Fat Lives: A Feminist Psychological Exploration

177 Pages·2013·0.982 MB·English

by  Irmgard Tischner

Fat Lives
Ever caught somebody – or yourself – checking out the content of a ‘fat’ person’s
supermarket trolley? Ever wondered what lies behind this behaviour, or what it
might be like to be at the receiving end of this judging gaze?
Within the context of the current ‘obesity debate’, this book investigates the
embodied experience of ‘being large’ from a critical psychological perspective.
Using poststructuralist and feminist theories, the author explores the discourses
available to and used by self-designated ‘fat’ individuals, as well as the societal
power relationships that these discourses produce.
Using the issues of body size and ‘fat’ as an illustration, the book describes the
benefits of exploring psychological and social matters from a poststructuralist
perspective, and the dangers inherent in taking reductionist approaches to public
health and other social issues. As such, this book should be of particular interest
to anyone working within the disciplines of psychology, sociology and health
studies, as well as those involved in the study of health, gender issues and
appearance.
Irmgard Tischner is Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology at the University of
Worcester and associate member of the Centre for Appearance Research at the
University of the West of England, Bristol. Her research focuses on poststructuralist,
feminist and critical psychological approaches to the study of embodiment and
subjectivity, particularly in relation to (gendered) discourses of body size, health
and physical activity in contemporary western societies.
Women and Psychology
Series Editor: Jane Ussher
School of Psychology, University of Western Sydney
This series brings together current theory and research on women and psychology.
Drawing on scholarship from a number of different areas of psychology, it bridges
the gap between abstract research and the reality of women’s lives by integrating
theory and practice, research and policy.
Each book addresses a ‘cutting edge’ issue of research, covering topics such as
postnatal depression and eating disorders, and addressing a wide range of theories
and methodologies.
The series provides accessible and concise accounts of key issues in the study
of women and psychology, and clearly demonstrates the centrality of psychology
debates within women’s studies or feminism.
Other titles in this series:
The Thin Woman
Helen Malson
The Menstrual Cycle
Anne E. Walker
Post-natal Depression
Paula Nicolson
Re-thinking Abortion
Mary Boyle
Woman and Aging
Linda R. Gannon
Being Married, Doing Gender
Caroline Dryden
Understanding Depression
Janet M. Stoppard
Femininity and the Physically Active Woman
Precilla Y. L. Choi
Gender, Language and Discourse
Anne Weatherall
The Science/Fiction of Sex
Annie Potts
The Psychological Development of Girls and Women
Sheila Greene
Just Sex?
Nicola Gavey
Woman’s Relationship with Herself
Helen O’Grady
Gender Talk
Susan A. Speer
Beauty and Misogyny
Sheila Jeffreys
Body Work
Sylvia K. Blood
Managing the Monstrous Feminine
Jane M. Ussher
The Capacity to Care
Wendy Hollway
Sanctioning Pregnancy
Harriet Gross and Helen Pattison
Accounting for Rape
Irina Anderson and Kathy Doherty
The Single Woman
Jill Reynolds
Maternal Encounters
Lisa Baraitser
Women and Depression
Michelle N. Lafrance
Understanding the Effects of Child Sexual Abuse
Sam Warner
The Gendered Unconscious
Louise Gyler
Hard Knocks
Janice Haaken
Domestic Violence and Psychology
Paula Nicolson
‘Adolescence’, Pregnancy and Abortion
Catriona I. Macleod
The Madness of Women
Jane M. Ussher
Fat Lives
A feminist
psychological exploration
Irmgard Tischner
Published 2013
by Routledge
27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 Psychology Press
The right of Irmgard Tischner to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tischner, Irmgard.
Fat lives : a feminist psychological exploration / Irmgard Tischner.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Body image in women. 2. Weight loss–Social aspects. I. Title.
RC628.T56 2012
362.1963′980082–dc23 2012021177
ISBN: 978–0–415–68093–6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978–0–415–68094–3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978–0–203–07989–8 (ebk)
Typeset in Times by
Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction: a mantra of body weight, health and
lifestyle – setting the scene for fat lives 1
1 Putting the fat body in context 10
2 Exploring fat lives 27
3 Women’s in/visible ‘large bodies’: always visible but
rarely seen 44
4 ‘I just wear clothes to keep me warm’ 57
5 Health, well-being and the responsible fat woman 74
6 Gendering fat 94
7 Conclusions: the experience of being fat 120
Appendix 1 Theory in the exploration of fat lives 132
Appendix 2 Transcription conventions 143
Notes 144
References 145
Index 162

Acknowledgements
My first thanks go to the women and men who participated in my study – without
their generous gift of time and trust, this book would not have happened. I am
grateful to the University of the West of England (UWE) and the University of
Worcester, who provided the funding and time for the research and consequently
the book. To everybody at The Centre for Appearance Research (UWE), thanks
for your help and support – you will always have a special place in my heart. Very
special thanks go to Helen Malson for her guidance, support and friendship. Thanks
also to Dominic Upton and Paula Nicholson for your support and encouragement,
and to Jane Ussher, whose positive feedback, comments and suggestions at the
review stage were invaluable to me. And of course I’m very grateful for all the
support and patience provided by my friends and family in Bavaria, Bristol and
Worcester; thanks to all of you, and (in no particular order) especially to David,
Adrian, Matthew, Gyozo, Laura, Birgit, Geli, Rainer, Joana, Julian, Jonas, Maureen,
Derek and Eddy, for your moral support and practical help – you kept me sane.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my mother, Irmgard, for her continuous
support in many ways. I am dedicating this book to my late father, Hans.