The Body Commodity

FASHION ACCESSIBILITY

Part of the issue is inaccessibility to affordable and fashionable clothing for fat women. Even Torrid, an exclusively fat brand of clothing, is starting to use straight size models without stomach fat. The lacking representation suggests that these people are not worth being seen by society. This translates to individuals that they should be wearing as much coverage as possible, and to show off one’s body means that they’ve earned it through being thin. Professor of Apparel, Textiles and Merchandising Andrea Eklund says, I remember growing up, I never would wear shorts. I didn’t want to show my legs because I was heavier.” Eklund says to everyone “Wear the f*cking shorts.” She urges people to wear whatever makes them happy, no matter what others think. Eklund also says, “ If it’s not you, you don’t need to comment on it. Be happy that they are happy in their bodies and that they’re wearing something that they love that makes them feel good.”

FATNESS IN MEDIA

In a world where trends are fleeting as ever, it is worth questioning the ways in which bodies go in and out of style. Where slim bodies with little to no “figure” were once celebrated in the 90’s and early 00’s, the term “slim-thick” was coined in the 2010’s creating a new body standard in the eyes of our culture and media. As we have entered the 2020’s, the thickness and curvature of women’s bodies have started to go out of style. What was once the era of the Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL), is no longer. The Kardashians have made this clear recently, as they’ve gotten theirs removed. This is not to say that all thickness and all curvature has been accepted, but the minuscule ways in which it was accepted are now becoming less trendy. This change in discourse about diverse bodies has only marginalized diverse bodied people even further than before. What is really harmful are the ways in which the media portrays people with different bodies. Fat women are not shown respect on screen, and they deal with similar, if not identical, issues off screen. The implications of media portrayals have perpetuated stigmas in our society that still resist abolition.

HISTORY LESSON

According to Sabrina Strings’ “Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fatphobia,” recommended by Natashia Lindsey, assistant professor of Theater and Africana/Black Studies, “In the United States, fatness became stigmatized as both black and fat, and by the early twentieth century, slenderness was increasingly promoted in the popular media as the correct embodiment for white angels and protestant women. It is not until after these associations were already in place, that the medical establishment began its concerted effort to combat excess fat tissue as a major public health initiative.” A common pattern in history, postpandemics, are eugenics movements according to Laura I Appleman’s paper “Pandemic Eugenics: Discrimination, Disability, & Detention During COVID-19.” The core of eugenics is an ideology of survival of the fittest, completely stripping diverse demographics of personhood and value. Appleman explains that “Our society has isolated a class of “unfit” and “unvalued” people, whose lives and dignity are treated as less worthy than others.” We can see this today as the influencers in media and the trends making waves across our society are based on the perceived fitness, health and “cleanliness” of individuals. Not only do body type trends affect the ways we see ourselves, but they also affect the ways in which medical professionals treat patients. Too often medical professionals are less than empathetic with patients of heavier weights. There is a very harmful misunderstanding across the medical field that fat people with health issues are causing their issues simply by being fat. McMullin-Messier says, “That’s all that they see in my chart when I would go for any type of medical assistance. It was just immediately talking about my weight and immediately talking about that I needed to lose weight.” McMullin-Messier explains that people have stopped seeing her weight as an ‘issue’ and have since taken consideration for her problems. But she urges people to be strong saying, “ You deserve help. You deserve people to take you seriously, and not dismiss you, and it’s a very tough thing to do within our society.”

RELATIONSHIPS

Something that is common among the experiences of fat women is being the secret romantic interest, or even the butt of jokes made by guys that think fat and disgusting are synonymous. Fatness is a taboo in the world of dating. Lindsey says “I cannot remember a single person wanting to date me openly until my partner, who I’ve been with now for eight years. I remember in high school someone coming over to me during lunch, and was like, ‘Do you want to go out sometime?’ and then I hear a couple of tables over his friends laughing because it’s a joke.” Not only are romantic relationships challenging for fat women, but friendships and familial relationships can be difficult as well. While the pain of criticism from strangers and potential partners may sting, the real kicker is from those that are supposed to love you the most, family and friends. “When we hear it from the people that we love who say, ‘I’m just saying this to you because I love you…’, that, ‘you’d be so much prettier if…’, you know, ‘your life would be so much easier if…’ It’s just that internalization,” McMullin-Messier says. McMullin-Messier explains that even though there are constant portrayals of skinny being the right body type in advertisements and media, when it comes from those who are supposed to love you unconditionally it feels worse. “If it’s getting reflected back to us by the people around us, who tell us there’s something wrong with us, we internalize that in a very different way,” saysMcMullin-Messier.

HOW TO BE BETTER

Lindsey has an important message for people when it comes to how we can stop fatphobia. “That requires us to hold each other accountable and create brave spaces as we unlearn this as individuals and make better and stronger communities,” says Lindsey.