1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910480595003321

Autore

Whitesel Jason

Titolo

Fat Gay Men : Girth, Mirth, and the Politics of Stigma / / Jason Whitesel

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, NY : , : New York University Press, , [2014]

©2014

ISBN

0-8147-2390-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (188 p.)

Collana

Intersections

Disciplina

306.76/62

Soggetti

Sesgo basado en la apariencia personal - Estados Unidos

Discriminación contra personas obesas - Estados Unidos

Hombres con sobrepeso - Estados Unidos

Hombres homosexuales - Estados Unidos

Osos (Cultura gay) - Estados Unidos

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. An ethnographer among girth & mirthers -- 1. Coming together -- 2. Injuries big gay men suffer -- 3. Performing the fat body -- 4. Big gay men’s struggle for class distinction -- 5. Shame reconfigured -- Conclusion. Beyond simply managing stigma -- Methodological appendix -- Theoretical appendix. Analytical framework of stigma, camp, carnival, and play -- Notes -- References -- Index -- About the author

Sommario/riassunto

"To be fat in a thin-obsessed gay culture can be difficult. Despite affectionate in-group monikers for big gay men-chubs, bears, cubs-the anti-fat stigma that persists in American culture at large still haunts these individuals who often exist at the margins of gay communities. In Fat Gay Men, Jason Whitesel delves into the world of Girth & Mirth, a nationally known social club dedicated to big gay men, illuminating the ways in which these men form identities and community in the face of adversity. In existence for over forty years, the club has long been a refuge and 'safe space' for such men. Both a partial insider as a gay man and an outsider to Girth & Mirth, Whitesel offers an insider's



critique of the gay movement, questioning whether the social consequences of the failure to be height-weight proportionate should be so extreme in the gay community. This book documents performances at club events and examines how participants use allusion and campy-queer behavior to reconfigure and reclaim their sullied body images, focusing on the numerous tensions of marginalization and dignity that big gay men experience and how they negotiate these tensions via their membership to a size-positive group. Based on ethnographic interviews and in-depth field notes from more than 100 events at bar nights, coffee; klatches, restaurants, potlucks, holiday bashes, pool parties, movie nights, and weekend retreats, the book explores the woundedness that comes from being relegated to an inferior position in gay hierarchies, and yet celebrates how some gay men can reposition the shame of fat stigma through carnival, camp, and play. A compelling and rich narrative, Fat Gay Men provides a rare glimpse into an unexplored dimension of weight and body image in American culture"--Información proporcionada por el editor.