1. Hyper(in)Visibility and the Paradox of Fat 2. Fighting the Fat Self 3. Fixing the Fat Body 4. Fit and Fat 5. Ample Sex 6. Embracing Fat Pride 7. Shifting the Focus.
In The Hyper(in)visible Fat Woman Gailey investigates the interface between fat women's perceptions of their bodies and of the social expectations and judgments placed on them. The book explores the phenomenon of 'hyper(in)visibility', the seemingly paradoxical social position of being paid exceptional attention while simultaneously being erased. -- In The Hyper(in)visible Fat Woman, Jeannine A. Gailey argues that women of size in North America occupy a paradoxical social position: as 'fat' women they receive exceptional (critical) attention, while simultaneously their subjectivity-in terms of their own needs, desires, and lives-is erased. In this way their experience veers painfully between the hypervisible and the hyperinvisible. Gailey seeks to explore this apparent paradox through a multidimensional analysis of in-depth interviews with 74 women of size, focusing on subjects such as dieting, health, sex and dating, and identity with the women's experiences and voices at the forefront. In doing so Gailey highlights the ways some women are able to successfully subvert the dominant discourse. The resulting book fills a significant gap in the literature by emphasizing women's own experiences, and by developing a much-needed conceptual framework for analyzing marginalized bodies.
"This book offers an important and timely intervention into the so-called obesity epidemic. In dialogue with the new fat studies scholarship yet firmly grounded in sociology, Gailey's analysis does something few other accounts do: give voice to the women who are more often talked about and around than enabled to speak for themselves. As much about the politics of visibility as it is about bodies and health, The Hyper(in)visible Fat Woman charts the psychological and social wreckage of fat phobia and discrimination. It is a poignant, compelling read, sure to be of wide interest." - Monica J. Casper, Head of Gender and Women's Studies, University of Arizona, USA.