Dolezal, Luna and Spratt, Tanisha ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5229-6435 (2023) Fat shaming under neoliberalism and Covid-19: examining the UK's Tackling Obesity campaign. Sociology of Health and Illness, 45 (1). pp. 3-18. ISSN 0141-9889 (Print), 1467-9566 (Online) (doi:10.1111/1467-9566.13555)

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Abstract

This article explores the dynamics between fat shaming, neoliberalism, ideological constructions of health and the ‘obesity epidemic’ within the UK, using the UK Government’s recent Tackling Obesity campaign in response to COVID-19 as illustrative. We draw attention to how fat shaming as a practice that encourages open disdain for those living with ‘excess weight’ operates as a moralising tool to regulate and manage those who are viewed as ‘bad’ citizens. In doing so we begin by outlining how the ideological underpinnings of ‘health’ have been transformed under neoliberalism. We then consider the problematic use of fat shaming discourses that are often used as tools to promote ‘healthy’ lifestyle choices by those who view it as not only an acceptable way of communicating the health risks associated with ‘obesity,’ but also a productive way of motivating people with ‘obesity’ to lose weight. Drawing on Graham Scambler’s theoretical framework regarding shame and blame (2020), we discuss how ‘heaping blame on shame’ has become a ‘wilful political strategy’ under neoliberalism, particularly as it relates to individuals with ‘obesity,’ and how the Tacking Obesity campaign leverages concerns around ‘choices’ and ‘costs’ as a means through which to encourage normative models of self-care and self-discipline.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article also appears in Wiley: COVID-19 Related Content.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	fat shaming; neoliberalism; obesity; public health policy; Tackling Obesity campaign
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences > School of Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS)
Last Modified:	02 Mar 2023 11:54
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/38719

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