ABSTRACT
Soca provides an interesting site for the sociological inquiry into the female body given the popularity of the genre to showcase lyrics devoted to women, their behaviour, lifestyles, performance, bodies, and dress. Based on the use of critical discourse analysis (CDA), the chapter will, therefore, address the portrayal of the female body in Soca, from which the ideal female body is extrapolated, including the associated norms, meanings, and values. The fat female body is then interrogated in conjunction with the ideal female body, whereby key emerging discourses from the data about the fat female body are discussed in relation to the existing literature about the body and fatness. The findings show that the fat female body is framed in its presentation by the ideal female body in Soca lyrics, mainly through the performativity of the female body. Of particular interest is the presentation of the fat female body through the use of existing stereotypes and the juxtaposition of the fat female body against the idealized standards of the female body. Additionally, while the emerging discourses surrounding the fat female body connect to the wider fat discourses, there is also evidence suggesting the intersection of fat female discourses and patriarchal discourses in the research.
