Fat studies have been scarce in the Spanish-speaking world. In this paper we deepen in this matter and we propose that discrimination on the size of the body is a way to reproduce gender inequalities. We present the results of an exploratory study whose objective was to describe and understand how fat is socially constructed, based on differences by sex, age group and socioeconomic status. We conducted a qualitative study from a constructionist perspective. We conducted six mixed gender discussion groups in Santiago, Chile, three young people and three adults, also varying socioeconomic status (high, medium and low). We conducted the analysis following the recommendations of the grounded theory. The results lay out a feminization of the fat that is expressed in four dimensions: a stricter standard for the weight of women, the construction of fatness as a matter of feminine concern, as a matter of moral conviction, and women as responsible for the size of their body and their family. We conclude that the feminization of fat reproduces dichotomies of masculine and feminine (mind/body and public/private), which are themselves forms of gender violence.
Energici, M. A., Acosta, E., Huaiquimilla, M., & Bórquez, F. (2017). Feminization of Fatness: Qualitative Study in Santiago, Chile. Revista De Psicología, 25(2). https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-0581.2016.44771
Twitter