What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat

by Aubrey Gordon

Bodies like mine are seen by others as an open invitation to express disgust, fear, and insidious concern.

Fat bodies represent at once the poorest of the poor and the pinnacle of unchecked power, consumption, and decay. Our bodies have borne the blame for so much. Whole artistic worlds are built on the premise that bodies like mine are monstrous, repulsive, and—worst of all—contagious. From individuals to institutions, academia to the evening news, fat people are made bogeymen.

“preoccupation with personal health as a primary—often the primary—focus for the definition and achievement of well-being. [. . .] By elevating health to a super value, a metaphor for all that is good in life, healthism reinforces the privatization of the struggle for generalized well-being.”