Ellison, Jenny (Author)
Canadian Bulletin of Medical History/Bulletin Canadienne d'Histoire de la Medecine
Volume: 29, no. 3
Issue: 3
Pages: 55-75
This article adds historical dimension to the developing literature on obesity stigma: negative treatment and discrimination experienced as a consequence of the belief that overweight people are lazy and lacking willpower and basic knowledge about nutrition. Interviews with women who identified as fat suggest that medical and cultural concern about weight was conflated in their interactions with doctors, peers, and family. Stigma was a cause of frustration and despair for those deemed obese, who felt that unfair assumptions were made about their lifestyle and their abilities. In response, the women interviewed formed organizations, exercise classes, and social activities for fat women only. Fat activists offer unique insight, because their work sheds light not only on the impact of obesity stigma but also on how some women responded to and resisted the medicalization and objectification of their bodies. Cet article se propose d'ajouter une dimension historique à la littérature, en pleine expansion, sur le stigmate de l'obésité (c'est-à-dire le fait de considérer les individus en surpoids comme des gens paresseux, manquant de volonté et/ou de connaissances de base sur la façon de bien se nourrir et par conséquent de porter des jugements négatifs sur eux, voire de les discriminer). A partir d'entrevues effectuées auprès de femmes identifiées comme étant grosses , on suggère que les inquiétudes, médicales comme culturelles, à l'endroit du poids jouent un rôle fondamental dans les relations de ces dernières avec les médecins, leurs pairs ou encore leurs proches. Le stigmate qui les touche dans ces circonstances constituerait alors une source de frustration et de désespoir; ces femmes ressentiraient un sentiment d'injustice lié au regard porté sur leurs habitudes de vie et sur leurs capacités à faire face . En réponse à ces représentations, les interviewées ont formé des associations, se sont retrouvées dans des cours d'exercice physique et ont participé à des activités sociales réservées aux femmes obèses. Ces activistes nous offrent alors un point de vue unique en cela que leur investissement révèle non seulement le poids social du stigmate de l'obésité mais également comment les femmes réagissent et résistent à la médicalisation et à l'objectivation de leur corps.
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