The following comments from Chronicle.com are about the article "No Fear of Fat"  (The Chronicle Review, November 13, 2009).

Thank you for the thoughtful article reviewing the state of fat studies. Like many of the other commenters, I have hesitations about yet another interdiscipline being created. And yet continuing to explore the factors that bring both favoritism and discrimination to all of us is important to explore across many disciplines. The social consequences of a given weight do deserve further study, although I wish this could be combined with other factors rather than separated out into yet another "studies."

almelle

I have to admit that my knee-jerk reaction is to scoff at "fat studies." On second thought, I think something more like "weight studies" would be a perfectly useful enterprise. Weight certainly seems like an essential term in a person's identity. I mean, what about "thin studies" for men? Limp noodles don't get the girls and often get picked on by other men (admittedly, fat men don't fare much better). What about "muscle studies"? What about "tall studies" for women? What about "flat-chest studies"? The list goes on.

I think my main objection to this program of research is that it isolates one part of a larger identity issue and turns it into a polemical cause instead of looking more broadly and intricately at how weight and size determine identification in the West.

anonscribe

This is just neo-Marxism at its most absurd. When will this trend in academia die out? It seems only the most left-wing departments in English and the humanities are still tackling it as if it means anything.

Instead of just providing mindless polemicals and negative dialectics against the so-called status quo, wouldn't the obese be better served by acknowledging that they are indeed at greater risk for certain diseases? Discrimination shouldn't be tolerated, of course; it is just as unlawful to discriminate against a person in the labor market for being overweight as it is to discriminate against a homosexual who is HIV-positive or has AIDS; however, the at-risk homosexual is still going to find medical treatment for his ailment, since it is obviously accepted that his/her life is at risk.

I think that's where fat studies loses its credibility: Instead of trying to bring people to a mutual understanding that it is wrong to discriminate against others or to hold prejudices based on appearance, these scholars try to rationalize obesity and make it some sort of movement of empowerment. But this is very, very different from other categories like race or gender.

piske109

To me the most interesting aspect of this exchange is the level to which some commenters will go—am I reading sixth graders' Facebook posts? Talking about how fat people smell? How they are disgusting? That fatness can provoke such responses from academics demonstrates the depth to which this is an emotional and cultural issue at least as much as it is a health issue. And that does require some scrutiny.

yorklibrary