Bodies over borders: Trans-sizing the expatriate experience Jenny Lloyd A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newcastle University November 2015 2 Abstract This thesis introduces the concept of trans-sizing to explore the discursive, embodied and relational experiences of expatriate women in Singapore, and the multiple ways that body size and migration experiences intersect within different spaces in the city. The thesis is based on empirical research with women living in Singapore who identified themselves as expatriates. The focus of this study is upon the ways that experiences of body size shape narrations of migration. I explore this relationship through discursive constructions, embodied and emotional experiences and relational encounters. I argue that body size is spatially contingent and significant to the way that identity, difference and migration are imagined and narrated within the city. Furthermore, I argue that narrations of body size are constructed through gendered, medicalised, classed and racialised discourses that divide women from different places. The study explores the multiple ways that experiences of body size and migration intersect in social and cultural spaces within Singapore. I situate this research in the intersections of geographical work on migration and the interdisciplinary field of Fat Studies. In so doing, I highlight the centrality of body size as an axis of identity that is inherently geographical (Longhurst, 2005). Drawing on an in-depth analysis of 45 individual interviews and one focus group, the study values the words and experiences of expatriate women, providing a nuanced and innovative approach to explorations of migration, gender and body size. By developing the concept of trans-sizing, this research responds to the need for cross-cultural approaches to critical work on body size (Cooper, 2009), the gendered nature of expatriate migration (Fechter and Walsh, 2012), and embodied studies of transnationalism (Dunn, 2010), and contributes to the growing body of work that explores body size from a critical and spatial perspective (Colls and Evans, 2009). 3 4 Acknowledgments Firstly, I would like to thank all of the women that took part in this project, for taking the time to speak with me, and for inviting me into their lives. Without your kindness, honesty and care this thesis would not have been possible. I am incredibly grateful to my supervisors, Professor Alastair Bonnet and Professor Peter Hopkins, for their patience, guidance and sense of humour throughout. This thesis has been made stronger by your critical insight and experience. Thank you Peter for providing me with so many opportunities over the years, it has been a privilege and an invaluable learning experience to work with you at Gender, Place and Culture. I am grateful to the Economic and Social Research Council and the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology for providing me with the resources to complete this research. I would also like to thank my examiners Katie Willis and Cathrine Degnen for their helpful critique. Thank you to my friends and colleagues in Newcastle, who welcomed me into the Toon with their warmth, friendliness and good craic. Thank you to the Geography postgraduates for the cups of tea, Friday beers and sometimes insightful theoretical debate. In particular, Robin Finlay, Lexy Seedhouse, Carl Thompson, Dan Bos, Emil Evenhuis, Anja McCarthy, Francesca Fois, Sophie Yarker, Kate Botterill and Michael Richardson. I would like to thank my friends; Caroline Hall, Hannah Wetz and Laura Petch for keeping me sane, laughing and grounded, and to Hall and Oates for keeping us dancing. Thank you to Maureen LeGrand and to Caro Lohölter for making my time in Singapore so memorable. Special thanks go to my partner Tim Kroezen who I met while on fieldwork. Your love, support and joy for life has brightened every aspect of doing this research and I can’t wait for more adventures with you. This thesis is dedicated to my mum, Maggie Lloyd. Your compassionate politics have taught me to stand up to injustice, and your kindness and care have been a constant source of strength. This thesis would not have been possible also without the support, encouragement and love of my family; my mum, my father, Steve Lloyd and my Sister Jayne Lloyd. Each of you has helped me along the way; thank you. 5 6 Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................ 3 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................... 5 List of Figures ................................................................................................................ 10 List of Tables ................................................................................................................. 10 Chapter One: Introduction .......................................................................................... 11 1.1 The sized body ...................................................................................................... 13 1.2 Asian/Western expatriate/local ............................................................................. 16 1.2.1 Expatriates ...................................................................................................... 16 1.2.2 The West and Westerners .............................................................................. 17 1.2.3 Asia and Asians .............................................................................................. 18 1.3 Singapore .............................................................................................................. 21 1.4 Thesis overview .................................................................................................... 24 1.4.1 Research questions ......................................................................................... 25 1.4.2 Methodology .................................................................................................. 25 1.4.3 Thesis outline ................................................................................................. 26 Chapter Two: Methodology ......................................................................................... 28 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 28 Part I: Research background ....................................................................................... 29 2.2 The participants ................................................................................................. 29 2.3 Recruitment and access ..................................................................................... 33 Part II: The research project ........................................................................................ 38 2.4 Fat studies emerging methodologies ................................................................. 39 2.5 In-depth interviews ........................................................................................... 40 2.6 Focus groups ..................................................................................................... 49 2.7 The ethnographic self ........................................................................................ 51 2.8 Data analysis ..................................................................................................... 53 7 Part III: Research perspectives .................................................................................... 55 2.9 Validity and representation ............................................................................... 55 2.10 Reflexivity and postionality ............................................................................ 56 2.11 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 63 Chapter Three: The Discursive Production of Sized Bodies .................................... 64 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 64 3.2 Geographies of health ........................................................................................... 67 3.3 The body and discourse ........................................................................................ 73 3.4 Migration, vulnerability and body size ................................................................. 76 3.5 Medical gaze ......................................................................................................... 85 3.6 Medicalisation and biopower ................................................................................ 89 3.7 Thinness and dieting/Regulation and control ....................................................... 93 3.8 Resistance and agency .......................................................................................... 97 3.9 Concluding remarks ............................................................................................ 101 Chapter Four: The Embodied Experiences of Sized Bodies ................................... 103 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 103 4.2 Feminist engagements with ‘the body’ ..............................................................