Description
TitleNegotiating identity and taking political action in the fat liberation movement
Date Created2018
Other Date2018-05 (degree)
Extent1 online resource (xi, 165 p.)
DescriptionThis dissertation used an interdisciplinary approach to examine facilitators and barriers of the Fat Liberation Movement (FLM). Drawing on scholarship related to identity, organizational identification, social movements, and public policy, this study examined four research questions about how issues of discourse, identity, political action, and internal routines impact the progress of the FLM. Through content, thematic, and frame analysis, the researcher analyzed 3 viral Facebook posts; 27 episodes of The Biggest Loser, My 600 lb. Life, and My Big Fat Fabulous Life; and 27 blog posts from the blogs The Militant Baker and Dances with Fat as well as the online magazine My Body is not an Apology. In addition, the researcher conducted 25 in-depth interviews with active members of the FLM. Findings from the study revealed three discursive tensions (unnatural/natural, fact/fiction, and acceptable/unacceptable) to illustrate the ways that fat rejection and fat acceptance discourse competed in interaction. The primary facilitators of the movement were: the use of fat acceptance discourse; identity; identification processes through virtual communities; political action efforts; and internal practices and strategies through the use of social media and blogs. The primary barriers of the movement were: the use of fat rejection discourse; the acceptance of intersectional identities; a lack of collective organization, and a decentralized leadership hierarchy. Through the examination of the FLM, rich data emerged to explain several actions movement members participate in through verbal and nonverbal communicative behaviors including language (reclaiming the word “fat”), and physical activity (uninstitutionalized institutionalized political actions), adding to or taking away from movement’s progress. Additionally, frameworks around discourse, organization identification and political action have been extended to the context of a marginalized grassroots movement operating primarily online. Future directions for research seek to build on matters of identity and identification within the discipline of communication around organizational identification, membership negotiation, and discourse. Practical implications have also been given as recommendations to improve the actions of the movement and its members regarding communication, inclusion, and social movement practices.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Noteby Joy Cox
Genretheses, ETD doctoral
Languageeng
CollectionSchool of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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