People have a lot to say about other folks' bodies. Arguable, too much to say, especially when it comes to people who are fat. So when it comes to someone like Lizzo — a talented and beautiful celebrity who's insistent on loving herself and empowering people who look like her to reject hiding and hating themselves — critics refuse to leave them alone.
Despite keeping her Twitter account set to private, last month, the singer was driven to respond to another onslaught of fatphobic and body shaming comments because of a video of one of her recent live performances, saying that the constant remarks were really starting to make her "hate the world," and she was "tired of explaining myself all the time." These attacks focused on another person's physical appearance, especially their weight, aren't new, and they intersect with issues like race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Scholars and advocates have spent decades researching and advancing a better understanding of fatphobia and efforts to eradicate it, but the work is arduous.
Sabrina Strings is a chancellor's fellow and associate professor of sociology at UC Irvine and the author of "Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia." Rachel Fox is a doctoral candidate at UC San Diego in the communication department and the science studies department, and is also a critical gender studies graduate who focuses on fat studies. She's also the co-author of an article from the Journal of Applied Social Psychology on combating weight stigma. Strings and Fox took some time to discuss fatphobia, the ways that it intersects with other issues, and its effects on people's lived experiences. (These interviews have been edited for length and clarity. )
