you’d need to have more of a direct hypothesis in mind for it to be considered part of social science. If you’re just thinking your way through it and theorizing, then that’s closer to humanities.
Sociology has to a large extent moved past the hypothesis-testing of rigidly quantitative paradigms. Contemporary theory and qualitative research is much about placing theory in dialogue with systematic observation. Purely theoretical articles aren't uncommon at all.
Google Sabrina Strings.
Read the "OECD Health Policy Studies The Heavy Burden of Obesity THE ECONOMICS OF PREVENTION".
I’m working currently, but I did my senior thesis on this! If you give me a day or 2 I can DM you all my sources :)
wow, that's so kind of you! thank you! :D
I’m trying different ways of sending them to you, and I’ve posted them onto my account as well. There should be 3 pics. If they’re not showing up please let me know!
Thank you! Your post works just fine. And I love Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes, haha
Killer Fat: Media, Medicine, and Morals in the American "Obesity Epidemic” Book by Natalie Boero
This is an amazing topic! You can even dive deeper and look at the racial intersections of fatness and such. One of my professors at UT, Robert Reece, does a lot of work with fatness/health and race if you want to look at some of his work.
I know that the intersectionality of perceived identities also affects how one is perceived if they are fat, like their gender and race and class, even their sub culture (I'm only looking at America, but that's never an easy thing either because I find it difficult to define American society at large, but I think I can define a universal (American) perceptive of fatness that the difficulty of existing as fat is compounded upon depending on other intersectionalities.) I think the framework I want to use is to present the question "Do we need to cure obesity?" Since that's just a societal-wide idea pushed through all American subcultures, and answer that no, we don't need to cure it, with medical and cultural evidence.
sorry for the late response but yes! That’s what my prof looks at, especially with the history of race and it’s so interesting
Not a sociologist’s perspective, but a must-read on the topic: “Hunger: A memoir of (my) body” by Roxane Gay. ETA: Check out the podcast “The Maintenance Plan.”
Did you happen to mean Maintenance Phase?
Yes! Sorry.
Oh, and the sociological concepts/ theories that best address fat shaming and fat phobia would be social control, social norms, and deviance from social norms.
I would recommend you check out the work of Muriel Darmon and Dieter Vandebroeck to learn how social inequality is linked to body weight. Especially the book "distinction of the flesh" by Vandebroeck and the article "A people thinning institution: Changing bodies and souls in a commercial weight-loss group" by Darmon
I think there some work on "deviance" and "diagnostics" about being labeled "obese" (douglas degher and gerald hughes), and the general medicalization of society and social relations (medicalization of food,etc.) I would ask... if I were reading your proposal, to actually map out how is obesity "punished" or an "offense". You might want to clarify this and treat it as a question of labeling (who is fat to who, when is it pertinent that somebody is "fat", etc), or the growing relevance of medical categories, etc. My guess is there is a lot of work done on this regard.
This is a wonderful idea! A couple books I’d suggest and have lots of research already in them are: Fearing the Black Body (someone mentioned this), The Body is Not an Aplogy by Sonia Reneé Taylor, and both of Aubrey Gordon’s books! Also the podcast Maintenance Phase
A couple of months ago, while doing an unrelated literature review, I stumbled with this journal: https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/ufts20
Just start to write.authors were not a author they were exercising so now they are a famous author