Weight loss, Eugenics, and the American Dream

In Chapter 4 of Revolting Bodies, Katherine Lebesco makes a comparison between 20th century eugenics campaigns and modern dieting campaigns. The similarities between the contemporary anti-fat bias and its basis in poorly discussed science (and in some cases pseudoscience) to the supposed scientific justifications for pre-WW2 eugenics programs are too similar for comfort, or really anything other than a great deal of worry. Both movements have been, by and large, perpetrated and orchestrated by or under the sincere belief that the supposed course of action is best for humanity as a whole, and both have been co-opted and recoded with entirely different goals in mind. I highly doubt that there is a cabal of medical professionals cackling over their amazing success in marketing and sell weight-loss products and lifestyles, but it is clear that there is indeed a very large industry that propagates stigmas surrounding weight in order to make a buck.

In Lebesco’s eyes, the primary comparison between eugenics and weight loss programs stems from the methods through which both programs are used to justify or stratify class and race based boundaries. Eating is cheap, eating healthy is not, and  thus by stigmatizing weight, we as a culture become complicit in a highly classist system of oppression. It almost seems that racism as embodied by weight stereotypes is a byproduct of this system given the almost universally higher degree of poverty among Black and Mexican communities. That’s not to say that racism and racist stereotypes surrounding weight have not taken on a life of their own and merged with larger issues of race- rather, their origin is in a decidedly Marxist system of oppression utilizing weight as a signifier for class.

Given that weight has come to signify a loss of control in our society, weight as a symbol of poverty is uncomfortably similar to conceptions of the American Dream- that all one needs is hard work, dedication, and a can-do attitude in order to become wealthy and successful. The truth is obviously a very different story, and yet, according to more than a few, poverty is purely the fault of the poor, who lack the willpower and dedication to better themselves. This line of reasoning results in ultimately the same justifications for stigmatizing fat- that the “afflicted” individual simply lacks the willpower to change their situation. Synonymizing poverty and fat simply allows for even easier methods of control and domination of the middle and lower classes by creating an easy catch-all reason for racist or classist beliefs- one that ties into our nation’s conceptions of capitalism and free will.