Foreword : fat studies: an invitation to revolution / Marilyn Wann
Introduction / Sandra Solovay and Esther Rothblum
The inner corset : a brief history of fat in the United States / Laura Fraser
Fattening queer history : where does fat history go from here? / Elena Levy-Navarro
Does social class explain the connection between weight and health? / Paul Ernsberger
Is "permanent weight loss" an oxymoron? The statistics on weight loss and the national weight control registry / Glenn Gaesser
What is "health at every size"? / Deb Burgard
Widening the dialogue to narrow the gap in health disparities : approaches to fat black lesbian and bisexual women's health promotion / Bianca D.M. Wilson
Quest for a cause: the fat gene, the gay gene, and the new eugenics / Kathleen LeBesco
Prescription for harm : diet industry influence, public health policy, and the "obesity epidemic" / Pat Lyons
Public fat : Canadian provincial governments and fat on the web / Laura Jennings
That remains to be said : disappeared feminist discourses on fat in dietetic theory and practice / Lucy Aphramor and Jacqui Gingras
Fatness (in)visible : polycystic ovarian syndrome and the rhetoric of normative femininity / Christina Fisanick
Fat kids, working moms, and the "epidemic of obesity" : race, class, and mother blame / Natalie Boero
Fat youth as common targets for bullying / Jacqueline Weinstock and Michelle Krehbiel
Bon bon fatty girl : a qualitative exploration of weight bias in Singapore / Maho Isono, Patti Lou Watkins, and Lee Ee Lian
Part-time fatso / S. Bear Bergman
Double stigma : fat men and their male admirers / Nathaniel C. Pyle and Michael I. Loewy
The shape of abuse : fat oppression as a form of violence against women / Tracy Royce
Fat women as "easy targets" : achieving masculinity through hogging / Ariane Prohaska and Jeannine Gailey
No apology : shared struggles in fat and transgender law / Dylan Vade and Sondra Solovay
Access to the sky : airplane seats and fat bodies as contested spaces / Joyce L. Huff
Neoliberalism and the constitution of contemporary bodies / Julie Guthman
Sitting pretty : fat bodies, classroom desks, and academic excess / Ashley Hetrick and Derek Attig
Stigma threat and the fat professor: reducing student prejudice in the classroom / Elena Andrea Escalera
Fat stories in the classroom : what and how are they teaching about us? / Susan Koppelman
Fat girls and size queens : alternative publications and the visualizing of fat and queer eroto-politics in contemporary American culture / Stefanie Snider
Fat girls need fiction / Susan Stinson
Fat heroines in chick-lit: gateway to acceptance in the mainstream? / Lara Frater
The fat of the (border)land : food, flesh, and Hispanic masculinity in Willa Cather's 'Death Comes for the Archbishop' / Julia McCrossin
Placing fat women on center stage / JuliaGrace Jester
"The white man's burden" : female sexuality, tourist postcards, and the place of the fat woman in early 20th century U.S. culture / Amy Farrell
The Roseanne Benedict Arnolds: how fat women are betrayed by their celebrity icons / Beth Bernstein and Matilda St. John
Jiggle in my walk: the iconic power of the "big butt" in American pop culture / Wendy A. Burns-Ardolino
Seeing through the layers : fat suits and thin bodies in 'the Nutty Professor' and 'Shallow Hal' / Katharina R. Mendoza
Controlling the body : media representations, body size, and self-discipline / Dina Giovanelli and Stephen Ostertag
"I'm allowed to be a sexual being" : the distinctive social conditions of the fat burlesque stage / D. Lacy Asbill
Embodying fat liberation / Heather McAllister
Not Jane Fonda : aerobics for fat women only / Jenny Ellison
Exorcising the exercise myth: creating women of substance / Dana Schuster and Lisa Tealer
Maybe it should be called fat American studies / Charlotte Cooper
Are we ready to throw our weight around? Fat studies and political activism / Deb Burgard, Elana Dykewomon, Esther Rothblum, and Pattie Thomas
Appendix A : fat liberation manifesto, November 1973 / Judy Freespirit and Aldebaran.
Publisher's Summary:
We have all seen the segments on television news shows: a fat person walking on the sidewalk, her face out of frame so she can't be identified, as some disconcerting findings about the 'obesity epidemic' stalking the nation are read by a disembodied voice. And we have seen the movies - their obvious lack of large leading actors silently speaking volumes. From the government, health industry, diet industry, news media, and popular culture we hear that we should all be focused on our weight. But is this national obsession with weight and thinness good for us? Or is it just another form of prejudice - one with especially dire consequences for many already disenfranchised groups? For decades, a growing cadre of scholars has been examining the role of body weight in society, critiquing the underlying assumptions, prejudices, and effects of how people perceive and relate to fatness. This burgeoning movement, known as fat studies, includes scholars from every field, as well as activists, artists, and intellectuals. "The Fat Studies Reader" is a milestone achievement, bringing together fifty-three diverse voices to explore a wide range of topics related to body weight. From the historical construction of fatness to public health policy, from job discrimination to social class disparities, from chick-lit to airline seats, this collection covers it all. Edited by two leaders in the field, "The Fat Studies Reader" is an invaluable resource that provides a historical overview of fat studies, an in-depth examination of the movement's fundamental concerns, and an up-to-date look at its innovative research. (source: Nielsen Book Data)