Nothing to Lose : Fat Acceptance-Strategien und Agency als Widerstand und Unterwerfung in den USA von der Mitte der 1960er bis in die frühen 1980er Jahre

Since the 1960s, Fat Acceptance gained momentum in the United States. In the context of the civil rights struggles and the protest movements of the era, more or less formally organized groups got together, aiming to end discriminatory practices against people who were classified as overweight. Fat Acceptance activists protested against the idea that fat was to be understood as a signifier for moral weakness and self-inflicted disease. By disrupting the equation of fat as disease, they sought to present fat people as individuals who were indeed capable of acting self responsibly and in tune with the demands of liberal societies. Fat people came to be understood as a group with a unique identity. At the same time they were presented as having agency. Agency in this case has two meanings. First, fat individuals performed resistance against an oppressive system. Second, by disconnecting fat from disease and moral failure, activist presented themselves as capable liberal subjects.