The Gray Area with Sean Illing The racist origins of fat phobia
Jun 16, 2022
Da'Shaun Harrison, an activist and Lambda Literary Award winner for "Belly of the Beast," dives into the structural roots of anti-fatness and its deep connections to anti-Blackness. They discuss how societal misconceptions about fat bodies trace back to slavery and eugenics, affecting justice systems today. Da'Shaun highlights personal experiences with body image and advocates for a more inclusive understanding of body positivity that fights systemic oppression. Ultimately, they envision a future where fat liberation is part of a broader movement for equity.
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Racist Roots of Fatphobia
- Anti-fatness, as a coherent ideology, emerged with white slave owners observing fatness on enslaved African bodies.
- This linked fatness to negative traits like greed and laziness, intertwining anti-fatness with anti-Blackness.
Health, Anti-Blackness, and Anti-Fatness
- The medical industry's foundations are intertwined with the creation of mental and physical disabilities to justify the subjugation of enslaved people.
- Da'Shaun Harrison argues that health, as a concept, is inherently linked to anti-Blackness and anti-fatness.
BMI's Flawed Origins
- The Body Mass Index (BMI) was developed by mathematician Adolf Quetelet, based on the bodies of French and Scottish cis men.
- It was intended to assess population health, not individual health, and was later adopted by eugenicists.
