Fearing the Black Body

The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia

De: Sabrina Strings

Narrado por: Allyson Johnson

How the female body has been racialized for more than 200 years

There is an obesity epidemic in this country, and poor Black women are particularly stigmatized as "diseased" and a burden on the public health-care system. This is only the most recent incarnation of the fear of fat Black women, which Sabrina Strings shows took root more than 200 years ago.

Strings weaves together an eye-opening historical narrative ranging from the Renaissance to the current moment, analyzing important works of art, newspaper and magazine articles, and scientific literature and medical journals - where fat bodies were once praised - showing that fat phobia, as it relates to Black women, did not originate with medical findings, but with the Enlightenment era belief that fatness was evidence of "savagery" and racial inferiority.

The author argues that the contemporary ideal of slenderness is, at its very core, racialized and racist. Indeed, it was not until the early 20th century, when racialized attitudes against fatness were already entrenched in the culture, that the medical establishment began its crusade against obesity. An important and original work, Fearing the Black Body argues convincingly that fat phobia isn't about health at all, but rather a means of using the body to validate race, class, and gender prejudice.

©2019 New York University (P)2020 Tantor

Life altering read

The revelation of where fat phobia comes from and it’s deep ties to the slave trade releases the reader from so much body shame.

A must read

I’ve been on a journey to understand fat phobia and become educated about weight politics. This book truly is the must read for understanding the intersectionality of this topic.

very educational

It felt very thorough, and clearly explained the history and repercussionsof the topic. I learned a lot from it.

So informative!

This book is absolutely fascinating. Strings uses sociological and philosophical theory to analyze archival records in tracing the gendered and racialized history of meanings of body size and its use in social control. If you want to know where diet culture came from, definitely read this book.

Academic look at fat phobia

This is definitely a more academic read. Includes historical and critical analysis of the use of fat phobia, racism, and social norms to control women’s bodies. Well worth the read!

“BLACK LIVES MATTER” MUST READ

Very well researched historical survey on the origins of Fat Shaming and Fat Phobia.
Discusses cultural focus on weight in portrait painting, science, moralism, and the efforts to denigrate other races and justify slavery by elevating thin whites over large BIPOC.
You cannot be a Fat Activist without reading or listening to this.
Narrator was clear and easy to understand.

Review of Fear of the Black Body

Comprehensive analysis of historical and social aversion to fatness in society, especially toward Black women.

Interesting and well argued

Excellent book which does a brilliant job of spanning hundreds of years to construct her argument about bodies and race and gender. It’s an absorbing read while simultaneously being full of facts and complex philosophical points.

Focus on the book itself

It seems that many people seem to be extremely against this book because they seem to think it says that fatness is healthy/thinness is unhealthy. This is nowhere to be found. Strings puts forward no medical/scientific claims about weight, adiposity, and health, which is a good thing. It is a very interesting mapping of the historical roots of fatphobia, which emerged out of white Protestantism, not solely from modern medicine.

Please re-record with the author

My only regret is that the author isn’t reading this. I want her voice reading this important work.