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FRAMING FATNESS: GENDER, SIZE, CONSTRUCTING HEALTH

GEN&WS 523
Course Description

Explores various aspects of identity politics and body politics such as gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, and citizenship status as they relate to and intersect with body size and constructions of fatness. Situates how fatness has been conceptualized over time, the formation of the gendered body ideals, and the proliferation of obesity rhetoric. Investigates how fat individuals experience the social world, in particular related to arenas such as the American health care system, and other societal institutions such as education, social welfare, immigration, and media. Interrogates how the "obesity epidemic" came to be, how it is framed in the United States, and how it intersects with other systems like big pharma, the food industry, beauty industry, globalization, neoliberalism, and consumerism. Deploys a critical approach in understanding fatness and body size as dimensions of difference that inform experiences of privilege and oppression.

Prerequisites

Sophomore standing

Satisfies

This course does not satisfy any prerequisites.

Credits

Not Reported

Offered

Not Reported

Grade Point Average
3.65

-1.52% from Historical

Completion Rate
97.56%

1.1% from Historical

A Rate
68.29%

-7.08% from Historical

Class Size
41

2.5% from Historical

Cumulative Grade Distribution

Instructors (2026 Summr)

Sorted by ratings from Rate My Professors

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