My fatpol friends may be interested in this new series on Radio 4 on the history of obesity. It's the first of a series of four, and I thought it was pretty good.
The word "obesity" is rarely used in fat-friendly or even not-hateful contexts, but I'm open to it. My brain doesn't understand aural broadcast very well, though, so I'll hope someone else listens and reports back. If you happen to feel like commenting on it any further, I'd be interested.
I've got to admit that I took that description from the Radio 4 web site rather than the programme itself. The main presenter doesn't use the word "obesity" at all, except in introducing one of the talking heads (who's head of the "National Obesity Forum") and only that particular talking head uses it elsewhere. (That's David Haslam, whom lamentables mentions below.)
It's only a 15-minute programme, so obviously not comprehensive in any way, but in discussing the contexts in which fat people in the 19th and early 20th century were put (or put themselves) on exhibition for money, it seemed to me to strike a balance between reducing all fat people simply to pathetic pawns and glossing over the exploitative aspects. Also, it did quite a good job of showing that the reaction to a very fat person might as easily have been one of awe and admiration as of condemnation, disgust, or the demand for medical intervention - and that seemed to me a good corrective to typical modern representations. At the end, one person put the case that a nineteenth century "freak" had more control over the way that they were viewed, and the money that changed hands, than the people in modern freak-show documentaries of the kind parodied here. I thought it was interesting stuff - but I'd love to hear other views.
He's definitely the weakest contributor, but not particularly prominent. The one false note in the programme that I noticed was when he said wrt 19th-century freak shows something along the lines of "It's shocking to us now that people would actually pay money to look at these fat children" - clearly forgetting the existence of Channel 5. But the programme covered that angle by the end.
I've listened and made notes and am mulling it over. (I find info received aurally far harder to analyse.)
My immediate reactions are that Haslam's comments are dramatically contradictory of the tone in his book, and that the programme lacks context (though the series as a whole could address the latter point).
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-17 11:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-18 07:50 am (UTC)It's only a 15-minute programme, so obviously not comprehensive in any way, but in discussing the contexts in which fat people in the 19th and early 20th century were put (or put themselves) on exhibition for money, it seemed to me to strike a balance between reducing all fat people simply to pathetic pawns and glossing over the exploitative aspects. Also, it did quite a good job of showing that the reaction to a very fat person might as easily have been one of awe and admiration as of condemnation, disgust, or the demand for medical intervention - and that seemed to me a good corrective to typical modern representations. At the end, one person put the case that a nineteenth century "freak" had more control over the way that they were viewed, and the money that changed hands, than the people in modern freak-show documentaries of the kind parodied here. I thought it was interesting stuff - but I'd love to hear other views.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-18 05:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-18 05:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-18 07:54 am (UTC)Anyway, I'd be interested to know what you think
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-22 08:06 am (UTC)My immediate reactions are that Haslam's comments are dramatically contradictory of the tone in his book, and that the programme lacks context (though the series as a whole could address the latter point).