baby food biopolitics bmi
August 1, 2017 4:02 PM Subscribe
Food Fatness Fitness is a multidisciplinary scholarly blog on the "power, politics, and practices of food and eating" by a diverse group of researchers and academics.
Posts include:
(Re)examining Fat Stigma through Black Women’s History
“Love Your Amazing Body”: Empowerment and Discipline in Celebrity Advice with a photo of the Pirate Gymnast from the 1981 Jane Fonda’s Workout Book
On Responsibilization – or: Why Missing the Bus can be Political? featuring East German health education films from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s
On Hunger Strikes and Female Self-Determination
Posts include:
(Re)examining Fat Stigma through Black Women’s History
“Love Your Amazing Body”: Empowerment and Discipline in Celebrity Advice with a photo of the Pirate Gymnast from the 1981 Jane Fonda’s Workout Book
On Responsibilization – or: Why Missing the Bus can be Political? featuring East German health education films from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s
On Hunger Strikes and Female Self-Determination
[Suffragettes] exhibited the female body’s ability to endure hunger and hardship as well as a woman’s capability of self-mastery. This demonstration of a particular kind of physical and mental fitness emphasized the legitimacy of their demands. Their British counterparts actually awarded so-called hunger strike medals to suffragettes, utilizing the symbolism of sport and competition. To politically radical audiences, acting against the instinct to eat was proof of an absolute will to overcome existing constraints.
I'm going to post another article I found interesting. Saying I feel ambivalent about the article would be a diplomatic understatement but I think it might resonate with a few members. It certainly adds a wrinkle to my understanding of what falls under the umbrella of being fatphobic.
As someone currently working in evidence-based public health, it sets off a few defensive mechanisms. I'm going to read over a few assertions and think about it.
The Foodscape Argument: When Fatphobia Poses as Radical Social Critique
A popular, but pernicious, set of fatphobic assertions takes the form of what some scholars refer to as the “foodscape argument.” On its surface, the foodscape argument (which is also known as the “obesogenic environment” thesis, or the “environmental” theory of fatness) seems progressive. The theory postulates that western industrial societies are experiencing an “epidemic” of “obesity,” which is driven in large part by economic inequality. According to the foodscape argument, low-income people lack access to nutritious foods and are therefore forced to consume an “unhealthy” diet, which causes them to become too fat. Certainly, it is true that many people live in food deserts (neighborhoods in which food choices are severely restricted), and this injustice urgently needs to be rectified. But the foodscape argument is not the emancipatory theory that it seems to be; as we shall see, it reinforces fatphobia, along with many other interlinked forms of oppression. Here are some reasons why.
posted by Telf at 5:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
As someone currently working in evidence-based public health, it sets off a few defensive mechanisms. I'm going to read over a few assertions and think about it.
The Foodscape Argument: When Fatphobia Poses as Radical Social Critique
A popular, but pernicious, set of fatphobic assertions takes the form of what some scholars refer to as the “foodscape argument.” On its surface, the foodscape argument (which is also known as the “obesogenic environment” thesis, or the “environmental” theory of fatness) seems progressive. The theory postulates that western industrial societies are experiencing an “epidemic” of “obesity,” which is driven in large part by economic inequality. According to the foodscape argument, low-income people lack access to nutritious foods and are therefore forced to consume an “unhealthy” diet, which causes them to become too fat. Certainly, it is true that many people live in food deserts (neighborhoods in which food choices are severely restricted), and this injustice urgently needs to be rectified. But the foodscape argument is not the emancipatory theory that it seems to be; as we shall see, it reinforces fatphobia, along with many other interlinked forms of oppression. Here are some reasons why.
posted by Telf at 5:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
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From Donald Trump and the Shaming of the Fat American:
Through her hyperbolic and unnecessary tweet, Nardon conjured the figure of the “Fat American” – an enduring staple of global media depictions of the United States – that many would recognize, even if they might guiltily recoil from whatever visceral satisfactions it affords. Unlike actual fat people who are often subjected to ridicule and discrimination – and who are often viewed as “victims” of unhealthy environments – the Fat American rarely elicits sympathy. Rather, often garish images of the Fat American transpose prejudices about ordinary fat people to a global level where – being identified with a target that seems to “deserve” it – they can be expressed with apparent impunity. Far from being an exclusively overseas phenomenon, the Fat American circulates within the United States as well, and is often trotted out as a commentary on the “bloated” federal government, “lazy” welfare recipients, or the idleness and ignorance of consumers and voters. “Fat” is not simply a rude comment to make about someone’s appearance, but a loaded concept that defines divisions between America and the world as well as among Americans themselves.
From the same article:
The pointlessness of all this is described by a comment left on the New York Times website “Hilarious to read all the fat shaming comments about Trump’s weight. Because fat shaming is fine when you do not like a person, right?”
A few interesting articles on concepts of fitness and social Darwinism, Social determinants of health. Surprised they haven't engendered a conversation. Maybe people are tired of talking about these concepts in the blue?
posted by Telf at 4:35 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]