Event 2: What's Wrong with Fat?

In this discussion of Abigail Saguy’s work What’s Wrong with Fat?, a panel of UCLA faculty from different departments came together to provide their commentary on this book.  Although I personally have not read this book, I learned through listening to the book discussion that Saguy focused on the undeniable stigma that comes with overweight people and how that affects our perception of health in the medical field.  For most people, the word “fat” is synonymous to “unhealthy.”  However, there is actually very little scientific evidence that shows a strong correlation between body weight and healthiness.  Ed Walker from the UCLA Sociology Department commented on the societal constructs of the “obesity epidemic.”  We frame obesity as some type of disease; this ultimately causes society to limit themselves in their views.  New information, unless aided by public favor, is often ignored for the convenience of maintaining the status quo.

Obviously, public perception holds profound weight in what we accept to be true or possible.  I thought that this underlying fact paralleled with the idea of space exploration before it became a reality.  Space exploration was often thought of as something of the imagination or purely taken from science fiction; however, once society was able to shift their perspectives, people accomplished what had seemed impossible to begin with.  With a little open-mindedness, I feel like this book could change the way the medical field perceives weight and its association with body weight.

Works Cited:

Barclay, Eliza. "What's Wrong With Calling Obesity A Medical Problem?" NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. <http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/01/16/169540265/whats-wrong-with-calling-obesity-a-medical-problem>.

Detrick, Paul. "UCLA Professor Abigail Saguy on What's Wrong with Fat?"Reason.com. Reason Foundation, 18 Mar. 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2013. <http://reason.com/reasontv/2013/03/18/ucla-professor-abigail-saguy-on-whats-wr>.

Saguy, Abigail. "Weight-Based Stigma and Bullying." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 11 Oct. 2012. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/abigail-saguy/weight-based-stigma_b_1959578.html>.

"What's Wrong with Fat? A Book Discussion with Abigail Saguy." UCLA Center for the Study of Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. <http://www.csw.ucla.edu/events/whats-wrong-with-fat-a-book-discussion-with-abigail-saguy>.

"What’s Wrong with Fat?" UC Health. UC Health, 19 Dec. 2012. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. <http://health.universityofcalifornia.edu/2012/12/19/whats-wrong-with-fat/>.