In some research for my dissertation I have been considering normative order. Fatness has to be compared to the normal point of reference, which is that of a thin body or average body, of which fatness is an extreme, as is anorexia and when considering the normative order both of these extremes have to be considered as they perpetuate the idea of normal. But where does this normal point of reference come from?
Is it the media? Their current obsession with celebrity and popular culture, ridiculing fat people with the red ring of shame in their magazines, or pointing out when someone has got ‘fat’, when in reality they might just be a size 10 or 12, so from the media’s point of view a size 10 or 12 is fat, this is then becoming the point of reference for people in everyday life and teaching people that anything bigger is not acceptable. People in the public eye? Are there any famous ladies who are actually fat in the public eye? I don’t think there are many, and ones that do exist such as Melissa McCarthy are type cast and portray fat people in a negative light (the character she played in Bridesmaids doesn’t exactly make fat people look good) and anyone who is carrying a bit of extra weight in the industry quickly drops it (the list is endless but recently we have Jenifer Hudson and Adele).
The fashion industry itself? Karl Lagerfeld, one of the biggest designers in the world recently said Adele was a little bit too fat. If this is the attitude of someone which such power in the industry is it any wonder that no designer wants to step out and design clothes for bigger women? Much like gay people and the pink dollar (the term used for disposable income of Gay people) the market seen an opportunity of fulfil a void and offer the gay market what they wanted in return for their very high disposable income. Well what about the fat dollar? Is our money not good enough in the market? There is some serious money to be made from the plus size market, not just in clothes but much like the pink dollar, in holidays and lifestyle activities.
Could it be the diet industry? This industry is worth so much money, that if we all become happy in our skin, the market would no longer exist, so it is their interest to keep the normal point of reference as a slimmer body.
The fat acceptance and body positive movement can be seen as a rebellion or a counter culture. A group of people who are challenging this normative order
