The use of the term “fat” traditionally causes discomfort. Predominantly employed as a slur to undermine and chastise supposedly non-normative bodies, “fat” was re-evaluated in the United States as an empowering term by fat activists in the 1970s, a strategy that led to the emergence of Fat Studies. This course will dissect fatness and the ways in which it is mediated from various angles (for example beauty, health, citizenship), and seek the intersections of fatness with gender, race and class in order to question the cultural anxieties created by the so-called obesity epidemic that has been declared one the most urging problems in the United States, and globally. Please note that this course will also address topics that relate to body trauma, disordered eating and bullying; please contact me if you have questions about this. The staging and screening of the fat body in various cultural contexts will offer insights into the meaning of the fat body in and for the US national imaginary.
Die Veranstaltung wurde 2 mal im Vorlesungsverzeichnis WiSe 2025/26 gefunden:
