Body imperfect: The social construction of fatness.

Abstract

The cultural meanings surrounding fatness---including the social construction of fatness as a problem, or not---is explored in this dissertation. I look at fat women's imperfect bodies and how they deal with this imputed imperfection: by losing weight, by becoming fat activists, or something in between. Through in-depth qualitative interviews with Fat Busters (women who had lost weight; n = 48), Fat Boosters (fat activists; n = 24), and Equivocators (non-dieting, non-activists; n = 19), as well as through participant-observation and analysis of documents, I explore several ways that these groups are different: the attributions they make about why they are fat, those they make about why things are wrong with their lives, and those they make about why they are sometimes treated badly; their levels of feminist consciousness; and their acceptance of a fat identity, are some of the differences. However, I also explore several themes that show that the groups are not as dissimilar as they may first appear. First, they all define their identities reactively, i.e. in reaction to societal constructions that they are themselves perpetuating. Second, they are acutely aware of mass media images of fatness, which seem to affect many of them to a large degree. Third, weight still has an enormous impact on their everyday lives; this manifests itself in the way they live their daily lives and also in an intense awareness of their own body size. Fourth, their body awareness often includes a scrutiny of <italic> other</italic> women's bodies as well as their own. Fifth, weight seems to be something to be managed partially---sometimes largely---to appeal to men, which I argue is an accommodation of gendered, heterosexist norms. Sixth, the women seemed to strongly believe in the transformative power of thinness. Finally, in many ways women in all three groups do not <italic>challenge</italic> the fat-is-ugly bias, but rather bolster it. Implications of these themes, and prospects for change, are also explored.