Fat: The Anthropology of an Obsession [Paperback]

Don Kulick (Author), Anne Meneley (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 13, 2005

An eclectic and highly original examination of one of the most dynamic concepts-and constructs-in the world.

 

With more than one billion overweight adults in the world today, obesity has become an epidemic. But fat is not as straightforward-or even as uni-versally damned-as one might think. Enlisting thirteen anthropologists and a fat activist, editors and anthropologists Don Kulick and Anne Meneley have produced an unconventional-and unprecedented-examination of fat in various cultural and social contexts. In this anthology, these writers argue that fat is neither a mere physical state nor an inert concept. Instead, it is a construct built by culture and judged in courts of public opinion, courts whose laws vary from society to society.

 

From the anthropology of "fat-talk" among teenage girls in Sweden to the veneration of Spam in Hawaii; from fear of the fat-sucking pishtaco vampire in the Andes to the underground allure of fat porn stars like Supersize Betsy-this anthology provides fresh perspectives on a subject more complex than love handles, and less easily understood than a number on a scale. Fat proves that fat can be beautiful, evil, pornographic, delicious, shameful, ugly, or magical. It all depends on who-and where-you are.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This engaging collection of essays by academic anthropologists examines fat as a symbol of aesthetics, social status, economic success and cultural belonging. Many of the pieces look at foreign societies or marginal subcultures that, contrary to the fat-phobic Western norm, view fat as a sign of beauty, health and prosperity. Rebecca Popenoe studies villages in Niger where women try to be as fat as possible, while Kulick and Matti Bunzl explore the world of fat porn. Joan Gross writes about phat rappers whose girth is taken as evidence of masculine potency and financial success, and Julia Harrison writes about the role of Spam in the construction of Native Hawaiian identity. Mary Weismantel probes Andean legends of white fat-sucking vampires—metaphors, she thinks, for the exploitation of Indian communities by the elite. Articles on mainstream Western attitudes toward fat uncover even more strangeness. Fanny Ambjörnsson details the byzantine ways Swedish high school girls talk about fat; Kulick and Thaïs Machado-Borges expose the odd Brazilian enthusiasm for intestinal leakage as proof that fat-dissolving pills are working; and Margaret Wilson asks why Starbucks patrons order their coffee with skim milk—only to dump whipped cream on top. The writers wear their scholarly apparatus lightly and offer a readable, thought-provoking survey of one of the most intimate and complicated issues of contemporary life. Photos.
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About the Author

Don Kulick is a professor of anthropology at New York University. His books include Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture Among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes and Language & Sexuality (with Deborah Cameron).

Anne Meneley is an associate professor of anthropology at Trent University in Ontario, Canada, and is the author of Tournaments of Value: Sociability and Hierarchy in a Yemeni Town.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (January 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585423866
• ISBN-13: 978-1585423866
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #584,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A whole new way of thinking January 18, 2005

By Ashley

Format:Paperback

Fat porn? Spam? Starbucks? I will never think of fat the same way again. This book was so much fun to read--it really made anthropology accessible, and helped me look at fat as something completely subjective. I love that fat is beautiful in places around the world. I also love that other places around the world obsess about fat as much as we do. I highly recommend this book and can't wait for Fat II!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A needed recommondation July 3, 2007

By A. Gray

Format:Paperback

Once again, another fun and insightful read. I'm also a big girl myself and the book did what it promised, made me think about my body and the images of the media and how other cultures respond to the idea of fat.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting read July 19, 2011

By Jodi-Hummingbird TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

This book promises to make you think about fat in lots of new ways and that is exactly what it does. Although this is a book on 'anthropology' it is very easy to read and also a very enjoyable read. It is very intelligently written and is sure to make you aware of issues surrounding fat that you weren't aware of previously.

This book, like Fat Is a Feminist Issue which I also read (finally!) recently, leaves you with lots of food for thought.

The standout essays for me were the first and last ones featured in the book.

Rebecca Popenoe essay on villages in Niger where women try to be as fat as possible was as fascinating as it was disturbing. I think being force fed millet porridge to become as fat as possible in your youth is just as bad if not worse than a society being obsessed with thinness.

The final essay on the activist group Pretty Porky and Pissed Off was funny, and intelligent and fiery ...and made me want to march on the streets and join the group members in throwing peanut butter sandwiches at people. (I agree with the need for advocacy and the sandwich throwing bit just sounded really fun.)

The essay on olive oil was very good as well and made me want to put good quality extra virgin oil on something and eat it, immediately.

The essays are each quite short and the book is short so I don't want to write too much and give too much away to those that are yet to read this book.

I did have one quibble with this book though, and that is in the quality of the nutritional information it gave about fat. I know that this topic is really beyond the scope of this book. I understand that.... This book would be absolutely hideous if it had a weight loss diet plan at the back of it!

I'd not have said anything if the dietary fat information had been neutral, but it wasn't neutral. Unfortunately this book was very dietary fat phobic, and reinforced some of the worst myths about dietary fat being bad for our health and something to fear and avoid at all costs.

Not being unreasonably scared of dietary fat is important and is very much tied in with accepting fatness and fat people and our own fat, I feel, and so I'd like to set some of those myths straight, briefly.

Embracing fats is also very good for your physical health!

*Dietary fat information interlude*

In the brilliant book The Diet Delusion: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Loss and Disease and Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health (Vintage) Gary Taubes explains that:

1. Saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet DO NOT cause heart disease.

2. Your body needs saturated fat and cholesterol to function properly.

3. The 'calories in, calories out' mantra is a myth. Overweight and obese people often eat no more calories, or even less, than their thinner counterparts

4. Dietary fat, including saturated fat, is not a cause of obesity. Refined and easily digestible carbs causing high insulin levels cause obesity.

5. Most people are overweight due to bad medical advice, NOT a lack of willpower, greed, laziness or because they lack 'moral fibre' or eat too much fatty and greasy foods!

For more on cholesterol see The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It

Other books which celebrate fats and oils and even the much maligned animal fats include Real Food: What to Eat and Why and Know Your Fats : The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol. The Weston A Price Foundation site is also very good and gives lots of information on why we need to eat real traditional foods to be healthy and why heavily processed foods are making us ill and fat, not old fashioned foods with fat in. One of my favourite quotes from the site is how you should always add enough butter to your bread so that when you've taken the first bite, the butter has 'teethmarks' in it!

The book Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food explains why avoiding fats (including saturated fats) and other traditional foods in our diets can have negative consequences for you and also for your offspring but how these can be turned around by eating real food.

Most of the information we are given about fats is wrong. Saturated fat sounds scary and gluggy and is often described as 'artery clogging' and 'not heart healthy' but the truth is very different. Saturated fat isn't saturated by some sort of horrific 'glop' but by hydrogen! The same element that is in water.

Saturated fats such as coconut oil are an important part of a healthy diet. We need to eat them to be healthy. Don't believe all the saturated fat hype!

Trans fats and hydrogenated vegetable oils are to be avoided, but not all fats should be tarred with this same brush.

Non-factual mentions of dietary fat in the book include the following:
- Despite the fact fattening up diets were described as consisting of millet porridge and milk - which does have some fat in but also lots of sugar - the fattening up diet was summarised by the author as causing weight gain because it was high in fat.
- One essayist writes, 'Modern eaters don't need these fat calories in their diets' and comments that while it was necessary for people to eat lots of fatty natural foods in the past, this isn't true today where the only reasons we might eat them are prestige and luxury and taste. Our need for fats in the diet, including saturated fats, are the same now as they were hundreds of years ago! They taste good because we are supposed to be eating them.
- The fact a food contains cholesterol is commented on as if this is synonymous with it being unhealthy, which isn't at all true.
- The book claims that whipped cream hardens your arteries, which is just not true; the saturated fats = heart disease theory has been scientifically dis-proven.
- The idea that someone battling illness would try hard to avoid natural whole foods with cholesterol and saturated fat in, nutrients that are good for you and essential for health, and replace them with lots of pasta, a highly processed junk food which has nothing in it whatsoever that is good for you and is just turned into sugar by the body, is appalling. Sugar depresses the immune system and causes all sorts of problems, as is well known. Etc. etc.

This book is great but may be even more powerful if you can combine reading it with reading about why dietary fat is good for you and not the enemy.

Double fat acceptance has to be a good thing!

Again, I think they each feed into the other, no pun intended.

*Annoying nutrition lecture over*

This book has a great cover page design as well, I love it.

I highly recommend this book. I don't buy many books but I am glad I bought this one. I look forward to loaning my copy to a few friends and family members and then talking to them about what they thought about it, too.

Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Read more ›

5.0 out of 5 stars Many Perspectives May 9, 2013

By Carol M. Collins

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This study reflects differing perspectives on fat. I enjoyed reading the comprehensive, informative collection. Taken together, the writings gave me a generous frame within which to observe and consider what is going on in my own country, culture, and unique/personal perspective. Glad I bought it, will pass it on to friends. . .

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book! April 25, 2013

By Adriana Nelida Coca

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

It was very interesting. I learnt a lot about how fat is viewed, perceived and valued in different cultures. I highly recommend it.

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and varied ways of looking at fat June 23, 2011

By Nicole

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I might not have otherwise read this book were it not assigned reading for my graduate course on the anthropology of food, but I found it to be a fascinating read. After I read the eight assigned essays (out of 14), I continued to read them all and was glad I did. I think the compilation of essays is a very interesting way to present and explore the concept of fat, representing a complex and diverse array of views.

Some of the ways fat is explored is as an aesthetic, as a substance to be guarded or discarded, valued and desired, or abhorred. Most importantly, the essays examine the social, political, psychological, and historical contexts in which "fat" is constructed. I would recommend at least a few of the essays to friends (and have), in particular the essays on olive oil and Starbucks.

While I thought some of the essays might be a little dated (the book was published in 2005 and I read it in 2011) (e.g. the essay titled "Phat"), the book nevertheless presented valuable and intriguing points of view. I think it challenges people to think about fat in new ways.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Used in class January 2, 2013

By C

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Orginally purchased for class and it was actually used. Was not too bad of a novel, better than a textbook.