Throwing Their Weight Around

Throwing Their Weight Around

CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Lakehead University Knowledge Commons Throwing Their Weight Around: A Critical Examination of Faculty Experiences with Challenging Dominant Obesity Discourse in Post-Secondary Education by Erin Cameron A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies Copyright © 2014 ii ABSTRACT Obesity discourse is dominant in mainstream Western society, and is increasingly identified as a social category that normalizes, privileges, and praises certain bodies while stigmatizing others. Given that weight-based stigma has been shown to have harmful consequences, addressing and employing teaching strategies that address this social justice issue is, therefore, of utmost importance. This research investigates the academic experiences, philosophical perspectives, and pedagogical approaches of twenty-six post-secondary faculty members in social sciences, humanities, health sciences, behavioural sciences, and education who are known for challenging dominant obesity discourse in their teaching. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and relevant course materials submitted by each participant (course syllabi, Power Point presentations, workshop materials, and academic papers). Qualitative data analysis and reporting techniques were employed within a critical fat studies, framework to explore the experiences, perspectives, and approaches of all participants. Analysis indicates that fat oppression within academic institutions is prevalent and that working to address this social justice issue is complex. Participants drew specific attention to how bodies are read within their university classrooms in the context of contemporary dominant obesity discourse. They highlighted how their academic careers are being influenced by size privilege and fat oppression within their post-secondary institutions. Lastly, participants shared various pedagogical approaches and teaching practices they have employed in the classroom that aimed to disrupt the reproduction, legitimization, and promotion of biomedical obesity narratives and offer alternative perspectives around fatness. This research concludes that combining critical fat studies and educational research is generative for understanding and addressing fat oppression within higher education. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... viii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE—SETTING THE STAGE Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Research Purpose and Questions ................................................................................................ 6 Naming the Emerging Field ........................................................................................................ 7 Format of this Dissertation ........................................................................................................ 11 Defining Key Terms ................................................................................................................. 14 CHAPTER TWO—SITUATING THE RESEARCH IN THE LITERATURE Why Critical Fat Studies? ......................................................................................................... 18 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................. 21 Literature Review ...................................................................................................................... 26 The Weight of Words: Strategically Using Language .......................................................... 28 Getting the Skinny on Fat: A Journey from Harmless to Evil? ............................................ 34 Mapping the Field: Emerging Subfields within Critical Fat Studies .................................... 38 The (Dis)Obedient Fat Body: An Inequality and Social Justice Issue .................................. 46 Standardizing Bodies: Fat Phobia and Fat Bullying in Educational Contexts ...................... 52 Developing Fat-Inclusive Pedagogies and Practices ............................................................ 55 Critical Fat Studies and Educational Research ......................................................................... 58 CHAPTER THREE—DESIGNING THE RESEARCH Methodological Approach ........................................................................................................ 63 Positionality .......................................................................................................................... 66 Key Tenets of Qualitative Studies ........................................................................................ 70 Methods..................................................................................................................................... 74 Participant Recruitment ........................................................................................................ 74 Data Collection ..................................................................................................................... 78 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 81 The Process of Writing the Dissertation ................................................................................... 85 Format and Style of Manuscripts .......................................................................................... 85 CHAPTER FOUR—BODY/IES TALK: EXAMINING BODY SIZE AS PEDAGOGICAL WORK IN POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 90 Literature Review ...................................................................................................................... 92 Methods..................................................................................................................................... 94 iv Results ....................................................................................................................................... 96 Size and Skill: Body Policing Through Credibility Discourse ............................................. 96 The Visible Body: Engaging with the Material Body ........................................................ 102 Exposing Vulnerability: Faculty “Coming Out” Within the University ............................. 108 Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 109 Conclusion: Moving Bodies Forward ..................................................................................... 113 References ............................................................................................................................... 114 CHAPTER FIVE—“WEIGHTY MATTERS”: FACULTY EXPERIENCES WITH CHALLENGING DOMINANT OBESITY DISCOURSE IN HIGHER EDUCATION Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 122 Research Design and Method ................................................................................................. 123 Description of Participants .................................................................................................. 124 Qualitative Data Analysis ................................................................................................... 124 Results ..................................................................................................................................... 125 What’s in a Name? Emerging Nuances within Critical Fat Scholarship ............................ 125 Critical Fat Scholarship: Encounters, Connections, and Community ................................. 131 Sites of Fat Resistance: Students and Institutions Support Dominant Obesity Discourse . 138 Discussion and Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 146 References ............................................................................................................................... 150 CHAPTER SIX—TOWARD A FAT PEDAGOGY: A STUDY OF PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES AIMED AT CHALLENGING OBESITY DISCOURSE IN POST- SECONDARY EDUCATION .................................................................................................... 154 Introduction ............................................................................................................................

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