Fat Politics and Sexuality in the Face of Hate:
A forum on rights you didn't know you needed
A forum on rights you didn't know you needed
May 20th, 7pm
McNally Jackson Booksellers
52 Prince St, NYC
Fat stigma is reaching a boiling point in American society. As Harriet Brown stated in her recent article on weight prejudice in The New York Times: “Public attitudes about fat have never been more judgmental; stigmatizing fat people has become not just acceptable but, in some circles, de rigueur.” My project is a fat studies/activism forum that responds to this cultural climate and presents recent work by five individuals who either publish within the academic sphere of fat studies and/or work in diverse segments of fat activism. The aim of this forum is to provide a mainstream audience with a perspective of fat-related issues that differs from the usual media coverage of “the obesity epidemic.”
The panelists include:
Marilyn Wann, the author of Fat! So?: Because You Don't Have to Apologize for Your Size!, and contributor to The Fat Studies Reader.
[forum moderator]
Lesley Kinzel, blogger/author for Fatshionista
Kathleen LeBesco, Professor and Chair of Communication Arts, Marymount College, and the author of Revolting Bodies? The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity, Edible Ideologies: Representing Food and Meaning, and Bodies Out of Bounds: Fatness and Transgression, and contributor to The Fat Studies Reader.
Substantia Jones, photographer, radio personality, and creator of the website/book The Adipositivity Project.
Zoë Femmetastica, PhD student in Sociology, social justice activist, board member of NOLOSE and correspondent for “FemmeCast: The Queer Fat Femme Podcast Guide to Life.”
The evening will introduce the audience to the diversity of groups working under the rubric of fat studies/activism such as NAAFA (National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance), HAES (Health At Every Size), and NOLOSE (started as National Organizations for Lesbians Of SizE). It will also show the important intersections between fat studies, queer studies, gender studies, and disability studies in the discussion of how fatness is defined in mass media and public policy. This variety is further underscored by the various media involved, including photography, film, scholarly publications, and blogs.
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!
