Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia

Sabrina Strings

May 2019 · NYU Press

About this ebook

Winner, 2020 Body and Embodiment Best Publication Award, given by the American Sociological Association

Honorable Mention, 2020 Sociology of Sex and Gender Distinguished Book Award, given by the American Sociological Association

How the female body has been racialized for over two hundred years

There is an obesity epidemic in this country and poor black women are particularly stigmatized as “diseased” and a burden on the public health care system. This is only the most recent incarnation of the fear of fat black women, which Sabrina Strings shows took root more than two hundred years ago.

Strings weaves together an eye-opening historical narrative ranging from the Renaissance to the current moment, analyzing important works of art, newspaper and magazine articles, and scientific literature and medical journals—where fat bodies were once praised—showing that fat phobia, as it relates to black women, did not originate with medical findings, but with the Enlightenment era belief that fatness was evidence of “savagery” and racial inferiority.

The author argues that the contemporary ideal of slenderness is, at its very core, racialized and racist. Indeed, it was not until the early twentieth century, when racialized attitudes against fatness were already entrenched in the culture, that the medical establishment began its crusade against obesity. An important and original work, Fearing the Black Body argues convincingly that fat phobia isn’t about health at all, but rather a means of using the body to validate race, class, and gender prejudice.

Ratings and reviews

This is so sad. Health issues are linked to poverty and education. Those issues are linked to class and culture; which are linked to values, geography, climate, politics and race, etc... But race in America cannot be divided into Black vs. white. Modern scientific studies show that beauty is based on sexual selection and men select women based on reproductive aptitude. Our culture over-glorifies obese women of color, from first billionaire Oprah to first billionaires for no reason: the Kardashians. Here in New Orleans: poor people have health problems. We need an affordable diet/ workout routine/ healthcare plan, not a load of self-victimizing racist-theory. This is so sad and ignorant. It is exploitative of the group of people it purports to help. How are all these obese kindergarteners going to have the strength and self-esteem to get healthy when they are being told that their early onset grade-school diabetes is the fault of their fellow classmates; their classmates that belong to the "other" races... Racism is not going to help African Americans disproportionate suffering and death from Heart Disease and high blood pressure. This is ignorant hate speech and should be de-platformed. You could take random picture from any culture and build a case to blame any race for your problems; that's why Southern racists can have the same Bible but continue to burn each others churches down. But even if everyone was the exact same color, same class and same intelligence; men are going to select women based on physical breeding characteristics. And those choices will be reflected as preferences and concepts like "beauty" in art and culture. GIGO: Garbage In= Garbage Out. Don't trash your body with garbage, and don't trash your soul with garbage like "Fearing The Black Body"

Wonderful. Great work

very educational

About the author

Sabrina Strings is Chancellor’s Fellow and Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. She was a recipient of the UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship with a joint appointment in the School of Public Health and Department of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.