Biopolitics of Weight and Disordered Eating

This chapter looks at the emerging narratives and technologies which have led to the forms of governmentality which constitute what Michel Foucault calls biopower, in relation to weight and disordered eating. It examines ideas around the operations of biopower with examples such as the “normative” biological standard set by Body Mass Index (BMI). Three seemingly polarized narratives are examined. The “War on Fat,” as widely advocated by Western governments, supports the capitalist notion of the overweight individual as a social and moral failure. Fatness is a matter of self-control and a burden to the rest of society. The obesogenic environmental theory, on the other hand, contests the idea of weight as solely a matter of individual control, laying emphasis instead on structural inequalities, ethnicity, place of residence, and lack of access to institutional care or self-care opportunities. Finally, “fat talk,” and its role in marking out certain groups, perpetuates weight stigma and discrimination in the workplace and wider society. While feminists argue that women have been marked out for fat talk, men’s experiences of weight discrimination and ridicule should not be dismissed. The tactics used by weight loss and health foods industries are discussed, and their financial links with medical and nutritional experts. Finally, the chapter turns to the trend in body positivity, questioning whether it continues to be a counterforce to capitalism or has been turned into just another form of “brand possibility.”