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"How could you let yourself get like that?": Stories of the origins of obesity in accounts of weight loss surgery

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  • Throsby, Karen

Abstract

In the context of the contemporary rhetoric of the "obesity epidemic", the fat body is easily labelled as lazy, self-indulgent and lacking in discipline. Those who become fat often find themselves needing to account for their size in order to refute the suggestion of moral failure that attaches itself easily to the fat body. Drawing on a series of interviews with 35 weight loss surgery patients in England and Scotland, this paper explores the discursive resources and strategies available to those who are, or who have been, very overweight in accounting for their size. The paper argues that the participants drew on three core discourses in order to resist the construction of their fatness as an individual moral failure: (1) the fat-prone body; (2) childhood weight gain; and (3) life events disrupting weight management efforts.

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  • Throsby, Karen, 2007. ""How could you let yourself get like that?": Stories of the origins of obesity in accounts of weight loss surgery," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(8), pages 1561-1571, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:65:y:2007:i:8:p:1561-1571
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    Cited by:

    1. Anne Lhuissier, 2010. "Introduction - Maigrir : de la terminologie aux prariques," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 91(2), pages 117-125.
    2. Blackburn, Maxine & Stathi, Afroditi, 2019. "Moral discourse in general practitioners’ accounts of obesity communication," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 166-173.
    3. Silver, Joanna & Reavey, Paula, 2010. ""He's a good-looking chap aint he?": Narrative and visualisations of self in body dysmorphic disorder," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(10), pages 1641-1647, May.
    4. Danielle Couch & Samantha L. Thomas & Sophie Lewis & R. Warwick Blood & Paul Komesaroff, 2015. "Obese Adults’ Perceptions of News Reporting on Obesity," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(4), pages 21582440156, October.
    5. Lhuissier, Anne, 2010. "Introduction - Maigrir : de la terminologie aux prariques," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement (RAEStud), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 91(2).
    6. Bissell, Paul & Peacock, Marian & Blackburn, Joanna & Smith, Christine, 2016. "The discordant pleasures of everyday eating: Reflections on the social gradient in obesity under neo-liberalism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 14-21.
    7. Barlösius, Eva & Philipps, Axel, 2015. "Felt stigma and obesity: Introducing the generalized other," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 9-15.
    8. Owen-Smith, Amanda & Coast, Joanna & Donovan, Jenny, 2009. ""I can see where they're coming from, but when you're on the end of it ... you just want to get the money and the drug.": Explaining reactions to explicit healthcare rationing," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 1935-1942, June.
    9. Drew, Patricia, 2011. "“But Then I Learned…”: Weight loss surgery patients negotiate surgery discourses," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(8), pages 1230-1237.
    10. van Amsterdam, Noortje & van Eck, Dide, 2019. "“I have to go the extra mile”. How fat female employees manage their stigmatized identity at work," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 46-55.
    11. Greener, Joe & Douglas, Flora & van Teijlingen, Edwin, 2010. "More of the same? Conflicting perspectives of obesity causation and intervention amongst overweight people, health professionals and policy makers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(7), pages 1042-1049, April.
    12. Borovoy, Amy & Roberto, Christina A., 2015. "Japanese and American public health approaches to preventing population weight gain: A role for paternalism?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 62-70.

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