Why we should be watching more trash TV: exploring the value of an analysis of the makeover show to Fat Studies scholars

Jayne Raisborough

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article serves as a critical introduction to the genre of the "makeover show" as a way of encouraging the growth of a still nascent body of work. The article draws from a wider discourse analysis to argue that the makeover's story of transformation not only enables but also depends upon benevolent, sympathetic representations of fat individuals. Yet, an analysis of the makeover indicates the range and complexity of the cultural labors that continue to render fat a social and moral problem. This article concludes that fat has a current specificity within late capitalism, enabling the fat body to materialize as a key pedagogical site instructing all bodies in somatic, specifically active, citizenship in context of the "obesity epidemic."
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)155-165
Number of pages11
JournalFat Studies
Volume3
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2014

Keywords

  • makeover
  • pedagogy
  • reality TV
  • weight-loss

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