Two University of Wisconsin-La Crosse professors who call themselves the “Two Fat Professors” are concerned that coronavirus is causing “fatphobia.”
Darci Thoune, author of “Am I Fat” in the International Fat Studies Handbook, recently published a blog post on the website twofatprofessors.com. The piece titled “Diet Culture at the End of the World” outlines Thoune’s opinion regarding “weight gain during the Covid-19 crisis.”
Thoune’s colleague Laurie Stoll who earned her doctorate in sociology with a concentration in women’s and gender studies, is the second one of the “Two Fat Professors.” She published the most viewed blog post on the site which is titled, “I See You, Fat Grrl: Fat Pride and Fat Visibility.”
Thoune wrote her piece, “Diet Culture at the End of the World,” in response to the many “number of posts that have popped up on [her] social media sites addressing fears about weight gain.” According to the professor, these posts “shame viewers for: not going to the gym, eating ‘too much,’ for getting fat, and for not starving ourselves at the end of the world” and are representative of a problematic “diet culture.”
The blog post repeatedly refers to those who are cognizant of their weight, as part of “diet culture.” Thoune criticizes those who speak out against weight gain and characterize it as “dangerous,” saying they feed “into a system of fatphobia that oppresses and abuses so many.”
“I think the author is portraying something that isn’t an issue,” Brandon Micech, a sophomore at UW-La Crosse and Campus Reform campus correspondent, told Campus Reform.
“I also think it’s unprofessional where [the author] uses derogatory terms,” he continued.
Thoune’s post cites a 2008 study conducted by the University of North Carolina and SELF Magazine which found that about three in four middle-aged women have an eating disorder.
“I’m going to be blunt, we are living in traumatizing times. Your trauma is real. You do not need to suck it up. We need to seek solace and comfort where we can, and for some folx that solace and comfort will be in food. AND, THIS IS OKAY,” writes Thoune.
Read the rest at: Fat Shaming
