Antagonismer om den tjocka kroppen: En diskursanalys av HOBS och Feta tankars utsagor om kroppsvikt, hälsa och viktminskningsoperationer

Sammanfattning: This examination approaches the field known as fat studies, which by critical problematisation challenges the dominating view of the fat body. Using the discourse analysis What´s the problem represented to be? problem representations regarding body weight, health and weight loss surgery by the association HOBS (Hälsa oberoende av storlek) and the project Feta tankar are compared in relation to a discourse that regards fatness as an epidemic. While Feta tankar put forward antagonistic problem representations attempting to alter the view of the fat body as diseased, HOBS often supported this view. Within HOBS existed two different medical discourses which, in tune with a neoliberal governing process, made the individual responsible for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. When this was not achievable, weight reduction procedures became the final solution. Feta tankar instead took a societal viewpoint that led to resistance against an individualistic perspective and the control mechanisms aiming to change the fat body. In the conclusive analysis the dicotomies created from the medical discourses are challenged. These discourses, and the possible emphasis on the label ”fat” within a fat activist community, risk turning the fat body into pure materiality, overlooking that some perceptions are based on political assumptions and technical gazes.