ABSTRACT
In 2009 the major adult industry magazine Adult Video News released its first issue with a BBW (Big Beautiful Women) model on the cover and a feature article about the BBW porn industry—a signal that pornography featuring fat female bodies is no longer an anomaly, but has reached a mainstream position in the adult entertainment landscape. However, like pornography in general, fat porn also has raised discussions about its potential merits and harms to “real life” fat women. Questions about whether BBW/fat pornography empowers fat women to claim and express their sexualities, or whether it objectifies them and perpetuates stereotypes are still as acute now as they were in 1979 when Carole Shaw coined the term BBW for her magazine. 1
