Why Weight Matters in Social Work: Addressing Body Shaming in the Social Justice Community

Abstract

Alarmist messages surrounding the obesity epidemic have influenced many in the social justice community to adopt a combative stance against the purported “fat explosion.” However, by aligning itself with the corporate interests, biased research, and buried prejudices driving the nation’s fear of fat, the social justice community is distancing itself from its original purpose and unwittingly perpetuating a hostile and antagonistic environment for fat people. This paper will serve as a critique of the mainly uncontested obesity narrative and provide justification for why social workers should frame weight-based discrimination as an issue of social justice.

Keywords

• Social service
• Social work
• Obesity
• Social justice
• Body shaming
• Weight-based discrimination
• Public health