COST-2606EL Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Sizeism, Class Discrimination, Erving Goffman

Week 8:

Body Sizes

Thinking About Bodies, Size, and Visibility

What is the size of a "normal" woman's body?

8, medium

What words describe it?

Body mass

"What you look like, rather than who you are, often determines how people respond to you"

Garland-Thomson argues that as long as we (both our behaviours and our bodies) behave in

ways that are socially compliant, then our bodies often remain invisible - even to us

In terms of size, what do socially compliant bodies do?

Not stand out

Erving Goffman's 'Stigma'

Any mark or attribute that sets a person or group of people apart from others

The mark or attribute signifies these people as having a bodily defect or character defect that

spoils their social identity

Stigmas are socially constructed

Feminist sociologists also refer to this as social regulation

There are two main forms of social control:

Internal control: we internalize norms and values through socialization

External control: external sanctions are placed upon us, which can either be positive ("rewards")

or negative ("punishments")

Social control occurs in formal pathways via government, policing, education, etc. And informal

pathways, such as our relationships, interactions, etc.

Sizeism

Like other forms of discrimination, sizeism isn't always explicit. It involves the perpetuation of

stereotypes and the attitudes that support those stereotypes, such as the idea that 'all fat people

Sizeist attitudes are often deeply ingrained in society, which can make combatting it complex

The form of prejudice can be based on height, weight, or both