Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia
Description
How did fat phobia become so culturally powerful—and why is it so tightly entangled with race? In this incisive work, Sabrina Strings traces the racial origins of anti-fat attitudes, showing how nineteenth- and twentieth-century scientific, medical, and popular narratives helped define Black bodies as “excessive” while casting white bodies as the standard of health and discipline. Through a high-level historical and cultural analysis, the book follows how these ideas traveled into modern institutions, shaping stigma, health discourse, and everyday judgments about weight. Blending scholarship with sharp social critique, it illuminates themes of racialization, bodily autonomy, and the politics of “normal,” offering readers a clearer lens on how prejudice can masquerade as concern for well-being.
Available Editions
paperback
NYU Press
Published May 7, 2019
304 pages
ISBN: 9781479886753
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Details
First Published
2019
Language
eng
Content Warnings
Content and trigger warnings for Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings.