The Future Is Fat by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Discrimination & Race Relations, Gender Studies
ISBN: 9781000434088
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2021-08-12T04:00:00+00:00

Conclusion

As has become clear, both I Used to Be Fat and Huge posit the summer as a time for change that intersects with the coming-of-age story and the transition between childhood and adulthood. I Used to Be Fat presents weight loss itself as a rite of passage necessary for teens to achieve full adulthood. Like all weight loss makeovers, I Used to Be Fat is teleological in its structure, pointing to a future time and “goal” weight that promises full subjectivity. Huge, in contrast, de-emphasizes “before” and “after,” instead lingering in a liminal “during” and suggesting a variety of divergent paths to independence. Rather than submitting to a “higher” authority of a trainer or other weight loss expert, the protagonists of Huge attain greater independence by defining their relationships to their own bodies on their own terms. This is a process that cannot be achieved by fixating on a future time or a goal weight, but rather must be done day by day. In this respect, Huge creates a fat temporality that is about self-exploration in the present moment, rather than a mythical fulfillment to come at a future time or weight. Taking pleasure in these moments, in these fat bodies, the characters of Huge are able to inhabit a constantly developing selfhood. This development is multi-directional and ambivalent, enabling different directions. Like Israeli-Nevo’s (2017) “back and forth” movement in trans narratives, this kind of series subverts linearity and lingers in liminality. One might hope that, in the future, there will be more fat narratives such as this that allow for movement “up and down” the scale, thus allowing characters to cultivate an embodied present.

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