My Stigma Research Paper

As a young, white, cisgender woman, most of my existence is free of any sort of stigma. Outwardly, I represent one of the most privileged groups in society, and often face less consequences for my identity that other individuals. However, certain parts of me cause stigma to be placed on me. I am stigmatized through my sexuality, my mental illness, and though it seems odd, as someone who no longer has a mother. But the main source of stigma in my life is my weight. For all of my life, I have been a relatively fat girl. My family, both maternal and paternal sides, are heavy individuals, so it comes as no shock that I am also a large person. Genetics and socialization have played a role, equalling out to me being fat. This is something that I

never realized would carry so much meaning to the rest of the world. From the time that I was little, my weight became an issue for the people surrounding me, and that was something that I personally internalized. Everything in my life was telling me that I was inherently wrong because of my weight, something that was only aggravated by the rise of news media and social media. In this paper, I will delve into the details of my experience with fatness and stigma, and look at how labelling theories apply to my entire existence as a fat person. Finally, I will discuss my journey towards reclaiming the title of “fat” and how that has impacted my experience with stigma.
Deviance is something that every person will engage in throughout their lifetime, whether it is positive or negative.

There are some forms of deviance that come by choice, like committing a crime, and some forms of deviance that have no element of choice, like a visible birth defect. Weight falls on a weird place on this scale, with some people arguing that fatness occurs completely by choice, while others look at it as something that has many contributing factors. The word “fat” has taken on a completely warped connotation. The actual word simply means that there is more flesh on a person or thing. In our society, fat is a dirty word that has extremely negative implications. It is used as an insult, instead of as the adjective it is intended to be. Stigma around weight has become deeply rooted in our society, to the point that people often do not notice how pervasive it really is. Rebecca Puhl and Chelsea Heuer discuss the fact that “…this form of stigma is rarely challenged in North American society and its public health implications have been primarily ignored.” (2010). The pair go on to address the fact that fat shaming and placing stigma on fat people is often excused by people saying they are only looking out for the health of overweight people (Puhl & Heuer, 2010). And that certainly is an interesting point – for most sources of stigma, people try to excuse their opinions by saying it is for the greater good. With weight, it is much easier to excuse toxic and

fat-shaming talk by looking at the scientific studies that back up the fact that obesity is unhealthy. People see the opinions of doctors, and do not bother to look further into the issue, immediately placing the blame for fatness on those who are considered fat. In reality, things like genetics, socialization, and economic status can have an impact on weight.
In terms of theoretical perspectives for fatness and stigma, many of the labelling theories are extremely applicable.

Tannenbaum’s theory of tagging and the dramatization of evil seems to be particularly relevant to being fat. Tannenbaum theorizes that society tags specific acts as deviant, and if a person commits that act, they themselves become evil in the eyes of society (Bereska, 2014). As related to weight, the initial deviant act would be overeating or inactivity. Though many fat people maintain healthy lifestyles, it is often assumed that the engaged in that initial act of deviance, even if someone did not personally witness it. From that assumption comes the dramatization of evil – that person becomes nothing but fat, which in my experience, is often associated with a lack of self control and emotional issues. By some, fatness is viewed as an evil, contagious disease that is spread by associating with an overweight person. The other labelling theory that fits well with discussions of being overweight is Howard Becker’s concept of master status. Essentially, Becker theorizes that when someone has a deviant label prescribed to them, it becomes their whole identity to those on the outside (Bereska, 2014). When someone is given the label of “fat” or “obese”, it becomes the only thing people can see. I find that in my own personal interactions, I have to prove that I am more than a fat woman to be take seriously, and give everything of myself to be treated as an actual

human being whose identity is unchanged by my weight. These are the two main theories of labelling that apply to the topic of this paper, though there are other labelling theories that could certainly be discussed. I will breakdown these theories throughout the rest of the paper, so as to have more details.
From the time that I was quite young, I have felt the sting of being stigmatized as a result of my weight. My earliest memory comes from the year I was in the second grade. A boy in my grade, notorious for breaking the rules, chose me as one of his victims for the next several years. I do not remember how it came about, but one day, he gave me the nickname that has stuck with me since then. “Fatso”. As a grade two student, this was really the first time I faced a direct attack on my weight. For the next three years, until this boy left my elementary school, I got called that about three or four times a day. When I tried to advocate for myself, and went to a teacher, I was told there was nothing that the school could really do about it. Each time I would complain to an adult, they would simply brush it off and move forward with the day. Looking back, I could not have predicted how this would impact me later in life. I remember standing in front of a mirror as I got older and thinking that word over and over again while I studied my body. From a theoretical perspective, I was tagged as “Fatso” from a young age by a peer, and it was something that had a major impact on my view of self, something that is a vital point of Tannenbaum’s tagging and dramatization of evil theory (Bereska, 2014). My identity became rooted in my weight, which was toxic and quite traumatizing for me.