An edition of Fearing the Black Body (2019)

Fearing the Black Body

The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia

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  • 4.5 (2 ratings) ·
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Last edited by reshelved
December 10, 2024 | History
An edition of Fearing the Black Body (2019)

Fearing the Black Body

The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia

  • 4.5 (2 ratings) ·
  • 52 Want to read
  • 1 Currently reading
  • 2 Have read

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 two hundred 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 twentieth 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.

Publish Date
Publisher
NYU Press
Language
English
Pages
304

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Fearing the Black Body
Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia
May 07, 2019, NYU Press
hardcover in English
Cover of: Fearing the Black Body
Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia
May 07, 2019, NYU Press
paperback in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Source title: Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia

Copyright Date
2019

Classifications

Library of Congress
HQ1220.U5S77 2019

The Physical Object

Format
paperback
Number of pages
304

Edition Identifiers

Open Library
OL32182226M
ISBN 10
1479886750
ISBN 13
9781479886753
LCCN
2018026988
Anna's Archive
cbcf7633078e47dad738d93c8f605268

Work Identifiers

Work ID
OL20151631W

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History

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December 10, 2024 Edited by reshelved IA, tags
December 18, 2022 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
December 3, 2020 Edited by Devon Meunier Edited without comment.
August 13, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
October 3, 2019 Created by ImportBot import new book