Watching Our Weights: The Contradictions of Televising Fatness in the "Obesity Epidemic

Watching Our Weights explores the competing and contradictory fat representations on television that are related to weight-loss and health,medicalization and disease,and body positivity and fat acceptance. It examines the resistance inherent within TV representations and narratives of fatness as a global health issue,the inherent and overt resistance found across stories of medicalized fatness,and programs that actively avoid dieting narratives in favor of less oppressive ways of thinking about the fat body.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 28 February 2019
Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Winner of the 2020 Gourmand Awards, Food Writing Section, USA, Watching Our Weights delves into the complex and often conflicting fat representations on television that revolve around weight loss, health, medicalization, disease, and body positivity and fat acceptance. While television, particularly reality television, is often perceived as promoting individual self-discipline and expert interventions as crucial for transforming fat bodies into thin bodies, fat representations and narratives on television also create space for alternative and resistant discourses of the body. In her insightful examination, Melissa Zimdars explores the inherent resistance within TV representations and narratives of fatness as a global health issue, the inherent and overt resistance found across stories of medicalized fatness, and programs that actively avoid dieting narratives in favor of less oppressive ways of thinking about the fat body.

Watching Our Weights skillfully weaves together analyses of media industry lore, decisions, communication and health policies, medical research, activist projects, popular culture, and media texts to establish two interconnected aspects. Firstly, it demonstrates how television shapes our knowledge of fatness, influencing our perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs about fat individuals and bodies. Secondly, it highlights how fatness contributes to our understanding of contemporary television, shedding light on the ways in which television narratives and representations reflect and reinforce societal norms, cultural values, and political agendas related to body image, health, and identity.

Through its comprehensive exploration, Watching Our Weights offers valuable insights into the complex dynamics between television, fatness, and society. It challenges the dominant narratives that perpetuate weight stigma, body shaming, and health-related discrimination. It promotes a more nuanced and inclusive understanding of fatness, recognizing its diversity, complexity, and relevance in contemporary culture. By examining the ways in which television shapes our knowledge of fatness and how fatness helps us better understand contemporary television, the book provides a valuable resource for media scholars, researchers, activists, and anyone interested in exploring the intersection of body image, media, and society.

Weight: 282g
Dimension: 228 x 152 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780813593548