Fatness as a disability: questions of personal and group identity

Abstract

Both fat people and disabled people share common barriers to full societal participation and acceptance. While there has been a substantial amount of literature relating to these two groups as separate entities, there is a lack of contemporary research that investigates the relationship between fat and disability identity formation. The purpose of this qualitative study was to engage in a dialogue with fat individuals and explore the construction of their identities – whether or not they identified with having a disability and, if so, whether or not they viewed their fatness as a disability. Interviews with a sample size of seven participants who self‐identified as ‘fat’ revealed an unwillingness to adopt a disability identity based on their fatness.

Keywords:

• disability identity
• fat
• fatness as a disability
• fatness as voluntary or involuntary acts
• fat identity

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr William Schubert, our faculty sponsor for this research study, for his steadfast guidance and support. In addition, we would like to acknowledge Dr Carol Gill, Erica Gillick, Denise Nepveux, Dr Joy Hammel, Dr Noam Ostrander and the conference attendees of the 2006 National Popular Culture Association Conference (Fat Studies Panel) for their inspiration and continued consultation.