Lebesco and Braziel

I really enjoyed reading this article by Lebesco and Braziel. I think that they have highlighted a lot of interesting points about our conceptions and perceptions of fatness in both a historical and modern context. I first appreciated that the authors set-up their chapter with a series of questions that forced the reader into thinking about 'fat' before getting into the meat of the text. The idea of 'the fat body' has evolved very much over time from a variety of perspectives including the pyschosocial, cultural, and political. The objective tasks of trying to unmask this whole idea is extremely daunting, but the authors do a wonderful job.
Lebesco and Braziel spend some time discussing the language and feelings that we use when talking about fatness. Many times people use pejorative language, and this is certainly true in our society. From this idea the author focuses on how the pejorative language affects psychological discourse; the authors later discuss how we specifically see this with the use of sympathetic language. Why is it, if the ideas of fatness has evolved over time in a many spheres, that people feel that it is necessary to use this language? Similarly to what Lebescso and Braziel discuss in their work, I have learned the varying perceptions of what is normal in society in terms of weight. Some Pacific cultures believe that it is better to be fat, from an evolutionary and economic perspective, while we in our own culture expect people to be so thin.
Much of the discussion in this text reminded me of a discussion that I previously had in a medical anthropology class that I am currently taking. While discussing the epidemic of obesity my professor brought up the idea of body mass index or BMI. He pointed out many negative consequences of this model, such as the fact that if fails to even consider muscle mass in relation to the size of one's body. The way in which this model is skewed to the thinner side remains parallel with much of what Lebesco and Braziel find interesting about the idea of corpulence. This idea of the fat body, along with many others, can be arbitrarily based in a deep cultural context.
This article very much reminded me of some of the things that we have read this semester that make an effort to redefine the meaning of concepts and ideas that have existed for a long time. Exposing issues in a new light and context creates an open arena for discussing the anthropological forces on perception and thinking. I appreciate these authors for tackling a subject that many people are reluctant to discuss. Fatness remains important to our culture, and I thank Lebesco and Braziel for bringing it into sight.