BODIES AS

TEXTRepresentation of Plus Sized Women In Media

● Aside from the obvious (Biggest

Loser, general news views -

which are bad.)

● People connect to characters,

some formulate opinions about

others through the narrative of

other characters.

● Stereotypes - which ones are

harmful? When is talking about

weight a problem?

● Can’t you just be happy with

seeing plus sized women at all?

Overview

Sharon Strelecki - Kath and Kim (1994)

“Fat” Monica - FRIENDS (1994 - 2004)

“Fat” Monica (FRIENDS, 1994 - 2004)

● Characterized as gross and disgusting, to the point that other characters view

her with distaste and sympathy.

● Awkward, childish, over eager, “uncool”.

● Uneducated on sex to the point of embarrassment, acts immature about it.

● Her future husband Chandler rejects her, causing her to lose weight and

become ~beautiful~

● Running gag throughout series about how Monica broke various things during

her fat childhood, ate too much or did outrageous things because she was

hungry.

Megan - Bridesmaids (2012)

Megan (Bridesmaids, 2012)

● Hypersexual, loud, gruff, blunt, presented as “butch” --

makes advances that are unwanted.

● Has “weird kinks” with food -- sex involving a 6 foot

sandwich

● Her friends treat her with disgust and look mildly repulsed.

● Association with gross bodily fluids, as if fat people can’t

control themselves.

● Presented as the generic dreaded fat woman stereotype.

● Would the same character be made as a thin woman?

Fat Amy - Pitch Perfect (2012)

Fat Amy (Pitch Perfect, 2012)

● Confident, doesn’t hate her body, never mentions

wanting to lose weight.

● Thinks she’s hot shit, but not in the

confronting/invading on other people’s spaces way.

● BUT - confidence is played up for laughs.

● Says she needs a break from all of her boyfriends -

it’s set up as a joke. Other characters react in

disbelief.

● Comments about how she doesn’t like exercise, most

jokes that she delivers are about her weight.

● This is great if it were catered to other fat women, but

it’s lined up to make skinny people gasp.

Lauren Zizes (Glee, 2009)

● Confident, a badass, top of the wrestling

club but isn’t characterized as butch.

● Knows what she wants and when she

wants it, assertive, self driven and

doesn’t hate her body.

● Ropes in a traditionally attractive dude

on her own terms and keeps him

dangling in case she’s interested.

● Motivated into joining Glee club/dating

by being bribed with food.

What’s being said?

From the descriptions given of those

characters, what do you think about plus

sized women?

Do you think people believe that those

characters represent all plus sized women?

Donna (Parks and Recreation, 2009 - 2011)

Donna (Parks and Rec, 2009 - 2011)

● Confident, hilarious, doesn’t make her

weight part of the punchline.

● Has a tight private life in which she keeps

several men on a roster.

● Open about her sexuality but not blunt

about it, isn’t presented as immature or

blunt.

● While she’s open about sexuality, she’s

picky about who she sees.

● While this representation is positive, would

such a sexual character be made if she

weren’t overweight and black?

Rae Earl - My Mad Fat Diary (2013 - present)

● Hates herself and her weight but deals with self

reflection through therapy alongside mental illness.

● Show addresses her warped perception of herself, that

she can be beautiful without losing weight and that

she’s more than her size.

● Sexuality is not the butt of a joke, just part of monologue

as a teenage girl.

● Presented as a kind, sympathetic and fun character,

creates honest discourse about being overweight

without stereotypes.

Rae (My Mad Fat Diary, 2013 -

present)

So Why Does It Matter?

Othering consists in “objectification of another

person or group” or “creating the other”, which

puts aside and ignores the complexity and

subjectivity of the individual (Abdallah-Pretceille

2006)

“Turning a human being into a thing is

almost always the first step in justifying

violence against that person.”

- Dr. Jean Kilbourne, Study Guides Media Education Foundation 1.

Who is the “other”?

Female undergraduates were randomly exposed to

pictures from magazines containing either ultra-thin

models, average sized models or no models. Results

indicated that exposure to the thin-ideal produced

depression, stress, guilt, shame insecurity and body

dissatisfaction. -Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 13, No. 3, 1994, pp 288-308 - Arizona State University

National Eating

Disorders Collaboration,

2014.

DiscussionDo you think there should be more representation of plus sized/fat

people in the media? Why/Why not?

References

References:

Abdallah‐Pretceille, M. (2006). Interculturalism as a paradigm for thinking about diversity.Intercultural Education, 17(5),

475-483. doi:10.1080/14675980601065764

Bridesmaids. (2011).

FRIENDS. (1994).

Glee. (2009).

Killing Us Softly. (1979).

My Mad Fat Diary. (2013).

National Eating Disorders Collaboration,. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.nedc.com.au/eating-disorders-in-australia

Parks and Recreation. (2009).

Pitch Perfect. (2013).

Stice, E., & Shaw, H. (1994). Adverse Effects of the Media Portrayed Thin-Ideal on Women and Linkages to Bulimic

Symptomatology. Journal Of Social And Clinical Psychology, 13(3), 288-308. doi:10.1521/jscp.1994.13.3.288