ABSTRACT
Fat activism began to emerge in the United States in the late 1960s as part of a turn towards politicizing structural inequality and mobilizing for civil rights in other marginalized social groups, such as women, gay men and lesbians and blacks. One dominant argument in the fat activist literature concerns the issue of personal responsibility for fatness. This chapter in contrast discusses positive aspects and representations of fatness, particularly in the context of fat activism, which has attempted to disrupt and counter the hegemonic meanings surrounding fat embodiment. It also addresses some of the controversies and criticisms of fat politics, and suggests ways forward, based on perspectives offered in critical disability studies and new materialism. The chapter demonstrates that new digital media forms provide many avenues for expressing affective responses to fat bodies, facilitated by the affordances of visual media and the opportunity to comment in online forums.
