Lyssa Beyer

Feminist or not, some of you out there might have heard the 1960s catchphrase “Fat is a feminist issue.” However, one must wonder what adipose tissue has to do with social justice and gender equality, two of the vital core concepts within any feminist movement. The answer is actually fairly simple – fat phobia. The extreme fear of any excess of these innocent, bodily storage cells is a patriarchal tool used to perpetuate the inferiority of individuals, predominantly women.

Fat phobia’s bosom buddy, the ideal body image, is another equally effective way of oppressing women and girls because these two contrivances ultimately result in cancerous preoccupations, taking up vital energy, time, money, and foremost attention that could be devoted to other aspects of the individual’s life. Imagine what a powerful catalyst of change could be created if each woman understood and despised the oppressing ideal body image and body size policies rooted in the existing patriarchy. Freed from this humongous and blinding preoccupation, women could focus their power on social change and justice. Regrettably, much remains to be done in order to educate about and support alternative body images.

Society’s fear of fat and size diversity is rooted so deeply that even amongst feminists, fat phobia is concurrent. Many self-proclaimed feminists have scolded their friends, lovers or fellow humans to lose weight in the name of “health, self-esteem, and love.” Based on hidden biases, stereotypes, and socially-constructed gender roles, fat people are not created equal in our society. While social movements, such as the civil rights movement, have produced some social fruition, fat hatred remains a socially acceptable form of discrimination, which is largely based on the sole misperception that every fat person is merely too stupid or too lazy to lose weight. After all, fat people don’t have self-control and it is their own fault if they are miserable – one must only have the right amount of will power to get rid of excess weight in order to live a much happier life than it would ever be possible being a fat person. Right?

Paul Campos, author of “The Obesity Myth – Why America’s Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health,” suggests that the failure rate of diets lies at 90 percent or higher and that yo-yo dieting actually proves to be more harmful than being fat and active. There are also many cultural questions in regard to America’s obsession with thinness. Is it truly a westernized phenomenon? In the book, titled “Fat – The Anthropology of an Obsession,” Rebecca Popenoe observes women’s preoccupation with body size and image among Arabs in Niger. Interestingly enough, Nigerien women focus on the stark opposite of the Western body ideal. Culture dictates these women to be as plump and zaftig as possible in order to ensure the desire and attention of men.

Yet, as wonderful and tempting as this different body ideal sounds to a fat person like myself, Nigerien women also suffer. Small or skinny women are often ridiculed and regarded as unattractive. Girls of proper marriage-age are habitually force-fed in order to physically and socially prepare them for their future life as fat women and wives. Clearly, one can see quite similar structures of patriarchal oppression and culturally reinforced female body ideals that function as a tool of keeping even those large women figuratively small in a predominantly misogynist world.

If feminists, or anyone else for that matter, focus on equality and social justice, they must also include the issue of fat phobia and fat hatred. It would be deceitful to seek the annihilation of oppressions such as racism and sexism without supporting individualism and diversity in regard to the human body inclusive of all shapes and sizes. Consequently, much consciousness-raising continues to be needed in order to uncover hidden personal biases against the adipose tissue of the human body. UW-Eau Claire offers ample extracurricular activities and student organizations to meet a wide range of students’ needs and to promote a healthy social climate of diversity and equality.

Nonetheless, no activist group exists to address the need for alternative body images and size acceptance amongst the student and faculty body of this educational institution. That will change this semester. Thanks to the Women’s and Gender Equity Center, students and faculty will have the opportunity to meet and discuss issues of size acceptance in a safe, respectful, and nurturing environment during bi-weekly meetings of the Size Acceptance Discussion Group. Some of the group’s goals will include creating awareness of size discrimination as well as campus activism and social networking.

Please join us for the first meeting of the Size Acceptance Discussion Group on Wednesday, Feb. 6, from 2-3 p.m. at the WAGE Center, Schofield 30. For more information, please contact [email protected] or call 836-2693.

Mohr is a sophomore women’s studies major and guest columnist for The Spectator.