Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-5wvtr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T22:24:37.590Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Everyday Indignities: Using the Microaggressions Framework to Understand Weight Stigma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Abstract

In this article, the author reviews the ways that the microaggressions framework has been taken up with regard to weight stigma by academics and activists and offers insight into its value for conceptualizing and challenging weight stigma.

Type
Symposium Articles
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Pierce, C., Carew, J. V., Pierce-Gonzalez, D., and Wills, D., “An Experiment in Racism: TV Commercials,” Television and Education (1978): 62-88 at 65.Google Scholar
Sue, D. W., Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation (Hoboken, NJ:John Wiley & Sons, 2010): at 5.Google Scholar
Nadal, K. L., Issa, M., Leon, J., Meterko, V., Wideman, M., and Wong, Y., “Sexual Orientation Microaggressions: “Death by a Thousand Cuts’ for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth,” Journal of LGBT Youth 8, no. 3 (2011): 234-259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See Sue, supra note 2; Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A., Nadal, K. L., and Esquilin, M., “Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Implications for Clinical Practice,” American Psychologist 62, no. 4 (2007): 271-286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sue, D. W., ed. Microaggressions and Marginality: Manifestation, Dynamics, and Impact (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010): at 10.Google Scholar
See Sue, supra note 2 at 29.Google Scholar
See Sue, supra note 2.Google Scholar
Wong, G., Derthick, A. O., David, E. J. R., Saw, A., and Okazaki, S.,, “The What, the Why, and the How: A Review of Racial Microaggressions Research in Psychology,” Race and Social Problems 6, no. 2 (2014): 181-200, at 186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See Sue, , supra note 2 at 25.Google Scholar
See Sue, , supra note 5 at 15.Google Scholar
See Sue, , supra note 5.Google Scholar
Davidson, A., Social Determinants of Health: A Comparative Approach (Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press, 2014).Google Scholar
Jackson, B., Kubzansky, L. D., and Wright, R. J., “Linking Perceived Unfairness to Physical Health: The Perceived Unfairness Model,” Review of General Psychology 10, no. 1 (2006): 21-40 at 23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schvey, N. A., Puhl, R. M., and Brownell, K. D., “The Stress of Stigma: Exploring the Effect of Weight Stigma on Cortisol Reactivity,” Psychosomatic Medicine 76, no. 2 (2014): 156-162; Chrisler, J. C. and Barney, A., “Sizeism is a Health Hazard,” Fat Studies 6, no. 1 (2017): 38–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See Sue, , supra note 5, at 16.Google Scholar
Salvatore, J. and Shelton, J. N., “Cognitive Costs of Exposure to Racial Prejudice,” Psychological Science 18, no. 9 (2007): 810-815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puhl, R. M. and Brownell, K. D., “Confronting and Coping with Weight Stigma: An Investigation of Overweight and Obese Adults,” Obesity 14, no. 10 (2006): 1802-1815; Neumark-Sztainer, D., Paxton, S. J., Hannan, P. J., Haines, J., and Story, M., “Does Body Satisfaction Matter? Five-Year Longitudinal Associations Between Body Satisfaction and Health Behaviors in Adolescent Females and Males,” Journal of Adolescent Health 39, no. 2 (2006): 244–251; Ogden, J. and Clementi, C., “The Experience of Being Obese and the Many Consequences of Stigma,” Journal of Obesity 2010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Brien, K. S., Hunter, J. A., and Banks, M., “Implicit Anti-Fat Bias in Physical Educators: Physical Attributes, Ideology and Socialization,” International Journal of Obesity 31, no. 2 (2007): 308-314; See Neumark-Sztainer, supra note 18.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, M. E., Neumark-Sztainer, D., and Story, M., ”Associations of Weight-Based Teasing and Emotional Well-Being Among Adolescents,” Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine 157, no. 8 (2003): 733-738.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rudolph, C. W., Wells, C. L., Weller, M. D., and Baltes, B. B., “A Meta-Analysis of Empirical Studies of Weight-Based Bias in the Workplace,” Journal of Vocational Behavior 74, no. 1 (2009): 1-10.Google Scholar
Agerström, J. and Rooth, D., “The Role of Automatic Obesity Stereotypes in Real Hiring Discrimination,” Journal of Applied Psychology 96, no. 4 (2011): 790; Flint, S. W., adek, M., Codreanu, S. C., Ivi, V., Zomer, C., and Gomoiu, A., “Obesity Discrimination in the Recruitment Process: ‘You’re Not Hired!’” Frontiers in Psychology (2016).Google Scholar
See Puhl and Brownell, supra note 17; Amy, N. K., Aalborg, A., Lyons, P., and Keranen, L., “Barriers to Routine Gynecological Cancer Screening for White and African-American Obese Women,” International Journal of Obesity 30, no. 1 (2006): 147-155; Drury, A., Aramburu, C., and Louis, M., “Exploring the Association Between Body Weight, Stigma of Obesity, and Health Care Avoidance,” Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners 14, no. 12 (2002): 554–561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stunkard, A., Faith, M. S., and Allison, K. C., “Depression and Obesity,” Biological Psychiatry 54, no. 3 (2003): 330-337; Sutin, A. R., Stephan, Y., and Terracciano, A., “Weight Discrimination and Risk of Mortality,” Psychological Science 26, no. 11 (2015): 1803–1811; Puhl, R. M. and Heuer, C. A., “Obesity Stigma: Important Considerations for Public Health,” American Journal of Public Health 100, no. 6 (2010): 1019–1028.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, J. A. and Pausé, C. J., “Stigma in Practice: Barriers to Health for Fat Women,” Frontiers in Psychology 7 (2016): 2063; Hebl, M. R. and Xu, J., “Weighing the Care: Physicians’ Reactions to the Size of a Patient,” International Journal of Obesity 25, no. 8 (2001): 1246–1252; see Puhl and Huer, supra note 24.Google Scholar
See Chrisler, and Barney, , supra note 14.Google Scholar
See Chrisler and Barney, supra note 14: 38-53; Hardy, K., “Cows, Pigs, Whales: Nonhuman Animals, Antifat Bias, and Exceptionalist Logics,” in The Politics of Size: Perspectives from the Fat Acceptance Movement (2014): 187-216; Tylka, T., Annunziato, R. A., Burgard, D., Daníelsdóttir, S., Shuman, E., Davis, C., and Calogero, R. M., “The Weight-Inclusive Versus Weight-Normative Approach to Health: Evaluating the Evidence for Prioritizing Well-Being Over Weight Loss,” Journal of Obesity (2014): 1-18.Google Scholar
Schafer, K., “Weight-Based Microaggressions Experienced by Obese Women in Psychotherapy,” (Ph.D. diss., University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2014).Google Scholar
See Tylka, , supra note 26.Google Scholar
See Hardy, , supra note 26.Google Scholar
See Chrisler, and Barney, , supra note 26.Google Scholar
Seacat, J. D., Dougal, S. C., and Roy, D., “A Daily Diary Assessment of Female Weight Stigmatization,” Journal of Health Psychology 21, no. 2 (2016): 228-240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bahadur, N., “14 Painful Examples of Everyday Fat-Shaming,” The Huffington Post, last modified Jan. 23, 2014, available at <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/fatmicroaggressions-fat-shaming-tweets_n_4453060.html> (last accessed Dec. 14, 2017); Sonenshein, J., “People Reveal Their Most Devastating Fat Shaming Moments In Just 140 Characters,” The Gloss, December 13, 2013, available at <http://www.thegloss.com/beauty/fatmicroaggressions-reveals-devastating-fat-shaming-on-twitter> (last accessed Dec. 14, 2017); Campbell, N., “11 Offensive Phrases You Didn’t Realize Are Fat Shaming,” Girl, December, 7, 2015, available at <http://www.gurl.com/2015/12/07/offensive-phrases-you-didnt-realize-are-fat-shaming/>; Layne, J., “7 Things You Might Not Think Are Fat Shaming But Definitely Are,” Bustle, September 8, 2015, available at <https://www.bustle.com/articles/109182-7-things-you-might-not-think-are-fat-shaming-that-definitely-are> (last accessed Dec. 14, 2017).+(last+accessed+Dec.+14,+2017);+Sonenshein,+J.,+“People+Reveal+Their+Most+Devastating+Fat+Shaming+Moments+In+Just+140+Characters,”+The+Gloss,+December+13,+2013,+available+at++(last+accessed+Dec.+14,+2017);+Campbell,+N.,+“11+Offensive+Phrases+You+Didn’t+Realize+Are+Fat+Shaming,”+Girl,+December,+7,+2015,+available+at+;+Layne,+J.,+“7+Things+You+Might+Not+Think+Are+Fat+Shaming+But+Definitely+Are,”+Bustle,+September+8,+2015,+available+at++(last+accessed+Dec.+14,+2017).>Google Scholar
See Sonenshein, , supra note 32Google Scholar
Klumbyte, G. and Smiet, K., in “Bodies Like Our Own?: The Dynamics of Distance and Closeness in Online Fat Porn,” Fat Sex: New Directions in Theory and Activism (New York, NY: Routledge, 2016): 125-140, at 128.Google Scholar
Braun, V. (@ginnybraun), Twitter, November 22, 2013, 3:49pm, <https://twitter.com/ginnybraun>..>Google Scholar
Tovar, V., “5 Ways to Deal with Microaggressions as a Fat Person,” Wear Your Voice Mag, March 1, 2016, available at <http://wearyourvoicemag.com/dear-virgie/dear-virgie-5-ways-deal-microaggressions-fat-person> (last accessed Dec. 14, 2017); Harrop, E., “Walking with SWAG (Sizeism Weightism Advocacy Group): Examining the Challenges and Successes Facing a Student-Led Sizeism Advocacy Group” Workshop at the Weight Stigma Conference (April, 29, 2016).+(last+accessed+Dec.+14,+2017);+Harrop,+E.,+“Walking+with+SWAG+(Sizeism+Weightism+Advocacy+Group):+Examining+the+Challenges+and+Successes+Facing+a+Student-Led+Sizeism+Advocacy+Group”+Workshop+at+the+Weight+Stigma+Conference+(April,+29,+2016).>Google Scholar
Tri Delta, “Fat Talk Free Week 2008,” YouTube, 03:00, Uploaded October 10, 2008, available at <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKPaxD61lwo> (last accessed Dec. 14, 2017); I, Too, Am Harvard Project, “I, Too, Am Harvard,” Tumblr, available at <http://itooamharvard.tumblr.com>(last accessed Dec. 14, 2017); The Stamp: Division of Student Affairs, “Phrases,” University of Maryland, available at <http://thestamp.umd.edu/multicultural_involvement_community_advocacy/programs/inclusive_language/phrases> (last accessed Dec. 16, 2017).+(last+accessed+Dec.+14,+2017);+I,+Too,+Am+Harvard+Project,+“I,+Too,+Am+Harvard,”+Tumblr,+available+at+(last+accessed+Dec.+14,+2017);+The+Stamp:+Division+of+Student+Affairs,+“Phrases,”+University+of+Maryland,+available+at++(last+accessed+Dec.+16,+2017).>Google Scholar
Pierce, C., “Stress Analogs of Racism and Sexism: Terrorism, Torture, and Disaster,” Mental Health, Racism, and Sexism (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1995): 277-293, at 278.Google Scholar
See Tovar, , supra note 36, at para 24.Google Scholar
See Sue, , supra note 2, at 16.Google Scholar
Ingeno, L., “Fat-Shaming in Academe: Professor Sets off Furor with Comment on Twitter about Obese Ph.D. Applicants,” Inside Higher Ed, June 4 2013, available at <https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/04/outrage-over-professors-twitter-post-obese-students>, at para. 2 (last accessed Dec. 14, 2017).,+at+para.+2+(last+accessed+Dec.+14,+2017).>Google Scholar
Saguy, A. C., What’s Wrong with Fat? (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2012).Google Scholar
See Saguy, , supra note 42, at 20Google Scholar
Balsam, K. F., Molina, Y., Beadnell, B., Simoni, J., and Walters, K., “Measuring Multiple Minority Stress: The LGBT People of Color Microaggressions Scale,” Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 17, no. 2 (2011): 163-174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See Chrisler, and Barney, , supra note 26, at 42.Google Scholar
Lebesco, K., “Fat Panic and the New Morality,” Against Health: How Health Became the New Morality (New York, NY: New York University Press, 2010): 72-82, at 73.Google Scholar
See Chrisler, and Barney, , supra note 25.Google Scholar
See Chrisler, and Barney, , supra note 26, at 45.Google Scholar
See Tylka, , supra note 26, at 4.Google Scholar
See Sutin, , supra note 23.Google Scholar
See Lee, and Pausé, , supra note 25.Google Scholar
See Lee, and Pausé, , supra note 25, at 12.Google Scholar
Lilienfeld, S. O., “Microaggressions: Strong Claims, Inadequate Evidence,” Perspectives on Psychological Science 12, no. 1 (2017): 138-169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See Sue, , supra note 2, at 19.Google Scholar
See Sue, , supra note 2, at 14.Google Scholar