The 'Fat' Female Body
Published on 30. September 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
VIII, 196 pages
978-1-137-57970-6 (ISBN)
Description
Investigating the current interest in obesity and fatness, this book explores the problems and ambiguities that form the lived experience of 'fat' women in contemporary Western society. Engaging with dominant ideas about 'fatness', and analysing the assumptions that inform anti-fat attitudes in the West,
The 'Fat' Female Body
explores the moral panic over the 'obesity epidemic', and the intersection of medicine and morality in pathologising 'fat' bodies. It contributes to the emerging field of fat studies
by offering not only alternative understandings of subjectivity, the (re)production of public knowledge(s) of 'fatness', and politics of embodiment, but also the possibility of (re)reading 'fat' bodies to foster more productive social relations.
by offering not only alternative understandings of subjectivity, the (re)production of public knowledge(s) of 'fatness', and politics of embodiment, but also the possibility of (re)reading 'fat' bodies to foster more productive social relations.
Reviews / Votes
"I especially appreciated how Murray was able to weave her personal experiences as a fat woman with her philosophical argument. Her stories brought a much-needed personal touch to the book. Despite the fact that the book was originally published in 2008, it is still a timely and important work for anyone who is interested in the field of fat studies and theorizing the fat female body. . I would highly recommend that anyone studying in this area read this book." (Jeannine A. Gailey, Fat Studies, Vol. 5 (2), August, 2016)
"This is a courageous, poignant, honest, passionate, angry book - rare qualities in a work of scholarship." - Bioethical Inquiry
"As Murray notes, her ambition has not been to offer a new model for "fat" embodiment, but to look for new ways to understand it. Murray has succeeded in her task admirably. By moving the examination of the "fat" female body into the realm of the philosophical, she has been able to take the theory of fatness in a new exciting direction." - Hannele Harjunen, Social Semiotics
"...extremely interesting and thought-provoking..." - Melanie Latham, Social and Legal Studies Journal
More details
Edition
1st ed. 2008
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
VIII, 196 p.
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
269 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-137-57970-6 (9781137579706)
DOI
10.1057/9780230584419
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Samantha Murray is a Senior Researcher in the Gendered Violence Research Network at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Prior to this, Samantha lectured in Cultural Studies at Macquarie University, Australia, and later worked in the not-for-profit sector. She has published several journal articles and book chapters on embodiment, and the discursive constructions of normalcy and pathology.
Content
Introduction: The 'Fat' Female Body: Pathological, Political and Phenomenological Imaginings
PART 1
Positioning 'Fatness' in Our Cultural Imaginary
The 'Normal' and the 'Pathological': 'Obesity' and the Dis-eased 'Fat' Body
'Fat' Bodies as Virtual Confessors and Medical Morality
PART 2
Fed up with Fat-Phobia: Coming Out as 'Fat'
Fat Pride and the Insistence on the Voluntarist Subject
Fattening Up Foucault: A 'Fat' Counter-Aesthetic?
PART 3
Throwing Off Discourse? Questions of Ambivalence and the Mind/Body Split
('Fat') 'Being-In-The-World': Merleau-Ponty's account of the 'body-subject'
Embodiment as Ambiguity: 'Fatness' as it is Lived
Afterword: 'Fat' Bodily Being
PART 1
Positioning 'Fatness' in Our Cultural Imaginary
The 'Normal' and the 'Pathological': 'Obesity' and the Dis-eased 'Fat' Body
'Fat' Bodies as Virtual Confessors and Medical Morality
PART 2
Fed up with Fat-Phobia: Coming Out as 'Fat'
Fat Pride and the Insistence on the Voluntarist Subject
Fattening Up Foucault: A 'Fat' Counter-Aesthetic?
PART 3
Throwing Off Discourse? Questions of Ambivalence and the Mind/Body Split
('Fat') 'Being-In-The-World': Merleau-Ponty's account of the 'body-subject'
Embodiment as Ambiguity: 'Fatness' as it is Lived
Afterword: 'Fat' Bodily Being