Read the following excerpt and the two blog posts linked below, then address the prompts following using this material and course content from this unit.
1. Excerpt from Hutson, David J. 2017, “Teaching Critical Perspectives on Body Weight: The Obesity “Epidemic” and Pro-Ana Movement in Classroom Discussions.” Teaching Sociology, 45(1): 41-53.:
“Recent stirrings within medical and scholarly communities have begun to challenge established connections between “excess” weight and poor health. Supported by epidemiological research, many studies find that body weights in the overweight and even obese ranges do not significantly raise one’s mortality risk. . . . normal and overweight constitute the healthiest categories to inhabit, while obese I shows only minimal increased risk. . . . the categories with the highest mortality rate include underweight, obese II, and obese III. Other research has noted a protective health benefit for individuals in the overweight and even obese categories, particularly among chronically ill populations who benefit from additional energy stores when undergoing treatments . . . such an effect occurs more widely within the population, not necessarily only for chronically ill individuals. Bodily thinness has also come under medical scrutiny, as those in the underweight category (BMI < 18.5) as well as the lower range of normal (BMI 18.5-22.9) have shown a higher incidence of death . . . underweight poses a risk due to a combination of factors including physical frailty, the inability to recover from external injury, increased rates of depression and suicide, and health-related issues such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. . . . underweight comprises the highest risk among all BMI categories—anywhere from 60 to 90 percent higher than normal, while obesity only increases the risk of death compared to normal by 30 to 40 percent.”
– MLA FORMAT
-Discuss at least TWO of the following in your paper (discussing more than two is fine):
• Obesity has been called the “last acceptable prejudice” by some sociologists (although most would argue that it is not and will not be the “last”). Why is large body size so stigmatized, especially within the “health” and medical arenas of our culture? What role does medicalization play in this “stigma of fatness”?
• According to Bridges, how does gender/masculinity and sexuality complicate the presentation of normal and deviant body size and shape? Does race and/or ethnicity matter for men’s bodies and gender performance?
• According to Harris, how does race/ethnicity and gender/femininity complicate the presentation of normal and deviant body size and shape? Does sexuality matter for gender performance?
-LINKS FOR SOURCES ARE HERE:
1. https://www.thesociologicalcinema.com/blog/barrel-chests-brawn-and-buffoonery-controlling-images-of-masculinity-in-pixar-movies
2. https://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2020/01/lizzo-and-sociocultural-constructions-of-the-body.html
