A Brief History of Fat Talk
Guest blog post submitted by Mimi Nichter. Dr. Nichter is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona.
Ever wonder where the term ‘fat talk’ came from?
Well here’s the story. In the 1990s, a group of cultural anthropologists at the University of Arizona began a study of teenaged girls, body image, food intake, and dieting. We were looking at teen culture and how the media, friends, and parents affected how girls felt about themselves. Two hundred and forty girls participated in our study. Over the course of three years, we followed these girls as they grew up, tracking them from middle school to high school. Twice a year we interviewed them at length, talking about body image, what they liked about their body and didn’t, how and why they tried to lose weight, and lots of other questions. We also talked with them about family members and whether they dieted, whether parents commented on their weight, and the extent to which they got positive feedback on how they looked. We hung out in the lunchroom and snack bars to see what kids were eating and how they commented to each other on their food choices.
We also talked to girls in groups. During one of our first group discussions with eighth grade girls I asked, “Do you think a lot of girls your age are concerned about their weight?” Whereas some of the earlier questions I had asked evoked little response, this one caught their attention. The girls replied quickly, enthusiastically nodding their heads and giggling, leading me to ask “How do you know that?” That got them started. Within moments, the girls began to reenact a common scene from their lives, using a dialogue that revolved around the expression “I’m so fat.” The opening statement “I’m so fat” prompted the same response each time “Oh no you’re not!” As I listened to these normal weight girls engage in what appeared to be a popular ritual, a lot of questions popped into my head: What was the point of this interchange? Who did it? Was it more among the popular girls, the thin girls, everyone? My colleagues and I began to explore this in greater depth and we labeled this form of exchange “fat talk”.
So what did we find? By the time a white middle class girl reaches adolescence, she has become a competent participant in this discourse. Our research found that girls engage in fat talk for a variety of purposes. Saying “I’m so fat” or complaining about specific body parts (“I hate my thighs” “Can you believe how big my butt is?”) is really much more than an observation about how a girl looks or feels. It’s a call for support from her peers. Comments like these evoke a response that the girl is not fat, that things aren’t as bad as they seem. Fat talk is a kind of social ritual among friends, an attempt to create solidarity. Saying that you dislike your body makes it clear that you don’t think you’re better than your friends, even if you’re thinner. When the statement comes before eating, it provides an apology or excuse for what you’re about to indulge in (“I know I really shouldn’t but…). Our research also found that there was a lot of shared fat talk between mothers and daughters.
Aside from the ritual aspect of seeking positive affirmation from friends, our research found that there is a serious downside to fat talk. Women can literally become consumed by it. Internal (in your head) and external fat talk (with others) lowers women’s self esteem, making them feel like they’re never quite good enough. Thinking bad about your body makes it hard to be satisfied with how you look and leads to a constant policing of yourself at the micro level (“I wish my breasts were …”). It’s a slippery slope leading to a lot of insecurity…not exactly what we need to get ahead in the world.
I am very excited about the work of Tri Delta in developing the Fat Talk Free Week. This is a wonderful opportunity for women to begin to reflect on how they think about themselves. In the world of women, fat talk is a daily ritual that many of us automatically take part in. The social movement that you have initiated gives women a pause to see what they are really doing to themselves and their friends by participating in negative talk about their bodies. By stopping fat talk we can begin to embrace the beauty within and come to appreciate and respect ourselves for who we are and what we hope to become.
Mimi Nichter is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. She can be reached at [email protected]
For additional readings on the topic of Fat Talk (a great topic for research papers!):
Nichter, Mimi. 2000. Fat Talk: What Girls and their Parents Say about Dieting. Harvard University Press.
Nichter, Mimi and Vuckovic, Nancy. 1994. Fat talk: Body image among adolescent girls. In Many Mirrors: Body Image and Social Relations, Nicole Sault, editor, Rutgers University Press.
Parker, Sheila, Nichter, Mimi, Nichter, Mark, et al. 1995. Body image and weight concerns among African American and White Adolescent females: Differences which make a difference. Human Organization. 54(2)103-114.
Gapinski, K.D., Brownell, K., and LaFrance, M. 2003. Body objectification and “fat talk”: Effects of emotion, motivation and cognitive performance. Sex Roles, 48, 377-388.
