Fat Studies: The Basics

by May Friedman

Overview

Fat Studies: The Basics introduces the reading of fat bodies and the ways that Fat Studies, as a field, has responded to waves of ideas about fat people, their lives, and choices.

Part civil rights discourse and part academic discipline, Fat Studies is a dynamic project that involves contradiction and discussion. In order to understand this field, the book also explores its intersections with race, class, gender, sexuality, age, disability, ethnicity, migration and beyond. In addition to thinking through terminology and history, this book will aim to unpack three key myths which often guide Fat Studies, showing that:

1. fat is a meaningful site of oppression intersected with other forms of discrimination and hatred
2. to be fat is not a choice (but also that a discussion of choice is itself problematic); and
3. fat cannot be unambiguously correlated with a lack of health

Fat Studies: The Basics is a lively and accessible foundation for students of Gender Studies, Sociology, Psychology, and Media Studies, as well as anyone interested in learning more about this emergent field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032879413
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/23/2025
Series:	The Basics
Pages:	154
Product dimensions:	5.06(w) x 7.81(h) x (d)

About the Author

May Friedman is a Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada. Her research explores Fat Studies and unstable identities.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. How Fat Hurts 3. Choosing Fat? 4. Toward Death and Debility? 5. Fat and Popular Culture 6. Intersecting Fat 7. Fat Activisms and Fat Revolution

Editorial Reviews

This is an introduction to Fat Studies that is so much more than the basics. Friedman deftly weaves together the multiple histories and theories that are shaping Fat Studies today. The result is intersectional and accessible but never simple. It will be an invaluable touchstone for the field.”

Francis Ray White, University of Westminster

“Fat Studies: The Basics brilliantly unpacks the complexities of fatness across social, cultural, and political facets of life. The book highlights the impact of fatness within healthcare and how media representation curates our perceptions of the body, revealing how dominant systems take up fatness and create inequities in all aspects of our lives. Each chapter evokes a thoughtful process to rethink the biases and assumptions that permeate our understanding of fatness, and encourages us to enter our everyday lives with a more nuanced understanding of inclusion, access, and body diversities.”

Sonia Meerai, Assistant Professor, Laurentian University

“This accessible little primer dives into the biggest ideas emerging from Fat Studies today, debunking myths and exploring the rich history and realities of fat lives. A must-read for anyone interested in social justice and body politics!”

Carla Rice, Professor and Research Chair in Feminist Studies and Social Practice, University of Guelph 

From the Publisher