Alexandra Brewis

Amber Wutich

Sarah Trainer

Cindi SturtzSreetharan

Jessica Hardin

This unique comparative ethnography uses a systematic and nuanced approach to delve into the myriad meanings of "being fat" within and across different global sites.

A Global Ethnography of Weight

Fat in Four Cultures

"Bariatric surgery rates have increased exponentially, both within the United States and worldwide. At a time when dieting is widespread throughout the US and beyond, bariatric surgery, most commonly gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy, is one of the only effective interventions for rapid and sustained weight loss. The surgeries, however, are not without their controversy. Public perceptions of surgery recipients often paint them as lazy for taking the easy way out, and pictures of the bypassed gut and reduced stomach often provoke shivers of revulsion. Individuals who experience surgery must deal with such perceptions, while also becoming accustomed to their dramatically changed physical bodies. This book is based on four years of ethnographic research in one particular bariatric program in the US. The key theme of the book centers on the concept of physical weight, as well as the less visible social weights that accompany it. Weight is intimately bound up with a great deal of social suffering in the world today, and yet, because of cultural perceptions that fatness is a physical reflection of moral laziness, the suffering is rendered unsympathetic and even invisible. In this volume, we delve into the perspectives and experiences of people who have lived with excess weight and who then, through surgery, have brought their bodies more in-line with social expectations and societal norms"--

Sarah Trainer

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