Fat Women In Grace Nichols's Fat Black Woman

In her book Unbearable Weight, Susan Bordo (1993) makes the argument that the fear of women's fat is actually a fear of women's power. Thus, as women gain power in society, their bodies dwindle and suffer. She states that "female hunger--for public power, for independence, for sexual gratification-- [must] be contained, and the

You know what’s so beautiful about imperfection? It creates a space for everyone to share their uniqueness to our world. In the article, Hello, I Am Fat by author Lindy West discusses the issues of being treated poorly and wrongfully shamed for one’s body appearance. Spreading negatively, shame, or hatred towards individuals who are “fat” can truly affect a person’s life including yours. West felt obligated to explain the importance behind fat acceptance in today’s society to her current boss, Dan. Who believes he’s constructing a better work environment and helping individuals by sharing his rather “tame” statements to the public. Society is often times our worst critic by making us believe that body image and personal health will evaluate a person’s success.

What happens one is constantly reminded about the way they look, from families, friends, and professionals by “good intentions”? It is going to take “a lot of stones”(Geissler 331). Wood-Barcalow, in her paper “‘But I Like My Body’: Positive body image characteristics and a holistic model for young-adult women” provides a more through analysis on fat acceptance. Not only should individuals love and accept their bodies, they also need acceptance from others (114); For example, support from friends and families, reassurance through religious beliefs, and healthy communications with their own body via diet and exercise, for they will confirm if one’s body is at its best

“What does it feel like to be a fat person in a cultural context in which fat is reviled?” (Lupton, 2013, p. 67).

“I don’t hate you because you’re fat. You’re fat because I hate you,” an iconic “Mean Girls” quote briefly illustrates how fat is often portrayed in society. Movies and television series have a tendency to exclude overweight actors/actresses or use them as a center of ridicule. In doing so, it sends a misguided message to children, teens and adults who now feel the pressure of inadequacy. People have begun to examine the effects of body shaming in America. In the article “Fear of Fatness,” Peggy Orenstein, an award-winning writer, claims that the image of the ideal woman is rather impossible to achieve, and even those who may obtain it, still find flaws within themselves. Orenstein presents the idea that body fat is viewed as a negative

Obsessing with Weight in America The essay written by Cheryl Peck, entitled “Fatso,” was written to bring to the forefront the discrimination that many people of substance face today. American society has long been obsessed with people’s body sizes. People with larger body sizes have to contend with discriminatory comments and emotional problems because of the attention that they receive from others. Physical beauty is described in a manner that is not appropriate for all body sizes.

As obesity escalates towards becoming an epidemic in modern day America, pressures to stay fit have become overwhelming from media and doctors. Mary Ray Worley, a member of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), believes that modern day society is completely intolerant of obesity so much as to say that they "would rather die or cut off a limb than be fat" (492). She has made it a priority to convince Americans to accept obesity which she fights for in her essay, Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance. She believes that people should not be ashamed of their bodies, or try to change them to fit in with the crowd. She discusses a new outlook on body image and believes that we all should create “a new relationship

Those assumptions of the taken for granted relationship between obesity and health sometimes obscure the real causes that harm patients and lead to more fat-stigmatization. For instance, it is rare for a fat person to visit a doctor for checkup without hearing the normative advice to try to lose weight and eat healthy even though the visit might be completely unrelated to weight (Boero 2012: 134). This pre-assumptions and judgements that any fat person lives an unhealthy life style is already an issue.  The negative and automatic mind set of doctors, media and society towards obesity might be the root of the issue. Indeed, Boero in her book tells us of how gynecological cancer was thought to be more likely in obese women, and many concluded that obesity caused this type of cancer. However, one study, the WomanCare Plus, found that this cancer can be treated if early screening was done no matter what your size is (Boero 2012: 132). Moreover, they interviewed patients and found that women with high BMI faced some barriers that slowed their screening. For example, more than a third of women reported that they didn’t want to deal with the negative attitude of doctors towards their bodies. Also the embarrassment of not finding equipment that fit their size and the disrespectful treatments demotivated

“Society tells girls how to look and how to act and that’s not good at all” “On late night talk shows people are more likely to hear about how thin Nicole Richie is then a fat joke abouthow heavy Queen Latifah is.” “Ideals of beauty change some what over time, but the simple fact is that proponents of plus-size preference have failed to convince America that fat is beautiful.”

The question of how the obesity epidemic has evolved over time is best answered by examining the topical literature—not necessarily critical analyses of anti-obesity propaganda, but the propaganda itself. The difference in content is similar to the distinction between primary and secondary sources. Although authors and critics like Deborah Lupton and Natalie Boero can connect concepts between the literature on a wider scale, the actual documents generated by anti-obesity groups and fat advocates provide the best context and examples of the trajectory of the supposed crises in the present day. Here we examine two such documents, one from the Mayo Clinic’s weight loss plan, “My Weight Solutions,” and the other from a writer in support of the fat advocacy movement, Health at Every Size (HAES). Both texts are guidelines for personal health in relation to lifestyle and whether weight plays a role in health; there are similarities between them, as well as stark contrasts. However, it may come as a surprise that there are more similarities than not. Both documents are written with a goal in mind—that is, encouraging readers to engage in healthy lifestyle choices. There is a significant focus on the individual and on realistic behavioral, and therefore psychological, strategies within both documents. Although both documents relate to concepts in Lupton 's Fat and Boero’s Killer Fat, the focus of this analysis will be on the primary documents themselves. The key difference between

The purpose of this paper is to study the social aspect of obesity and an individual's personal experience of being fat. I understand obesity as a socially and politically meaningful divergence that is analogous to other significant differences based on the body, for example: disability, gender, and ethnicity (ef. Cooper, 1997&1998; Young, 1990). In my research, I approach obesity as a discursive category that is created, produced and reproduced through various social practices, such as: medicine and health care system, school, religion, and the media (e.g. Foucault, 1979).

Issues of dieting, fat, and slenderness are hot topics in our culture. Bordo addresses them from a postmodern, but historical, feminist perspective. In this essay, she attempts to explain the appeal of slenderness in our society; and also, how the ideology of normal our society holds can be mentally and physically damaging for many people.

The Fat Acceptance Movement, formerly known as Fat Pride, Fat Power, or Fat Liberation, is an attempt at exterminating bias, criticism, and otherwise discrimination against people who are overweight or whose bodies do not fit the social norm. The movement got its face in 1967 during a protest of 500 people in New York’s Central Park, and has now spread all over the country and more recently has popped up in various areas in the UK. The Fat Acceptance Movement has made clear its goals by promoting plus sized models, adding a diversity of shape and size of actors, actresses, and characters in entertainment and arts, and pushing for laws and protections in favor of the overweight community. While the movement has benefitted both men and women, it ties in closely to feminism, and huge contributions of

Thicker women face discrimination and pressures from society and their peers to lose weight because their bodies types are perceived as unhealthy this is the relative idea Beth MacInnis shared in “Fat Oppression”  in Consuming Passions. MacInnis discusses the health risk associated with weight loss and the misconception thicker women are unhealthy because of their body sizes. She points out that having a bigger body other than being thin the ideal beauty standard is seen as being unhealthy but for those women to lose weights by means that are risky and are shown to be unhealthy in her research. In simpler terms MacInnis is pointing out the hypocrisy in the idea that not being thin is unhealthy but for women that aren’t skinny face actual unhealthy and unethical means to lose weight.

Some labels that the society provides for larger people are still fairly hurtful. Being called obese or morbidly obese can be harsh, particularly when it’s regarding to children. According to the pediatric specialist thoughts against identifying children as obese and morbidly obese can cause humiliation, fear, and a lot more awful feelings and thoughts (4). Besides using terms like obesity and fat, people should use excess weight or weight could be used in its place to prevent additional humiliation (2). With all the weight perception, our society has created this whole atmosphere of disgrace where bigger people are embarrassed about their size. When big people try to live a healthy lifestyle by going to gym and running isn’t as easy for them to attend public places because this world is inimical and occasionally hostile (2). When it comes to the health care settings of weight discrimination can be a cycle according to the Weight Bias: Nature, Consequences, and